TeesWear Football – Team Sunderland Men’s Firsts Coach Clark “really disappointed” despite victory over Teesside

Team Sunderland Men’s Football firsts claimed a vital victory and points in their 2023 varsity matchup with Teesside firsts, but coach James Clark admitted he was “really disappointed” with his sides showing on the day.

Sunderland went ahead early on with a stunning long range effort, but failed to build on that scoreline despite dominance in the game. Teesside pegged Team Sunderland back and got back on level terms after the break, but two late goals from Clark’s men were enough on the day to overcome a resilient Teesside outfit.

When asked about his sides overall performance, Clark admitted; “It was poor, really really poor from start to finish.

“We were too sluggish, too slow and had a bad attitude. We made wrong passes, did not move the ball enough and I’m really disappointed.”

Sunderland had been dominating Teesside in the first half, and limited their visitors to just one clear cut chance. But inaccuracy in front of goal, and numerous errors in the final third meant they were not able to gain breathing space from their opponents.

He explained: “Attitude speaks volumes to me.

“The attitude to go and play the game in the right way and the right manner was not there today.”

Despite going behind early Teesside battled hard and work themselves a number of good opportunities. Their equaliser came via a simple passage of play, in which a defensive lapse of concentration allowed the forward to race home and score. Clark admitted his side were lucky to come away with the win.

“They have grafted for 90 minutes and they given as much as they could give.” He said.

“We could have won 8,9, 10-0 if we had done things properly but we were not bothered, did not do it right and Teesside did well to get back into it, and probably deserved something from the game to be fair.”