Sunderland Women ace Natasha Fenton slams performance after derby defeat – ‘Not good enough’
Natasha Fenton slammed her Sunderland Women’s performance after their 2-1 defeat against local rivals Newcastle United.
A record-breaking attendance for the Championship at the Stadium of Light to watched Mel Reay’s side in their attempt to revive what has been a slow start to their league campaign but it wasn’t to be.
Newcastle were a goal up at half-time before doubling their advantage three minutes after the restart in a performance that “disappointed” Fenton.
Speaking for the club’s channels after the game (13 October), Fenton said: “Overall, not good enough. We demand more from ourselves, we’ve had chances and also we could have defended better in moments so were disappointed with the performance overall.
“We need to start putting the ball in the net but also defend our goal better because I think we’ve conceded two goals today that are avoidable.”
A negative result on the pitch for Sunderland but positive off of it
Whilst the immediate disappointment after a derby defeat is warranted, there are plenty of positives to take from the occasion as a whole.
As announced on SAFC Women’s twitter, 15,387 supporters were in attendance, the highest attendance of any Championship game in history and Sunday’s game (October 13) will have opened up the door to women’s football to many supporters.
Not only that, but the financial aspect for the club will have been a huge positive despite the sour taste of derby defeat.
Reay’s side had a remarkable season last time out, only narrowingly missing out on promotion and that level of performance was the bar set for this campaign however for one reason or another, it hasn’t been met, yet.
The Black Cats have won just one of their opening five league fixtures, with three ending in defeat but there is plenty of talent in the squad to showcase that they are more than capable of kickstarting what can still be a successful season.
In other Sunderland news, Kristjaan Speakman said the “really incredible” period Regis Le Bris had with Lorient brought him to the attention of Sunderland.
For more Sunderland news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.