Daniel Hawkins hits the side netting with a second half volley.
Tonight we welcome our visitors Newcastle Benfield to Sunderland LGV Park for this Ebac Northern League Division I fixture.
The Management team made two changes to the team, with Hall replacing Madden and Hawkins installed as a make-shift centre forward to replace the injured Annang-Colquhoun.
After four straight defeats RCA were looking to get back to winning ways against a formidable Benfield team who have risen steadily up the table.
The teams lined up as follows:
Sunderland RCA: Marrs, Nelson, Charlton, Allen, Hall, Trewick, Bennett, Moan, Hawkins, Fryatt, Lavery. Subs; Lawrence, Richards, Davison, Kharufa, Ezard.
Newcastle Benfield: Grainger, Varga, Watts, Errington, McNamara, Leech, Green, Dibb-Fuller, Brayson, Hayley, Gascoigne. Subs: Richardson, Leanard, Read, McGorrigan, Knight.
The forecast rain didn’t materialise so the game kicked off on a tranquil if slightly windy evening,
RCA, attacking the Beechbrooke end of the ground and taking advantage of the slope, were quickly into their stride and opened the scoring in the fourth minute. A long ball forward by Marrs was excellently controlled by Fryatt who cut inside before releasing the ball to Lavery who calmly smashed the ball beyond the reach of Grainger.
RCA's next attack was slick with Moan releasing Fryatt on the right his cross to the edge of the box was met by Bennett who hooked his effort over the bar.
Within two minutes they were almost two up when Fryatt again made progress down the right before cutting inside to square the ball to Lavery again, but this time he tried to place the ball into the top corner and it flew over the bar.
Benfield eventually got a foothold into the game and kept possession well without really getting beyond a very stoic RCA defence.
We had to wait until the 26th minute for the next goalmouth action. Charlton sent a ball forward to Bennett who played a lovely reverse pass to Lavery who hit a low shot inches wide of the far post.
The game at best was a bit predictable with both teams playing the ball about but making poor passes in the final third and the respective defences were able to clear up fairly easily.
Benfield’s first real effort of note came in the 40th minute when Haley made a penetrating run through the midfield before playing the ball to Watts who hit a right foot effort from distance over the bar.
Within a minute they created another opening from a corner, Gascoigne took the kick and it fell invitingly to McNamara who struck a perfect volley wide of the target from six yards out.
After the break Benfield took advantage of the slope and were unlucky not to equalise in the 47th minute when a well worked corner kick allowed Green to work his way along the touchline before crossing through a body of players but the ball was missed by everyone and was cleared up field by Nelson.
A minute later and Gascoigne picked up a loose ball on the left and played in Watts but the Benfield man once again hit the ball high over the bar.
The game settled into a scrappy, midfield affair with very little in the way of creativity. A McNamara run through midfield caused a bit of a panic when he played the ball to Brayson but his weak effort was easily dealt with by Marrs.
RCA almost doubled their lead in the 66th minute when a sublime through ball from Fryatt into the path of Hawkins caught the Benfield defence napping but under pressure from Grainger, Hawkins stabbed his shot wide.
Minutes later and Fryatt had a great chance to put the game to bed when Moan spotted the run of the RCA forward, but with time and space the he decided to lob Grainger and the ball drifted agonisingly wide of the goal.
As the pace of the game intensified Benfield were unlucky not to equalise when substitute Knight intercepted a pass and played the ball to Dibb-Fuller who broke quickly down the right before sending in a wicked looking cross which Watts completely missed with only Marrs to beat.
In the 79th minute a block tackle by Lavery was deemed to be reckless by the referee who immediately issued a red card to probably RCA’s most influential player on the night.
Within a minute and Benfield equalised. A ball into the box by Watts was palmed out by Marrs and fell straight to Leech who made no mistake smashing the ball into an empty net from five yards out.
The 10 men of RCA defended heroically for the remaining 10 minutes and almost snatched a winner in the final minutes when Lawrence broke forward from midfield and slid the ball through to Hawkins but his shot hit the foot of Grainger and deflected a way for a corner.
The bad fortune which has dogged this team in recent weeks continued when a long hopeful ball forward by Watts looked to be drifting harmlessly wide until Marrs, for some inexplicable reason, decided to take the ball on his chest instead of his hands and the ball fell to the ground, Knight in typical poachers fashion struck to stab the ball home off the post.
For 79 minutes RCA held their own and probably deserved all three points. There is no doubting that the red card changed the course of the game. Only one person I talked to after the game claimed that it was a red card and that was the father of the referee.
As difficult as that was to take, the defeat was even harder to take given the error made by Marrs for the winning goal.
Next up we are away to West Allotment Celtic on Saturday, 12 November 2021 Kick off: 3.00pm