A youthful Sunderland XI claimed a 1-1 draw in a pre-season friendly at South Shields on Saturday afternoon.

South Shields FC head coach Mike Williamson praised a young Sunderland XI for their performance in Saturday’s pre-season friendly between the two sides.

After claiming a comfortable win in their opening pre-season friendly of the summer at Northern League Division One club Blyth Town last week, Williamson’s men returned to their Mariners Park home to face a Sunderland side packed with academy products as Regis Le Bris’ first-team squad travelled to York City on the same day.

Action from South Shields' 1-1 draw with a Sunderland XI (photo Kevin Wilson) | Kevin Wilson

placeholder image — Action from South Shields' 1-1 draw with a Sunderland XI (photo Kevin Wilson) | Kevin Wilson

Ahmed Abdullahi was the only player with some senior experience within the Black Cats ranks - and the hardworking forward played as part in the first goal on the half-hour mark as he brought a save out of South Shields goalkeeper Jasper Sheik and allowed Kay Munyazaki to fire home the rebound from a narrow angle.

The Mariners had dominated the opportunities up to that point and that pattern continued in the early stages of the second-half as Williamson’s side pushed for an equaliser. Their reward came midway through the half as Cedwyn Scott bundled home from close range after Paul Blackett had been denied by Black Cats academy stopper Joe Cowan - and despite both sides having chances to claim a win, parity remained in place when the full-time whistle was blown.

Williamson insisted there were ‘a lot of positives’ from the Mariners performance - and he handed out major praise to the Black Cats youngsters as they produced a promising display against the National League North side.

Speaking after the draw, the Mariners boss said: “I was hugely impressed with Sunderland today. Some of these boys will not have played many games like this because they are so young and the physicality of playing against senior players is a big step up for them. You going from Under-18s or Under-21s to playing against experienced players, it’s a challenge and not an easy one. They will go away and analyse the game and I am sure they will be delighted with what they saw during the game. That’s the same as us because there were a lot of positives for us too. I enjoyed the game, we got a lot out of it and we look forward to Harrogate Town on Tuesday night.”