Sunderland Women boss Mel Reay hails team ‘spirit’ after derby victory
Mel Reay has praised the “spirit and resilience” that her Sunderland Women side showed in their derby day victory against Durham Women FC.
Durham took the lead in the opening ten minutes but goals from Eleanor Dale and Mary McAteer turned the game on its head and secured a huge three points for the Black Cats.
It was only the second time this season Reay’s side have tasted victory after what has been a slow start to the campaign. However in her post-match interview, she praised her side for the way they reacted to last week’s defeat against Newcastle.
She said: “Absolutely delighted. We had to play to the conditions at times but absolutely delighted to come back here and get another three points.
“It shows the spirit and resilience in the the team. The character that the team showed to dig deep and get our rewards was huge.
“We were really disappointed last week where we were on the wrong side of the result, wrong side of maybe some bad officiating in terms of the decisions. This team doesn’t give up and we stick together through the good times and the bad times and we’ve come here and got our just rewards.”
Platform to build on for Sunderland Women
Despite it only being the second time this season Reay’s side have been able to secure three points, there have been promising signs and that was shown in their 2-1 win over Durham Women.
Mary McAteer impressed again out wide while Dale was able to find her side a route back into the game from the penalty spot.
Last season’s success shouldn’t be forgotten with Sunderland Women just falling at the final hurdle as to achieving promotion. However a lot of that quality remains in the side in this current campaign and despite it perhaps not showing consistently enough, they can still have a successful year.
The positives from this win need to be carried into their next fixture and for the remainder of the season while there are still some concerns to be ironed out. But Reay has consistently shown her ability to have her side perform at a high level and this season will be no different.
In other Sunderland news, Regis Le Bris has praised the “maturity” of his Sunderland side after the 1-0 win against Hull City on Sunday 20 October.
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