HT... Sunderland
Ladies 4 vs 0 Tranmere Rovers Ladies
The second half continued with Sunderland pushing forward strongly, Devine. Gutteridge and Stokes had efforts beaten away before the fifth goal arrived on 58 mins. Abby Holmes broke up a Tranmere attack and the ball broke upfield for Williams to chase. She got to the ball ahead of keeper Byrne and hit the ball into the middle for Gutteridge to have the simple task of walking the ball into the empty goal. Wave after wave of home attacks could have brought further goals from Williams, Gutteridge and McDougall. The Wearsiders had to wait until 12 mins from time to claim a sixth goal. A great move down the left involving Greenwell, Gutteridge and Sarah Danby resulted in McDougall powerfully heading home in front of goal. Moments later McDougall again went close as she thundered a shot against the visitors crossbar. However in the 84th min McDougall’s second of the game capped a fine performance before she becomes the 5th player to join up with England later this week. Jordan Atkinson broke on the right wing to cross in to the middle, the ball was only partially cleared for McDougall to strike firmly into the bottom corner of the goal.
FT... Sunderland Ladies 7 vs 0 Tranmere Rovers Ladies
Manager Mick Mulhern was delighted with the result ... “It was an excellent team performance. We had a number of players missing out there but those who came in slotted in seamlessly, which just shows the strength of our squad. We were so much in control our keeper didn’t have a save to make. We asked all the questions today and Tranmere had no answers.”
Sunderland...Laws, Holmes(Fletcher), Bannon, Wilson, Greenwell, Stokes, Unwin, McDougall, Devine(Danby), Gutteridge(Atkinson), Williams. Subs (not used)...Clark, Riddell.
Sunderland strengthened their grip at the top of the Women’s Premier League Northern Division with a convincing seven goal thrashing of Tranmere Rovers at the Hetton Centre on Sunday. They are now seven points clear of 2nd place and ten clear of pre-season favourites Lincoln. Sunderland had four players, Helen Alderson, Lucy Bronze, Lucy Staniforth and Jordan Nobbs, away on World Cup duty with England, while Midfielder Steph O’Brien failed a late fitness on an ankle injury.
The Wearsiders began very brightly in driving rain with Nicola Devine releasing Natalie Gutteridge to cross for Sophie Williams to strike just wide. Seconds later Williams again went close when she lifted the ball over the advancing keeper Lisa Byrne but the ball dropped wide. Then Kelly McDougall played the ball in for Gutteridge who turned well on the edge of the box but her shot was well saved by Byrne.
