Game details
Match: Sunderland U23s v Aston Villa U23s
Date: Friday 30th August 2019
Venue: Stadium of Light
Scoring summary
Kimpioka (44)
Ramsey (25), Guy (36)
Line-up
Sinisalo, Walker, Bridge, Revan, Suliman, Birch, Ramsey, Wright (Vassilev, 72), Tait, Guy (Brunt, 56), Archer. Unused subs: Searle, Rowe, Odutayo.
Story in brief
Aston Villa U23s earned our first victory of the season as we defeated Sunderland U23s 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.
It was a long trip up from Bodymoor Heath but the result made it sweeter as goals from Jacob Ramsey and Ben Guy ensured all three points.
Benjamin Mbunga-Kimpioka pulled one back for the hosts on the stroke of half-time but the claret and blues held on for the victory in the second half.
The positive result – which means we’ve now won one, lost one and drawn two of the first four matches – sees us up to sixth in Premier League 2, which has 12 teams.
Reaction
Mark Delaney
It’s a tough trip. Sunderland are always competitive – a tough team to break down.
We’re particularly pleased with the result. I thought we could have done better with the ball, certainly in periods of the first half and in the second half it got a little bit scrappy.
We showed good resilience and determination to get three points.
But overall, we could do a lot better.
In the second half we were 2-1 up and they came out with a bit more aggression and played a little bit more in our half.
We defensively showed good heart to keep the ball out of the net. In the first half, on occasions, we showed we could play, as well.
We used the wide areas well and got two really nice goals.
It was nice to get the first win. We’ve shown glimpses in all the games – 30/35 minutes in all games – but, as you know, in a 90 minute game it doesn’t get you rewards.
We’re building on that. We’re getting better each week.
Next up
In league action, we head to Stoke City.
The game takes place on Monday 16th September, with a 7pm kick-off at Harrison Park, Leek.
