Brandon Hubbard takes on former RCA midfielder Mark Robinson.
The short trip to the Independent Utility Advice Arena to play our near neighbours Seaham Red Star in this re-scheduled EBAC Northern League Division I fixture after the original match in December was curtailed by floodlight failure.
A turbulent week at RCA resulted in the club having to sign on and field a team where all the players were making their debuts for the first team. The reserves management team took charge for this match as the club assesses the situation.
The teams lined up as follows:
Seaham Red Star: Jennison, Patterson, Taylor, Donnelly, Nelson, Bott ©, Dart, Hailes, Harrison, Sayer, M Robinson. Subs: A Lennox, McEwan, Logan.
Sunderland RCA: Chappell, J Lennox, Goundry, Paul, Bowmaker ©, Hubbard, Langley, King, C Robinson, Henderson, Johnson. Subs: Tait, Herdman, Demeril, Richardson, Grainger.
The game kicked off in near perfect conditions and as expected the home team took the game to the visitors in the early stages.
RCA were struggling to adapt to the early pace of the game but some good defending from Bowmaker and Paul reduced “Red Star” attackers to long range efforts.
In the 7th minute a good run down the left by Taylor caused RCA some problems but a strong block by J Lennox deflected the cross for a corner. M Robinson took the kick driving it into the penalty area where it was met by Sayers who powered his header past Chappell to give the hosts the lead.
RCA responded with a chance of their own when Johnson collected a forward pass from Chappell, he cut inside toward the centre of the pitch before unleashing a terrific shot which flew past the bewildered Jennison before skimming the crossbar and going out for a goalkick.
A strong run by Bott was halted by Bowmaker but the ball rebounded to Hailes who hit a low drive which Chappell saved diving to his right.
A minute later and “Red Star” almost doubled their lead when Harrison controlled a long ball forward before laying it off to Bott who smashed his rising shot against the crossbar and the RCA defence was able to scramble the ball clear.
For all their possession the hosts were finding it difficult to break down a stubborn RCA defence and when they did get through Chappell was in inspired form.
A “Red Star” corner on the left was sent deep to the far post where Chappell managed to get a hand to it deflecting it onto the knee of Hailes and the ball hit the post before Hubbard stabbed the ball out for another corner which was well collected by Chappell.
On the half hour RCA were awarded a freekick 30 yards out, Langley played the ball to the overlapping J Lennox who crossed into the box where Nelson managed to get a head to the ball under pressure from Bowmaker.
Minutes later and the home team were awarded a penalty when Bowmaker was adjudged to have bundled Sayers over in the box, Hailes stepped up and slotted the ball into the bottom right hand side of Chappell’s goal.
Inside the final two minutes of the half and Harrison played in Dart who hit a sweet right foot shot which struck the post and rebounded out for a goal kick.
A half time score of 2-0 was as much as could be expected from an RCA team which mainly consisted of players who played at a level 4 leagues below the Northern League Division I.
The second half started fairly quietly, Seaham were guilty of a number of poor passes as the RCA midfield started to press higher up the pitch.
A good run by J Lennox on the right and he fed the ball to C Robinson who outpaced his marker on the edge of the box before over hitting his cross.
In the 58th minute the hosts increased their lead when a Dart picked a loose ball up just inside the visitors half, he dribbled his way through a number of challenges before slipping the ball into the path of Sayer who calmly placed the ball beyond the reach of Chappell and into the bottom corner of the net.
Another promising move down the right by RCA brought the first save of the game for Jennison; J Lennox picked up the ball from Chappell and played it forward to Grainger who flicked it out to Langley who fired in a low shot which Jennison saved comfortably.
Back came “Red Star”, a long ball forward was picked up by Sayer who controlled it well before hitting a low shot which was brilliantly saved by Chappell.
The introduction of Tait into the fray almost produced a goal for RCA a rare move down the left saw Goundry send a ball into the opposition penalty area, Grainger won the ball playing it forward where Tait was unable to get any real purchase on the ball inside the six yard area and it was safely collected by Jennison.
In the closing minutes of the game a freekick into the box by Bott was headed downward towards goal but Chappell was again on hand to deny him his hat trick.
The game was finally put to bed in the 90th minute when another Robinson corner was floated into the box and Donnelly rose head and shoulders above everyone to power in a header which took a wicked deflection past Chappell to make it 4-0.
After such a traumatic week and with only one training/signing-on session under their belt the youngsters of Sunderland RCA did brilliantly well to contain a rejuvenated Seaham Red Star that have now gone five games unbeaten. They defended well and created a number of half chances as well. If the thundebolt from Ryley Johnson had been a foot lower who knows what would have happened.
RCA defended superbly with everyone in the team contributing to reducing the amount of shots on target to a minimum but there is no denying and I think that I speak for everyone who watched the match that Jamie Chappell was RCA’s man of the match.
Next up we play Newcastle Benfield Away on Tuesday, 14th February 2023. Kick off 7.30pm.