Saints 1-1 Sunderland

• Saints v Sunderland
• Silverlake
• 28/09/2025

I’m never confident when Saints play at Eastleigh’s ground. I don’t think we’ve ever played well there, apart from the FA Cup game against Man United, but we lost that one too. With injuries in the squad, five teenagers were named on the bench. Milly Mott started her first game of the season in place of Megan Collett, who picked up an injury in the Bristol City game. She was fit enough to be named on the bench though. Collett is one of the most important and experienced players Saints have, yet she is only 20.

Saints had an early chance, but it was Sunderland who were on top in the first half. The YouTube coverage is usually pretty good, but this time the crowd was inaudible, which made for a strange watching experience. It was also a delayed transmission, so when I got a goal alert on my phone while Saints were attacking, I was surprised when it said Sunderland had scored. It was a full two minutes later that we saw Sunderland break down the wing and score.

Towards the end of the half, I got another alert, but I didn’t look, assuming it was just a notification of halftime. Saints had just been awarded a free kick. Before they took it, another alert appeared, which I again ignored.

The free kick was floated in, and there was a bit of a scramble before Peplow bundled the ball in at the near post. Sunderland appealed for a handball. I hadn’t seen one, but the replays did seem to show Chloe Peplow swiping the ball into the net with her hand. The commentator said it had been an own goal. The Saints website said, “After a scramble in Sunderland's box, Chloe Peplow was on hand to tap the ball home for a first-half equaliser.” Which made me wonder if they were confirming it had gone in off Peplow’s hand?

Then the half-time whistle went.

Half Time: 1-1

Saints started the second half better, pressing more and attacking with pace. It was looking more encouraging, but the dog decided she wanted a walk. So off we went, all the time I was waiting for another alert, but my phone didn’t make a sound. Our dog never wants a very long walk in the afternoon, so we weren’t out too long.

Getting back home, Saints were still attacking, twice balls were fired across the six-yard box, but neither was close enough to the on-rushing forwards.

With time running out, centre back Amy Goddard came on up front to add height to the attack. But although they were looking much better going forward, they couldn’t make their chances count, and Sunderland remained a threat, Fran Stenson having to make two or three good saves.

17-year-old Ester Roberts came on for the last few minutes.

Last week, we ended up with 10 players due to an injury after the 5 subs had been made. Today, keeper Fran Stenson got injured in added-on time, but had to carry on, despite not looking comfortable, as again we’d already made 5 subs.

It finished 1-1, a better result for Saints, I think.---