Noonan hails Durham’s reaction in victory over Blackburn Rovers | OneFootball

Durham forward Saoirse Noonan was pleased with the team’s reaction as they edged out Blackburn Rovers 3-2 on a challenging night at Maiden Castle.

Noonan netted two of Durham’s three goals as they got their FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup campaign off to a winning start.

When speaking to the media after the match, Noonan was delighted that The Wildcats were able to come out of a real battle with a win.

“Wednesday night under the lights, everyone enjoys it,” Noonan said. “Conti Cup, it’s a tough game.

“Both teams gave a great battle, it was tough but it went our way in the end.”

There were some controversial moments in the game. One of those moments saw Blackburn Rovers go 2-1 up despite Durham defender Becky Salicki being down with a head injury. Noonan did not want to criticise the officials for how they handled the game, she instead praised her side for their response.

She said “We want the best of everything, we want the highest standards but you look at the Premier League and people are making mistakes, that’s life and that’s football.

“You’ve got to react in the right manner. We’ve showed a great character and we did that exactly as we wanted.”

It is another quick turnaround for Durham with a trip to Barclays Women’s Championship title-favourites Southampton up next. Noonan knows that it will be about getting it right on the day down in Hampshire.

“We’ve got a spectacular squad,” the forward said. “We’ve had two good results; we could have won Sunday and we have won here tonight.

“We want to win but we are only as good as our last game. We will look at Sunday now and that’s what it is all about.”

Durham’s next Barclays Women’s Championship fixture at Southampton kicks-off at 12pm on Sunday afternoon.