Max Allen competes for the ball during the first half of the match.
The FA Cup Preliminary tie arranged for Sunday 21 August 2022 paired us against a Whickham team who have started the season very well but were, like RCA, beaten during the week.
The management team, still without Hawkins, made two changes to the starting XI with Allen returning from holiday to fill the centre half role and Callum Patton resuming duties in the centre of midfield
The teams lined up as follows:
Whickham: Harker, Howard, Moody, Young, Agnew, Dunn, Hall, Smith, Jasper, Richardson, Priest. Subs: Below, Cassap, Robson, Ramsey, Lizinde, Bewick, Greenwood
Sunderland RCA: Marrs, Lawrence, Charlton ©, Jakab, Allen, Lavery, Moan, Patton, Davison, Johnson, Guy. Subs: Richards, Charmey, Annang-Colquhoun, Nelson, Ene, Kharufa, Herdman.
There were early signs that RCA had recovered from their defeat in midweek when Lawrence won the ball in midfield before playing it Moan but his shot was easily saved by Harker.
Two minutes later Lawrence won the ball on the right and played it to Guy who was tackled by Dunn but his clearance fell to Johnson but he over hit his cross and Whickham cleared their lines.
Unfortunately that was as good as it got for RCA as Whickham took control of the game and RCA reverted to defending deep in numbers.
A cross into the box by Young was well defended by Jakab at the expense of a corner which was taken by Priest but headed wide by Jasper.
In the 12th minute a sloppy pass by Lavery on the edge of his own penalty area gifted the ball to Smith who whipped the ball into the box for Jasper but the Whickham striker side footed wide.
The pattern of play was very much the same as on Tuesday as we tried to defend without any real creativity going forward.
It was no surprise therefore when the home side took the lead in the 15th minute when RCA failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to Hall on the edge of the box and he drilled a low shot which was deflected past Marrs.
Much like the Ashington game this one became a game of long ball forward in the hope that someone would get on the end of it - gone was the fluent football we played against Hebburn.
Whickham with a height advantage in almost every department made some telling forward moves without creating anything of note.
With the game drifting aimlessly towards half time, Whickham were awarded a corner on the right which was whipped into the box for Dunn who was totally unmarked 10 yards out and he was able to side foot the ball into the net.
RCA almost got a goal back in the last minute of the half when Charlton sent a free kick into the box, Davison headed the ball down and Patton managed to toe poke it forward but Harker was able to make an easy save.
Surprisingly RCA made no substitutions at half time with Whickham bringing on Robson for Dunn.
The first five minutes of the second half was pretty dire stuff with neither team able to get a hold on the game.
A long Marrs clearance was allowed to bounce into the opposition’s penalty area where Lavery was first to react but his lobbed effort cleared both the keeper and the Whickham bar.
A minute later a RCA almost got one back when Johnson was put through by a Davison flick but his shot hit the crossbar and bounced clear.
At the other end a ball forward from Agnew was picked up by Smith who turned quickly but fired wide of the target.
Whickham, as they had done in the first half, were slowly turning the screw and a poor defensive clearance by Allen went as far as Hall who fired in a shot which Marrs tipped round the post.
Two minutes later and a quick break down the centre saw Smith hit a terrific shot which Marrs did well to palm over the bar.
Whickham went 3-0 up in bizarre circumstances from this corner, Marrs, under pressure caught the ball well, however the assistant referee flagged for a goal stating that the RCA keeper had taken the ball into his own goal.
A bad day at the office had just become a nightmare which was compounded deep into injury time, when from our free kick the ball was intercepted by substitute Robson who need little encouragement to go forward before slotting the ball into an empty net.
This was not one of RCA’s better days, not one player can hold their head up and say that the team played to the best of their ability today.
If the FA Cup competition cannot motivate the team then something is sadly missing.