No difficult "second album syndrome" for me this week as North East women's football never ceases to amaze or entertain!

Durham are nearing the end of a very busy two-week period, which has seen them lose for the second week running to a high-flying WSL side in a cup competition. This time it was the long trip to Brighton in the fourth round of the FA Cup which saw them return home without progressing but having put in a great performance, particularly in the second half.

The team left the south coast, as they left West London last week, buoyed by the experience and the resilience they showed following three goals in a 15-minute period during the first half, which took the tie out of reach. They will be hoping that, as they did on Sunday against Southampton, they will bounce back quickly away at Sheffield United (Sunday, 1pm).

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Wednesday night saw the last appearance for Tatiana Saunders, Durham's goalkeeper and crowd favourite, as she announced her retirement from gootball to pursue a great offer in another industry. 'T' captained the side against Brighton and was called upon on a few occasions to show everyone why she leaves big gloves to fill. Canadian Rylee Foster, who made her debut last weekend, has signed from Everton as her replacement.

United make hard work of it

Newcastle United travel to face Southampton, a side which has lost against both other North East teams in their last two games. Having seen off Portsmouth in a five-goal thriller last weekend, Newcastle sit in seventh in the Women's Championship but only four points off top! But they didn't make it easy for themselves - surrendering a Shania Hayles two-goal lead before Demi Stokes scored with a deflected shot from outside the area with 15 minutes left. Last year's Championship Player of The Year, Claudia Moan made sure of the points with an acrobatic save late on to deny a Pompey equaliser.

Goalkeepers on top

It was the Blackburn goalkeeper Fran Soper who made sure Sunderland only left Ewood Park with a point on Saturday. Demi Lambourne also pulled off some fine saves at the other end. Lambourne, who replaced the aforementioned Claudia Moan in the summer, won promotion from the Championship with Crystal Palace last season. Sunderland will be hoping that her experience will help them go further than the last campaign which saw them go within a few games of claiming the title.

Leaders Birmingham travel to the Stadium of Light this Sunday (2pm). Victory for the home side would see them leapfrog over their opponents in the table and increase their unbeaten run in the league to eight games. Over 10,000 tickets have been sold so far for what could be the game of the weekend.

Lady Megan's special title

As shown this week, we are certainly blessed with some great goalkeepers in the North East. Anna King, who came on late on Wednesday for Durham, Hannah Hawkins (formerly of Hibs and Durham) and Grace Donnelly of Newcastle, and a 'Freeman of the City of Durham' at Sunderland, have all played their part this season together with those deemed as No 1 by their clubs

"A freeman of the City of Durham'playing at Sunderland?!" I hear you cry! Megan Borthwick was given the honour in 2022 for her services to football; having won the Golden Glove Award for the most cleansheets in a Championship season, while playing for Durham. Lady Megan, as I like to call her, is one of a small number of players who have played for all three of the North East clubs who reside in the Championship at the moment.

The goalkeeping union is strong here and members will be looking to help their respective clubs this weekend as they try to put some daylight between them and the pack in the congested League table. With new permanent and loan signings having to bed-in, Cup-distractions remaining for some, and Local Derbies to come, it really is shaping up to be quite a season.

As Portsmouth nearly proved last weekend and the table shows, anyone can take points off anyone. You can't take your eyes off this one!