Durham faced River Wear Derby Day defeat at home against Sunderland.
A conceded corner a quarter way through the first half saw Sunderland take their
chance as the ball found Katie Kitching who slotted it into the bottom left corner.
The Wildcats reacted well to going behind early, a 20th minute ball from a corner bouncing off heads in the penalty box, Lauren Briggs heading towards goal but just failing to convert.
But it was 29 minutes in that the Black Cats found their second, the ball finding Sanni Franssi at the back post, whose effort found the goal.
It wasn’t too long later, at the 37th minute, that Katy Watson latched onto Stenson’s long ball and found the net for Sunderland’s third.
The second half saw a much more optimistic performance: Durham were solid at the back, with and Watson finding her shot blocked by Wilson after going through on goal.
Not just defensively was their improvement, but the 69th minute saw Jade Pennock slotting the ball into the top right hand corner from a tricky angle to get one back for Durham.
The battle continued and momentum surged, as Durham grew into the game. Watson swung straight at goal from a free kick outside of the box which fell into the keeper’s hands, and Briggs sent the ball in deep but ultimately too high.
Nevertheless, it was at the 93rd minute that Sheva’s final effort converted for Sunderland, wrapping up the derby game.
By Myrna Goodger