Reaction: Sunderland Ladies put five past Newcastle United in ‘friendly’ win

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Graeme Field says...

It’s great to have the lasses back in action. You could tell they were desperate to get back into it and were two up in absolutely no time at all. Against a side a league lower than them, it will have been great for the players to get minutes on the pitch ready for the anticipated league re-start next week.

You sense Sunderland manager Mel Reay had been working on improving their effectiveness in the final third and it certainly came to fruition today.

A resounding 5-2 win against their local rivals the result of that. Ultimately time on the pitch will have always been the main takeaway from today, but a win is always great for confidence. They’ll be feeling good going into their league game next week.

A quick well done to Newcastle players Georgia Gibson and Katie Barker, playing against their old teammates and getting a goal each. They were key members of the Sunderland squad which did so well last season.

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Rich Speight says...

It is fantastic to see the Ladies team back in action after their season was interrupted by the lockdown restrictions that deemed women’s football outside of the top two divisions to be non-elite, and what a way to return! Okay, so Newcastle are a level below Sunderland but having beaten us in pre-season, they were perfect opponents against which to test the preparedness of Mel Reay’s team as they ready themselves for their WNL Northern Premier game against Derby County next weekend.

Two goals in the first four minutes from Keira Ramshaw and one from England starlet Neve Herron bode well for the final three games of the regular season, as does the introduction into the team of players who’ve not had too many minutes this season such as summer signing Beau Studholme.

They may be seven points behind league leaders Huddersfield Town, but a strong end to the campaign will be important in demonstrating the potential of the Lasses to move back to the upper-echelons of the game as both Sunderland AFC and the structure of English women’s football changes around them.

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Rebecca Johnson says...

In what seems like an eternity it was class to see the Lasses back, and a high scoring win is just what they needed.

Yes, it was a friendly fixture and Newcastle are in the league below, but scoring five goals against your local rivals is such a big confidence booster and key in building momentum, something Mel Reay is always keen to stress.

It was fantastic to see Kiera Ramshaw scoring within the first four minutes and Neve Herron getting a goal early on, as well as Emily Hutchinson and Holly Manders getting themselves on the scoresheet.

This will be a huge confidence booster going forward this season for the squad.

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Ant Waterson says...

How great is it to see the lasses back.

Although it was a friendly we can take lot from the performance today. Firstly because Newcastle beat us in pre-season and secondly that we managed to score five goals without the influential Maria Farrugia, who is away with Malta.

Alway great to see the skipper score twice and Neve Herron once again showing how brillaint she is by scoring again from defence. The future is bright for that young lady. Bring on the rest of the season!

As previously mentioned a quick well done to Georgia Gibson and Katie Barker for getting on the scoresheet got Newcastle. I would really like to see those girls back in a Sunderland strip in the future.

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