South Shields joint-manager Graham Fenton was satisfied with his side’s display in their pre-season friendly defeat against Sunderland.
A goal in each half from Ethan Robson and Luke O’Nien gave the Black Cats a 2-0 win at a sold-out Mariners Park.
But the BetVictor NPL Premier Division side provided a stern test for Jack Ross’ side with the likes of David Foley and Lee Mason going close to getting them back in the game during a competitive fixture.
Fenton hailed the game as “an ideal test” and praised his side for their bravery on the ball.
He told ChronicleLive: “That’s the sort of game you want in pre-season.
“You can go easier in your first pre-season game but Sunderland have been great with us.
“It exploited a lot of our weaknesses, but that will be great in our video analysis.
“Tactically we were tested, physically we had to step up and we kept playing the way we play.
“We will only ever play that way and the lads showed a lot of bravery to keep playing that way against a side that were pressing us at every opportunity.
“We want to win and we didn’t turn up thinking that we would get beat.
“They has too much for us, but we showed a lot of quality on and off the ball throughout the game and we can be very satisfied with that.
“It was an ideal test to get things underway and we still have some lads that are on holiday and they are to come back into the squad throughout pre-season.”
Next up for the Mariners is another home friendly on Saturday as former FA Vase Final opponents Cleethorpes Town visit South Tyneside.
The two sides will compete for the Jak Fada Memorial Trophy as they pay tribute to the 10-year-old Mariners supporter that tragically passed away in November 2017.
