A successful strike in the 20th minute from Mia Enderby ensured that Sheffield United Women took home a point on Sunday. The game saw Sheffield United compete against North East side Sunderland who are in 9th place in the FA Women’s Championship, two points ahead of the Blades.
The first half saw a handful of chances from the Jonathan Morgan’s side, with both Sophie Barker and Bex Raynor trying their luck. United Women also held the majority of the passion in the opening minutes. Enderby created an opportunity for a second goal ten minutes after scoring her first but was denied at the near post.
Sunderland looked to turn the game around after the break, replacing Jessica Brown replacing Liz Ejupi. The change seemed ideal as Ejupi played the ball to Emily Scarr, but the young forward missed her opportunity with the ball sent across goal.
Later, the North East side’s goalkeeper, Claudia Moan, denied two consecutive chances, one from Rayner and another by Enderby, maintaining the 0-1 scoreline. Enderby seemed to be having a great game with yet another chance in a one vs one with Moan before Sunderland scored their goal.
The equaliser came from Abbey Joice, who successfully shot the ball past Stenson in the 69th minute bringing the scoreline to 1-1- despite objections for being offside.
The final minutes were tense as both sides fought for an extra two points. Sheffield United had the better chances of the second half, with a close header from Sweetman-Kirk denied in stoppage time. Sunderland’s Naomi Hartley made a similar attempt to score a header, but the ball went just wide of the near post for the final touch of the match.
Sheffield United now face a relegation battle as they find themselves at 10th on the league table. Their next match will see them play 8th place, Lewes at Bramall Lane.
Blades: Stenson, Newsham, Barker, Hartley, Riglar, Sweetman-Kirk, Cusack, Rayner, Paul, Enderby, Haywood (Walters 57 (Muir 81)).
Unused: Davies, Lord-Mears, Wilcock, Francis-Jones, Brown, Clarke, Graham.
Sunderland: Moan; Beer, Herron, Westrup, Morgan; Kelly, Danielle Brown, Joice, Jessica Brown (Ejupi 46’), Watson; Scarr.
Unused: Cowling, Borthwick, Ede, McInnes, McCatty, McPartlan, Thompson, Mallaburn.
