Sunday, 22 August 2010

Sunderland Sunday League

Despite having 15 players unavailable (seven injured, five on holiday, two at work and one with a bad tummy) RCA somehow managed to cobble together 11 players for their tough opening day fixture against last year's league champions. The team included no fewer than two 16 year olds, a 17 year old and three or four under 19s, along with the 44 year old old stager and stalwart Paul Cooke - who by the way was outstanding, even if a little slower these days. He was never that fast anyway!

The first half saw a near full strength Hastings press from the kick off, but RCA held firm and restricted Hastings to long range efforts, whilst still trying to play passing football themselves. After RCA keeper Atkinson had made a couple of competent saves RCA had a great chance to open the scoring after 25 minutes when a quick free kick released Andy Place through the inside left channel, but his shot across the keeper just went past the far post. Hastings continued to have most possession and opened the scoring after 35 minutes when Clayton Davis curled an unstopable shot into the top right hand corner giving Atkinson no chance. RCA then had an identical chance to previously, this time Willie Crew being released, but again the cross shot just shaved the far post to give a half time score of 1-0 to Hastings.

The second half saw Hastings again having most possession and RCA's defence was being severely tested, but they stuck manfully to their task and were ably assisted by keeper Atkinson who was again having an outstanding match. RCA then, would you believe it, had another identical chance to the two in the first half, again with the same result, the ball just eluding the far post. By this time the tired legs were beginning to show. Hasting began to use their fresh subs and after 75 minutes a strong shot from the edge of the area by 'Sparky' Davison eluded the dive of Atkinson, who will be dissappointed with himself as he will think he should have done better, to give Hastings a 2-0 lead, which they could not add to, resulting in a full time score of 2-0 to Hastings.

RCA put up a sterling performance and great credit must be paid to all 11 players who gave their all to the cause and so we move on to the next game against Townend Farm WMC in the league cup at Downhill on Sun 29 August, hopefully with a much improved squad and a positive result.

Sunday, 21 November 2010

Carlsberg FA Sunday Cup Second Round

RCA Barnes, who are finally getting their season back on track after well documented early season problems, overcame a very strong challenge from Derby Lane by two goals to nil, to progress to the last 32 of this prestigious national competition.

After an early morning pitch inspection passed the ground fit, Gary Errington had a near full strength squad to pick from and the game kicked off in damp and drizzly conditions.

Derby Lane started the brighter and their two forward players, Owens and Hughes were giving the RCA back four problems, with the Derby Lane play maker Matt Williams having plenty of the ball. However RCA slowly came more into the game as the half wore on and keeper Atkinson made a couple of comfortable saves before RCA had a couple of half chances at the other end. All in all it was an even first half with neither side able to create an obvious goal scoring opportunity.

The second half again saw Derby Lane start strongly and the back four of RCA, McVay, skipper Hall, Curtis and Metcalfe had to be at their very best to contain the visitors, whilst the midfield and forwards had to scrap for any ball they could get.

However after 65 minutes a wayward throw in deep in Derby Lane's half allowed Willie Crew to gain possession. He squared to Andy Place, 18 yards out, who despatched a low drive to the keeper's left which skipped on the wet surface and nestled in the corner to give RCA a 1 - 0 lead.

The tie then looked as if Derby Lane were going to get back into the match, when, five minutes later, they were awarded a penalty (harshly) for a hand ball, but keeper Atkinson dived to his left to collect the resulting kick. Then, unbelievably, the referee proceeded to issue a second yellow card to RCA centre half Mick Curtis for celebrating the penalty save 'in an aggressive and dissentful manner towards the referee', thus meaning RCA were facing the last 20 minutes with only ten men.

Derby Lane then obviously went full tilt for an equaliser, but with RCA midfielders Newby, Davis, Jordan and McMahon putting in double shifts, RCA seemed to rise to the challenge and along with the oustanding skipper Philip Hall they kept Derby Lane at bay, albeit not without some luck and good goalkeeping from Atkinson.

After 75 minutes scorer Place was replaced by Turvey. After 80 minutes a rare RCA foray produced a free kick wide on the right. When it was floated in to the near post by McVay, Richy Jordan drifted in in front of the keeper to deftly head home to give RCA a 2 - 0 lead, which they comfortably held on to for the final 10 minutes, to give them a 2 - 0 victory.

Credit to Derby Lane, who gave of their all, but just could not break down a resolute RCA defence, superbly marshalled by skipper and MOM, Philip Hall.

The draw for the third round has again sent another Liverpool outfit heading North. Sandstone FC will be at Meadow Park on Sunday, 12 December. Kick off time is still to be confirmed, but will be posted on home page of website soon, so come along, support the lads and see if we can probress to the last 16 for the first time.

Sunday, 9 January 2011

Carlsberg FA Sunday Cup - Third Round - at Runcorn Town

RCA The Barnes came through a tough challenge at Runcorn against Liverpool Sandstone by two goals to nil, to progress to the last 16 of this prestigious competition, the furthest they have been since they first entered four years ago.

A strong squad travelled down and the game kicked off in remarkably good conditions, the pitch being just on the soft side. RCA started on the offensive from the very first minute with the central midfield pairing of Richy Jordan and Jonathan Davis taking control and wide men Lee McMahon and, in particular, David Newby stretching the Sandstone defence immediately. It was no surprise that after only five minutes a delightful chipped pass from Davis found Jordan in the penalty area and he danced round the keeper and slotted home to put RCA 1 - 0 up.

The game continued in much the same pattern. RCA had numerous further chances to increase their lead with forwards Willie Crew and Andy Place being thwarted by the strenuous efforts of the Sandstone keeper along with some bad luck and poor finishing. Nevertheless after 25 minutes Willie Crew got clear again down the left flank and pulled the ball back to Jonathan Davis 25 yards out, who, after controlling the ball, rifled an unstoppable shot into the bottom left hand corner to give RCA a deserved 2-0 lead.

Up until this point the back four of McVay, Curtis, captain Hall and Metcalfe had never been troubled, but when the tricky right winger from Sandstone worked his way down the goal line he was adjudged to have been fouled and a penalty was awarded to Sandstone. But just as in the previous round the almost redundant Neal Atkinson rose to the occasion and dived to his left to hang on to the ball and keep the score at 2 - 0 at half time.

RCA knew Sandstone would come out fighting in the second half, but they did themselves no favours when their right back put in a nasty challenge on McMahon and then overreacted in blaming McMahon and threw him to the ground with a head lock, the resulting red card was followed by a cowardly slap on the same player as he left the field.

RCA then resumed their total domination and after John Turvey was introduced for Crew after 55 minutes, they continued to dreate openings, but found the Sandstone keeper in outstanding form. Jordan was replaced by the returning Callum Charlton on 70 minutes and then Atkinson was again called upon to produce an excellent right handed save in one of Sandstone's rare forays into the RCA penalty area.

RCA had to keep their discipline and played out the remainder of the match without mishap, with Dillon Holden getting the last five minutes, on for the outstanding Jonathan Davis, while Sandstone had another player dismissed for a second yellow card.

All in all a very satisfactory afternoon's work which means we are back in Liverpool on Sunday, 23 January for a fourth round encounter against the 2009 beaten finalists Liverpool Oyster Martyrs. Keep an eye on the web site for details of travel arrangements and once again any supporters are more than welcome on the coach.

Special thanks also to Martin Swales who stood in as team manager for the unavoidably absent Gary Errington and well done to all involved on the day.

Sunday League Cup Second Round

Sunday, 30 January 2011

Following last weekend's disappointing exit from the FA Sunday Cup at the hands of the outstanding Liverpool outfit Oyster Maryrs, RCA The Barnes got back to domestic matters with a testing second round tie in the League Cup against fellow Premiership outfit PTA Hastings.

Both clubs had seriously understrength squads to choose from and in fact RCA had only 11 players at ko, due to both injuries to McMahon and Newby, Curtis being in Berlin and Charlton and Davis disembarking from the Amsterdam ferry at North Shields and trying to get to Meadow Park as soon as possible. Other absentees were James Dixon and recent signing Lee Harrison.

Hastings had similar problems and were forced to bring in stalwarts Rogers and Grant for first games for a whlle.

RCA started with Atkinson in goal, Holden, McVay, Hall and Hughes across the back with Fabio, Jordan, Crew and Marni in the middle and Place and new signing Uttah Ubong up front.

Neither team started particularly strongly, but Hastings were probably just edging it and duly took the lead after 20 minutes when Ross Kennedy fired home from close range after a good move down the left flank. Willie Crew should have levelled for RCA after 35 minutes when he controlled a ball over the top and from no more than six yards out in the centre of goal managed to skew his shot two yards wide of the left hand post, so 1-0 to Hastings at half time.

The second half saw RCA's two Amsterdam returnees introduced for Fabio and Ubong (who had shown some nice touches in the first half) and they began to take control of the match and eventually equalised through a cool finish from Callum Charlton after 65 minutes. However, as is often the case, they switched off from the kick off and allowed Sparky Davidson a free header inside the six yard box that Atkinson saved brilliantly, but the ball rebounded into the retreating Metcalfe and spun into the net for an OG.

RCA got their heads up and continued to pressure the Hastings defence and after 85 minutes got their deserved reward when Willie Crew latched onto a through ball just ahead of Hastings keeper Minniss and slotted home calmly to take the game into extra time.

RCA then immediately took the lead for the first time when captain Phil Hall headed home a corner at the far post after just two minutes of extra time and despite a slight recovery from Hastings the first half of extra time saw RCA still leadinG 3 - 2. The second half saw RCA totally dominant against a visibly tiring Hastings and further goals were added by Metcalfe and the impressive Place to book RCA a place in the third round.

All in all a very enjoyable game from two fully committed teams.

Sunday 27 February 2011

Sunderland Sunday League Premier Division

Where to start? Another high scoring see-saw game saw RCA The Barnes climb out of the relegation area with a 7-4 victory at Silksworth.

After so many weeks without games it was hardly surprising that both teams were a little rusty, to say the least, but Silksworth started by far the better and RCA were unable to get their game going. Being without the suspended captain and mainstay of their defence, Phil Hall, RCA were all over the place in the first 30 minutes and were fortunate to be only one goal down, to a very dubious penalty.

However when RCA produced their forst really decent bit of football after 35 minutes, it saw David Newby get to the byline and pull the ball back for Willie Crew to tap in, and two mins later it got even better when a Jonny Davis corner was met by debutant Lee Harrison and his header looped into the top left hand corner of the net to give RCA a very fortunate 2-1 half time lead, and set up a quite extraordinary second half.

Siksworth again started the better at the start of the second half and within five minutes had turned the game round with two quick goals to lead 3-2. RCA were shaken, but gradually clawed their way back into the game and in turn scored two quick goals, from Willie Crew and Jonny Davis to lead 4-3. Silksworth, though, were not to be behind for long as they equalised almost immediately to bring the score to 4-4 with 15 minutes remaining.

At this point RCA at last began to dominate posession, and with another debutant, Craig Peel replacing Michael Curtis, and James Dixon coming on for Andy Place, the fresh legs seemed to awaken RCA. A fifth goal duly arrived despatched by Willie Crew to complete his hat trick and Martin Metcalfe and Callum Charlton added further strikes to complete a 7-4 victory. Mention should also be given to goalkeeper Neal Atkinson who had to be at his best again as Silksworth never gave up the fight and with their very young side look as if they could be a decent outfit if they can keep their youngsters together and build on their fighting spirit.

Another tough game next week at home to Redhouse CIU, when RCA's squad will be further strenghened by the return from suspension of skipper Phil Hall and influential midfielder Richie Jordan.

Sunday, 13 March 2011

Sunderland Sunday League Premier Division

RCA The Barnes returned to winning ways, after their abject display in losing 2 - 0 to Redhouse the previous week, with a much improved performance in overcoming their 'derby' rivals Grangetown Florists by three goals to one.

On a gluepot of a pitch (that was only passed fit to play on at the last minute) RCA had to re-jig their line up due to the absence of regular midfield quartet Jonny Davis, Callum Charlton (both away for the weekend), Richie Jordan and David Newby (both injured) with skipper Phil Hall slotted into the centre of midfield and Martin Metcalfe and returning from injury Lee McMahon filling in on the right and Ross Hughes doing the left. In defence Craig Peel and Lee Harrison took the full back roles (against their previous club) with Mick Curtis and Micj McVay filling the centre of defence in front of regular keeper Neal Atkinson. Up front were the normal pairing of Willie Crew and Andy Place.

The game kicked off in drizzly rain. Both sides found it initially difficult in the conditions and play was mainly confined to the centre of the pitch, while both sides tried to assert their dominance. The first goal was always going to be very important and after Florists' keeper had saved well from a close range Phil Hall effort after five mins Florists then tried to play their way out of trouble near the corner flag. Willie Crew robbed the defender and crossed to the unmarked Andy Place to slot home on 15 minutes to give RCA the lead. Florists responed as you would expect them to and applied sustained pressure, creating some half chances, but superb defensive blocking from Metcalfe, Hall and McVay prevented keeper Atkinson from having to make any significant saves, while at the other end Crew again found space to bring a good save out of Florists' keeper.

The second half started with Florists again on the attack trying to claw their way back into the game, but when they over committed after 55 minutes RCA broke down the left flank and Willie Crew again got behind their defence to cross to the unmarked Andy Place, with the same result as in the first half, the ball being despatched confidenly into the net to give RCA a 2-0 lead. Florists, however, came back strongly and had a number of half chances that they were unable to convert untill the 65th minute when, after concerted pressure, the ball broke to Gary Hill at the far post and he side stepped a challenge to drive left footed into the roof of the net to bring Florists right back into the game.

Both sides now had to dig in deep and RCA's back four had to be at their best, ably assisted by a hard working midfield. RCA replaced Hughes with Gary Tyzack after 70 minutes. Florists introduced another forward to try to save the game, but with Florists pushing forward the ball was played up to Willie Crew in space 40 yards from goal and he proceeded to beat the retreating defender and round the keeper to give RCA a 3 - 1 lead after 80 mins, which they then held on to comfortably to record a much needed victory and three points.

Both sets of players deserve great credit for producing an entertaining and surprisingly high quality match in such trying conditions, but special mention must go to RCA's Phil Hall, Martin Metcalfe, Mick McVay and especially the outstanding Willie Crew, who returned to form with a great display of centre forward play.

Another tough match next Sunday, 20 March away to Jolly Potters at South Hylton.

Sunday, 20 March 2011

Sunderland Sunday League

RCA The Barnes continued with their recent good form and notched a fourth league victory out of the last five with a hard fought 2 - 1 win over the Potters.

RCA were again without a number of regulars and were further hampered by the withdrawal of skipper Phil Hall and Lee Harrison on the morning of the game. Manager Gary Errington was also missing with 'man flu' (would you believe?) and fielded a makeshift eleven which included (fortunately) Paul Hartley, who was back up home for the weekend from the Smoke. Keeper Atkinson was behind a back four of Peel, McVay, Curtis and Metcalfe and the midfield comprised Tyzack, Charlton, Hartley and Hughes, with the regular pairing of Crew and Place up top.

In awkward, blustery conditions with a hard pitch, the game kicked off and the standard was not particularly entertaining for the first 15 minutes while both sides got to grips with the conditions. But it was Potters who took the initiative after this opening period. After some sustained pressure Joe Walton headed home at the near post from a corner to put Potters 1 - 0 up after 20 minutes. At this point RCA began to get their game together and played some neat and tidy football, especially down the left flank with Metcalfe, Hughes and the free running Crew creating some decent opportunities that were not taken. However on 35 minutes a left wing corner was sent, somewhat unconvincingly, to the near post at knee height were Hartley flicked on and Andy Place stroked home from close range to give a half time score of 1 - 1.

The second half saw RCA take a bit of a grip on the game, with a slight wind advantage some good openings were created which the Potters defence and keeper dealt with, but RCA were not to be held up for long and after 65 minutes Hughes received the ball back from a throw in level with the Potters 18 yard line, on the left, and floated a ball to the far post were it was headed back across goal by Crew for Paul Hartley to nod home from two yards to put RCA 2 - 1 up. The score should have been 3 - 1 after 75 minutes, but when Charlton was released through the middle the Potters keeper came up with a tremendous save to thwart him.

Potters applied lots of pressure in the last ten minutes, but the RCA defence performed admirably. Keeper Atkinson dealt with any crosses into his area confidently. RCA held out for a deserved victory.

There is another league game next Sunday, 27 March at Meadow Park against the impressive Farringdon WMC outfit, who were promoted last season and who have coped admirably in their first season back in the Premier Division.

Sunday, 27 March 2011

Sunderland Sunday League

RCA The Barnes were down to the very bare bones for this league encounter against Farringdon SC, who were also struggling for bodies, and only had 12 people available for selection due to a variety of reasons (some legitimate and some quite bizarre). Nevertheless they started with Atkinson in goal, McVay, Curtis, Hall and a semi fit Harrison across the back, a rare start for Ubong accompanied by an unaccustomed midfield role for Crew, Charlton and Hughes in midfield with the returning Turvey and Place up front. Only the one sub, that being Edimagimu.

Neither side managed to get a grip on proceedings and the game was not of a very high standard, but RCA did take the lead on 30 minutes when Turvey pounced on some poor defending from Farra and his effort was deflected past keeper Heath to give RCA the lead. Farringdon pushed for the equaliser and with left back Harrison struggling badly with a back problem and not able to get back in position, Dunn found himself with space at the far post eight yards out and his completely mishit shot was going harmlessly wide until Cheal stepped in to poke home from point blank range, to give a half time score of 1 - 1.

Edimagimu had to replace Harrison at this stage and went wide left in midfield, with Hughes dropping back into left back. Ubong was pushed up front and Turvey and Place were asked to sit in the 'hole' (whatever that is). Farringdon then had most of the possession for the second half, but were unable to make it count with any worthwhile clear cut chances and RCA only had a couple of half chances on the break without ever working the Farra keeper. The game petered out to its inevitable conclussion at 1 - 1. Neither side would be particularly happy with their performance and the draw was probably the best that either deserved.

RCA are away on Thursday night against Myers, who are in the driving seat as far as winning the league, at Billy Hardy Centre, Castletown (6:00pm ko) and then are at Meadow Park next Sunday, 3 April against Grangetown WMC in the third round of the League Cup (10:30am ko.)