DERBY DAYS

The best derby day is back for the Lasses and Lads! Our rivalry in the north-east has been going on for years and the atmosphere never changes.

On Sunday 16th November, the Lasses faced their first Tyne and Wear derby of the 25/26 season, at the Stadium Of Light. Last time out against the Magpies, we lost 1-0 but this time we were ready to come back bigger than ever. With new players in the team and improvements in the play, it was sure to be a phenomenal match. Two of our stand-out players are keeper, Grace Moloney, and skipper, Rhiannon Roberts, who have made a great impact on the team since their arrivals. Rhiannon has already scored nine goals for the Lasses this season and has captained us to three wins and three draws already. Ahead of the match, Mel Reay had said ‘we have to show everyone what a Sunderland team is about’.

After going into halftime 0-0 both teams had time to look at how to improve and score goals, but as the second half was underway, the Magpies went 2-0 up. A corner brought the Lasses back into the game with a Keira Barry header. The final score was 3-1, but the Black Cats fought hard and will move on and look forward to our next matchday against Durham.

Next, the Lads have derby day on the 14th of December at the SoL. Winning five of our 11 matches already in the Premier League, and being between 1st and 7th in the table, this team is ready to win the derby. With Roefs in goal, Xhaka in the middle and Isidor up front we are bound to have a pretty amazing game.

This match can’t come around any sooner, and the fans are ready to bring the noise. Being a newly promoted side, nobody expected us to be doing as well as we are, so instead of being confident, teams are now seeing us as a threat ready to take the 3 points.

The SAFC fans know how to bring the noise, and the players have said it really encourages them to push even harder to win, which is really important this season. Always cheering and chanting for your team, even if we concede, keeps the team going and gives them the mentality to keep going and win, which was shown in the SAFC vs Arsenal match a few weeks ago. We all can’t wait for the derby day to arrive, Haway The Lads!