Sunderland made it two wins from two against North End this season, stealing the spoils at Irongate with a hard fought 2-1 win.

It was a game where PNE looked bright enough to take a point but great goalkeeping on the Wearsiders behalf secured a valuable three points for the visitiors.

North End started brightly with Angela Willoughby having an early strike and Sarah McCrea forcing the keeper into punching her corner clear. Emma Sconce then had a definite penalty claim turned down, much to the dismay of the Preston staff and supporters.

Sunderland came into the game and on two occasions their number 10 saw headers sail over the bar.

The Lilywhites had further opportunities to take the lead with Gemma Watson, Louise Cafferkey and Hannah Bailey all blazing over.

On 38 minutes the deadlock was broken. The Sunderland keeper came off her line to intercept a through ball and her clearance fell into the path of McCrea on the left wing, who expertly elevated her finish into the net. The home side maintained their 1-0 advantage going into the interval after what had been a fairly even first period.

Sunderland had the first opportunity of the second half, the ball finally being cleared by Bateman and keeper Horrocks after a goal mouth scramble.

The Wearsiders grabbed an equaliser with a 61st minute free kick. Jenny Horrocks seemed unsighted by the bright sun and the ball found its way into the back of the net to level the score at 1-1.

Both teams then made substitutions with Taberner replacing Cafferkey for the Whites. In the 70^th minute Horrocks was alert to deny the Sunderland number 10 but a minute later she could do nothing to stop the harsh penalty awarded to the Black Cats, which was well finished by their number 16.

Preston then pushed for an equaliser with McCrea and Watson coming close. Manager Gerrard made further substitutions bringing on Mel Martin and Sam Cadwallader in search of a share of the points.

The substitutions sparked further creativity up front, with Cadwallader coming close to justifying her introduction by forcing the Black Cats keeper into making two smart saves.

As much as PNE tried, time got the better of them in the search for a deserved equaliser.

Next up for North End is a tough home clash against Lincoln City on November 11.