IN a game that came alive in the final 15 minutes, Newcastle United Women won their first competitive Wear-Tyne derby in front of a packed out away end at the Stadium of Light.

Beth Lumsden's spectacular brace had Newcastle two-up before Emily Scarr revived hopes of the Wearside crowd. Ultimately, it was not to be for Sunderland as they fell to a 2-1 defeat.

The hosts started the brighter of the two teams with Mary McAteer almost embarrassing former team-mate Claudia Moan by rounding her in the second minute, but her shot was turned behind for a corner.

As the game settled into a rhythm of Newcastle looking to break through the lines of their hosts, the visitors were able to create a couple of chances including Rachel Furness heading over from a dangerous-looking free-kick in the 20th minute.

The crowd needed a bit of warming up after the initial excitement of the opening quarter-hour had dimmed into a bit of a game of attrition with both sides looking for a gap to exploit.

Warm up they did when Lumsden was slid in on the right in the 28th minute, ghosting past her defender to smash the ball past Demi Lambourne who could do nothing to stop the Geordies taking the lead on Wearside.

Shania Hayles had a chance to double Newcastle's lead before half-time, but she got tangled up with Jessie Stapleton and couldn't meet the ball in the six-yard-box.

The game had barely taken time to settle down after half-time by the time Newcastle found themselves 2-0 up. Lumsden bagged her brace in spectacular fashion, scoring directly from a corner. However, the game took a while to restart following a knock to Lambourne, but head coach Mel Reay did not look to her bench despite Megan Borthwick being available to deputise between the sticks.

Two minutes later, Sunderland fans thought they should have had a penalty after McAteer was brought down by Olivia Watt in the box, but despite the penalty seeming pretty nailed-on, the referee remained unmoved.

Sunderland rallied in the final 15 minutes to pull together some coherent attacks, culminating in Scarr's hooked shot drifting over Moan after a scrappy bounce around the six-yard-area. Sunderland had pulled one back in the 78th minute, setting up a noisy final few minutes.

Two minutes later, Demi Stokes should have wrapped it up for Newcastle. But she took a touch after the ball was squared to her in the box giving Lambourne enough time to close her down.

The final moments had an edge to them that was not present for much of the game and Sunderland could look to a handful of chances created by McAteer as evidence of their attempts to snatch a point from the jaws of defeat.

Seven minutes of stoppage time were not enough for the hosts to find a breakthrough and Becky Langley's side recorded a huge win on Wearside to cement their ambitions as promotion challengers after a rocky start.


Sunderland Women: Lambourne, Stapleton, Goddard, McAteer, Scarr, Dale, Kitching, Brown, Fenton, Ede, Dear.

Newcastle United Women: Moan, Stokes, Stobbs, Watt, Boddy, Hayles, Furness Sibley, McQuade, Potts, Lumsden.