Defeat For Reserves

[Alan75]

Rovers Res 0 Sunderland Res 1.

Rovers lost their reserve game against Sunderland at Christie Park, Morecambe this evening 1-0.

A close range headed goal by Richie Ryan in the first half, was enough to give Sunderland maximum points, against a young inexperienced Rovers reserves team.

ROVERS: Yelldell, Peers, L Jones, Bruce (Nolan 83), Morgan, Donnelly, Danns, Harkins, Peter, Johnson (Garner 20), Derbyshire. Subs not used: Drench, Hodge, Barr.

SUNDERLAND: Alnwick, Lynch, N Collins, D Collins, Dodds, Dickman, Piper (Teggart 63), Leadbitter, Ryan, Brown (Kingsberry 63), Welsh. Subs not used: Carson, Taylor, Flynn.

Click on Read Entire Article for Match Report

[Alan75]

match report by bellamy11

We really didn't turn up tonight at all. I'd heard a rumour that Sunderland reserves were a bit awful but they were anything but when they played.

I can't say any player came out of the game with any credit this time. Johnson got injured early on before he could get going. This left the young Garner and Derbyshire feeding off scraps for the entire match. I can recall two chances in the entire game - both headers - and the one that was on target was absolutely no problem for the Sunderland keeper.

Matthew Piper was a class above everybody on the field. It was inevitable that he would have a hand in the opener. He had Morgan's number all evening, and his control on the sideline and precision cross was met at the far post by Ryan who finished well with a good downwards header.

The midfield had absolutely none of the ball. They were a step behind Sunderland in everything. Peter was ineffective on the left, and neither Harkins nor Danns nor Donnelly should be thinking about pulling on a first team shirt until they learn to dominate scrappy games like this.

My main concern was the fullbacks. Sunderland had time and space to cross throughout. They made quite a few decent chances in the second half and Yelldell did well to save a few stinging drives from in and around the penalty area.

272 people turned up to see a very drab affair. The team can't really be blamed here. They're very young - no Pedersen, Gresko etc to add senior experience. They've played very well recently and it was inevitable that they'd be poor for a game. Hopefully they can show that they have spirit and bounce back.