Mel Reay reacts as Sunderland battle back to secure three crucial points in latest derby clash

Mel Reay praised the resilience of her Sunderland squad as they battled back from a goal down to secure three vital points away at Durham on Sunday.

The Black Cats were beaten by Newcastle United last week and fell behind to Hannah Blake's goal at Maiden Castle, but a penalty from Eleanor Dale and a second-half strike from Mary McAteer turned it around. It was Dale's first goal for the club since her arrival in the summer and Reay hopes it can be the catalyst for a strong run of form.

After two heavy defeats to start the season, Sunderland have taken seven points from four games to lift themselves away from the bottom two and raise hopes of a strong rest of the campaign. They return from the international break against Bristol City at Eppleton on November 3rd.

"I'm absolutely delighted," Reay said.

"I think we've had all four seasons of weather in the afternoon and we've had to play to the conditions at times, but we're delighted to get the three points. I think we showed the resilience and spirit we have, we were disappointed with the goal but the team showed character to dig deep and we've got our just rewards for that.

“I'm delighted for Eleanor, she's been frustrated but she's a true goalscorer and a great finisher and hopefully now she can kick on and get many more for us. We were really disappointed last week at the Stadium but this team doesn't give, we stick together through the good times and bad. We spoke well during the week, trained really hard and got our reward. Hopefully now we can have a bit of a rest and a bit of a reset, there's quite a few injuries in the squad which is unusual for us so hopefully we can get some of those back and kick on after the break."