Durham Women snatched a late victory to beat Newcastle United 1-0 in the first North East Derby of the Barclays Women’s Championship season.
Mollie Lambert’s 89th minute strike was the only goal at Kingston Park to keep the Wildcats second in the table.
Tatiana Saunders was among the players returning to the squad after a reshuffle against Blackburn Rovers in midweek saw Anna King make her debut in the sticks.
Becky Langley made one change from the Magpies side that beat Portsmouth as Beth Lumsden made way for Sophie Haywood.
Newcastle started the brighter as Saunders kept out a huge chance for Shania Hayles in the 14th minute.
Saunders was called back into action on the half-hour mark and produced a miraculous save to deny Rachel Furness.
Durham’s first big chance came in the 35th minute after Mollie Lambert crossed to Kaila Novak but Claudia Moan rescued Newcastle with a big save.
The Magpies came agonisingly close to taking the lead just before half-time through Amber Keegan-Stobbs but Saunders twice tipped her efforts onto the bar.
Durham grew into the second half and came close to breaking the deadlock in the 66th minute through a great team move but Novak couldn’t keep her shot down.
Carly Johns was at the forefront of Durham’s attacks and nearly found herself on the scoresheet on 76 minutes but her shot was too high.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 89th minute as Johns’ shot was blocked only as far as Lambert who scrambled the ball across the line.
After a series of other chances in the six added minutes at the end of the second half, Durham managed to hold on to secure the three points.
The result keeps the Blues second behind Charlton Athletic, with a game-week break going into a second consecutive derby at home to Sunderland.