Sunderland Ladies returned to league action when they made the trip to Tranmere Rovers on Sunday. The game was played on a very heavy pitch, in windy conditions and the Wearsiders superiority eventually shone through, as they ran out comfortable 4-0 winners.
All the early running came from the visitors as great wing play from Demi Stokes and Lucy Staniforth caused problems in the home defence. A Sophie Williams cross deceived keeper Gaynor Collins in the 16th minute but was spectacularly headed out from under the bar. In the 19th minute a Steph Bannon free kick was volleyed narrowly wide by Lucy Bronze before great link play between Jordan Nobbs and Kelly McDougall saw Williams denied by a last ditch tackle from Jodi Morris.
The ball broke to Stokes whose clever chip from the edge of the box landed on the roof of the net. Sunderland continued to ask all
the questions as Vicki Greenwell ran on to a Nobbs flick to hit a thunderous drive which Collins did well to hold at the second attempt.
Abby Holmes broke strongly from the right to shoot narrowly wide before the Wearsiders took a deserved lead in the 44th minute. Holmes
took a quick throw to Williams who controlled and turned her marker to hit a curling shot from the edge of the box into the top left
corner.
HT... Tranmere Rovers Ladies 0 vs 1 Sunderland Ladies
Four minutes into
the second half Staniforth crossed from the right for a Natalie Gutteridge effort to be charged down only for Stokes’ follow
up to bring a great save from Collins. A glut of Sunderland corners resulted in several goalmouth scrambles as Gutteridge, Williams
and McDougall went close. As the visitors continually pushed forward there was always the possibility of being caught on the break
and keeper Helen Alderson twice had to be alert coming off her line to clear the danger. Gutteridge almost increased Sunderland’s
lead following fine wing play from Staniforth but her header was well saved by Collins. The second goal finally arrived after 72 minutes
when Sarah Danby scored moments after coming on as sub. Nobbs and Staniforth linked well to send Danby clear; she cleverly rounded
her defender before calmly slotting past keeper Collins. Three minutes later Danby almost scored again when her firmly struck shot
came back off the post. A Nobbs free kick found Holmes unmarked in the box but her shot went just wide of the post. Sunderland killed
the game off with a third goal on 78 minutes. Danby chased a ball down the left to hit a cross for Nobbs to run on to and strike on
the half volley low into the bottom left corner. The Wearsiders dominance was sealed with a fourth in the 87th minute. A left wing
corner from Staniforth was only partially cleared and Bannon pounced to drive firmly into the net.
FT... Tranmere Rovers Ladies
0 vs 4 Sunderland Ladies
Manager Mick Mulhern said after the game...”It wasn’t pretty to watch but the pitch and conditions
made it difficult for our normal fluent passing game. The girls adapted well, particularly in the second half and won comfortably
in the end. To do well in this league sometimes you have to scrap. We have scored four goals away from home which speaks volumes for
the character of our side.”
Sunderland...Alderson, Holmes, Bannon, Bronze, Greenwell, Staniforth(Halliday), Nobbs, McDougall,
Stokes(Danby), Williams(O’Brien), Gutteridge. Sub (not used)..Clark.
Sunderland lie in 2nd place in the Women's Pemier League
Northern Division, 2 points behind Lincoln with 3 games in hand.
