Team Sunderland football: Durham University 2-1 Sunderland University

Sunderland Uni Men firsts suffered a third defeat in a row after losing 2-1 to Durham away in a cagey affair 

It was a game of two halves really where Sunderland struggled particularly in the first half an own goal by defender George Peters did not help their hopes of getting a result after his attempted clearance of a cross found its way into the back of the net in the 9^th minute however there seemed to be an offside in the buildup to the goal which was missed by the referee.  

In the 21^st minute Durham doubled their lead after a poor clearance from keeper Paul Wright led to a shot lashed into the net by Hector Platt. Durham were more than deserving of their lead, but manager James Clark would have been frustrated as his team barely laid a glove on them in the first half.  

In the second half Clark changed it and brought captain Lloyd Hayes in a more attacking role which proved good for the team as Hayes provided for Charis Saitakis who scored his 2^nd goal in as many games Saitakis slotted it home to reduce the score line to 2-1. For the majority of the second half, it looked like Sunderland were likely to equalize. They managed to create a couple of openings, with a George Pinder header which went just wide of the post in the 78^th minute. Durham created a couple of chances of their own on the counterattack and Wright denied them on two occasions brilliantly to keep Sunderland in the game.  

It was an improvement compared to the horrendous outing 2 weeks prior where Sunderland lost 6-2 to York.   

With this defeat they’re in fourth position in the league three points behind third place and a point above fifth place this is unfortunately their third loss in as many games after losing to Leeds and York.