Wednesday, 4 April 2012

STL Northern League Division 1

Scorers: SRCA: Close, West Auckland: Johnson, Gibson

RCA made two changes to the team beaten by Spennymoor on Saturday, bringing in Berj for Davidson and a fit again Cuthbertson for Beasley. Oates reverted to a more familiar role at centre back and RCA started with a 4-3-3 formation.

Unfortunately for RCA, as so often this season they have failed to deliver the goals in the important games. Much as Devon Loch raced into the final straight at Aintree, miles in front, only to stumble and fall when no obstacle was put in its way so RCA have failed to produce in their last two matches against good opposition. They had numerous chances to win this match but could not deliver in front of goal.

However let us not detract from the wonderful season that Neil and the team have had. It has been like a breath of fresh air to the STL Northern League and as it stands at the moment we are still sitting proudly on top of the pile and others have to win matches to overtake us. Realistically fourth place is a massive achievement and anything better than that now is a bonus.

RCA started really well against the treble chasing West Auckland and forced them to on the defensive. As early as the second minute a cross from found Close free at the far post, but the RCA captain was unable to get his shot away before the challenge of ex-RCA player Hall. However, in almost a carbon copy of this move RCA took the lead on eight minutes,. Walton waltzed past Preston before sending in a great cross which was flicked on by Jennings to Close at the far post; this time he composed himself before firing past Bell.

It should have been all over bar the shouting three minutes later when a cross from McGuinness found Jennings unmarked in the box. The tall striker placed a perfect downward header towards goal, but it hit the post before rebounding to safety. Within a minute another cross from Walton had the West defence at sixes and sevens and it was only the intervention of keeper Bell that stopped Davison scoring.

It wasn’t until the 18th minute of the game that West had an effort on goal when Nichols chanced his arm from 30 yards and Atkinson did well to hold onto the ball as it swerved viciously in the air. RCA came back and once again it was Jones who skipped past Preston, but Hudson was able to get across to block the shot.

Campbell gave West supporters a rare glimpse of what they are capable of when he got on the end of a cross from Gardner only to see his header go straight into the arms of Atkinson.

RCA had a strong claim for a penalty turned down when Jones’ cross into the box seemed to be controlled inside the area by the arm of Nicholls, but he waved the protests away.

West took advantage of the disruption in the RCA team and Johnson latched on to a poor ball out by Atkinson to return a fiercely curling shot past the stranded keeper and into the top corner of the net.

With minutes to go to half time Walton again crossed to the far post for Close, who seemed to be having a field day on the left. The RCA captain cut inside and looked to be impeded inside the area; the referee awarded a penalty which seemed rather harsh. Walton stepped up to take the spot kick, but instead of his usual well struck kick he tried to place the ball and Bell, at full stretch made a great save.

There was an explosive start to the second half as both teams responded to the “hair dryer” treatment received in the respective dressing rooms.

Walton still seemed able to get crosses in at will and a beautifully weighted pass to Jennings almost led to the striker scoring, but the ball went harmlessly wide.

The game was starting to liven up and the introduction of Rea at half time had something to do with the resurgence in belief of the West team. He superbly controlled the ball before passing into the path of Nicholls, but he struck his shot high over the bar. From the goal kick, Davison headed on for Walton and his pass into the box was met by Close, but from eight yards out he managed to drag his shot wide.

Rae produced a stunning save from Atkinson when Moffatt set him up. Atkinson was then able to find Walton from his kick out and the RCA winger chose to try and beat the defender when the easier option was to feed the ball to Cuthbertson who was free inside the box. To the relief of the West fans, Walton was withdrawn shortly afterwards and within two minutes West had taken the lead. Hudson won the ball and passed it to Nicholls. He slipped it inside to Moffatt who in turn sent the ball into the path of the advancing Gibson who drove the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

RCA tried to respond and Davison was unlucky with a shot from a well worked corner, but his shot flew over the bar.

As the game wore on RCA were almost caught on the rebound as Rae and Moffatt were finding massive gaps in their defence and it was up to Atkinson to make two good saves to keep the game level.

In the 88th minute RCA were reduced to 10 men when ex-West player Berj was rightly dismissed for a second bookable offence.

In the final minute of added time RCA were almost level when Cuthbertson burst past the defensive line of West and only needed a touch to beat Bell, but the West keeper got to the ball first to deny RCA a valuable point.

RCA dominated first half possession and West could not have been aggrieved if they were 3-0 down. A master stroke by West in introducing Rae in the second half gave them the impetus to go on and secure all three points.

Saturday, 7 April 2012

STL Northern League Division 1

Harra's back: Harrison Davies returns to RCA's left wing after a spell at Consett.

Scorers: SRCA: Paxton (43), Jones (82) Jarrow Roofing: Robinson (23) (57) Hughes (72)

Sky Tyne and Wear video coverage

NLFPP video coverage

Please click here for photos from the match

RCA made a number of changes to the team beaten in mid week by West Auckland Town: Shields replaced Atkinson in goal, Jardine was preferred to Jennings and Davies replaced Berj; a further change was made when RCA Captain Brian Close pulled up in the warm up and had to be replaced by McGuinness.

The problems continued for RCA today, they saved their worst performance of the season for this match and at times it was pitiful to watch as Jarrow took full advantage of some terrible defensive errors. The result comes on the back of two defeats and was the first time all season that they have lost three in a row.

It appears that they have lost belief in themselves and that they don't want to win the league, which now looks like a hopeless cause although they still have the points in the bag.

RCA were on top for the first ten minutes of this match with Walton firing over after five minutes and then sending in a corner which Davison headed narrowly over the bar.

In the tenth minute, a Davies freekick was blocked by Chris Scott. The rebound fell to Walton, but he sliced his effort wide of Carmichael’s goal. The Roofing keeper was injured in this attack and had to receive extensive treatment on an ankle injury before continuing.

In the 15th minute a move between Nelson and Hughes brought the first save of the match from Shields. He threw the ball out to Davidson, but his poor pass was won by McMahon and fell into the path of Robinson and the ex-Newcastle striker fired in a rocket of a shot from 30 yards out which rattled the crossbar. Within a minute the striker hit a great shot from inside the area which Shields did well to smother, from his throw out Davison fed the ball to Davies inside the area and when he cut the ball back he looked odds on to score, but Carmichael was able to block the shot.

Within a minute RCA forced a corner which Davies took and Davison powered a header against the post and the ball was cleared up field and went through to Shields. His clearance was headed back by McMahon to Nelson, who fed the ball wide to Robinson and he deftly chipped the ball into the net off the far post from 18 yards out.

RCA took a while to get over the shock of this and Roofing went looking for a second. Nelson fired wide before Jardine outpaced the Roofing defence but instead of shooting he chose to Square the ball and it went harmlessly out for a throw in.
The next opportunity in a disjointed first half fell to Davison after Davidson had played the ball to Cuthbertson the RCA midfielder playe in Davison but his shot was brilliantly saved by Carmichael who was fast becoming a thorn in the side of RCA’s attack.

Two minutes before half time RCA were level, Walton fired in a corner which was headed across goal by Davison and Paxton was on hand to score RCA’s 100th league goal of the season.

If RCA supporters thought that this would be the start of a revival for the home team they were to be let down. An early second half chance saw Oates and Walton set up Davison, but he shot wide. This was to be the start of a period of dominance by Jarrow as they blew away RCA midfield in wave after wave of quick attacking football and they received their reward in the 57th minute when Chris Scott picked up a loose ball 35 yards out. His cross into the box should have been dealt with by McGuinness, but the RCA defender mistimed the clearance and the looping ball was chested down by Robinson who fired past the helpless Shields.

RCA tried to come back at Jarrow and almost scored when a Davidson throw in was flicked on by Davies to Davison whose spectacular overhead kick had to be well saved by Carmichael to avoid the equaliser.

Back came Roofing through Nelson, his shot was saved by Shields and Hughes following in fired over however, the Roofing winger made no mistake three minutes later when McMahon fed the ball to him. He cut inside two defenders before checking back onto his left foot to send a curling shot inside the post.

With 15 minutes to go RCA made substitutions in a effort to get something from the game and committed men to attack. A cross from Davison found Jennings but the tall striker fired wide from a good position. For the first time in the game RCA were on top and only some stirling work by Hedley and Carson kept RCA at bay. In the 82nd minute RCA were handed a life line when a Davidson throw in was headed on by Jennings and the bouncing ball was headed in at the far post by Jones to make it 3-2. A grand finale was on the cards as RCA threw everything at Jarrow, Jennings had a shot well saved by the brilliant Carmichael and the Davison sent an effort wide,.

A good move between Davison a Walton saw the wingers shot saved by Carmichael and his long ball out of defence found Robinson in acres of space and the Roofing forward almost exploited it to the full; he skipped past Shields before clipping the ball towards goal only to see James deny him his hat trick by clearing off the line.

RCA came back at Jarrow and in the dying minutes had numerous chances to equalise. Jennings fired wide, a Davison effort was deflected wide and from the subsequent corner RCA’s keeper Shields headed into the path of Jennings who headed towards goal only to see the ball fall into the arms of Carmichael.

It was a case of too little too late for RCA. In Jarrow today they found a team who are playing to try and stay in the first Division and RCA were well below par.

Saturday, 14 April 2012

STL Northern League Division 1

Scorers: SRCA: Davison (19) (59) James (34), Bedlington: Morton (18)

Click here for match photos from Bedlington Terriers' Michael Boyle.

RCA went back to the top of the first division with this win against a strong Bedlington side.

After three successive defeats the manager made changes to the starting line up with James replacing Beasley in the centre of defence, Close recovered from a thigh strain took over from Davies and Jennings was reunited with strike partner Davison in preference to Jardine.

Any supporters who thought that this would be just another end of season affair between two teams with nothing to play far were in for a pleasant surprise as both teams served up an entertaining if somewhat controversial match.

An all too familiar pattern emerged at the start of this match with RCA once again being denied in the final third by good defending, poor shooting or brilliant saves. So it was in the fifth minute when Walton crossed to the far post for Jennings, but the striker was dispossessed in the six yard box. From the clearance by Harrison the ball was well controlled by Stewart who jinxed to the right then to the left before unleashing a shot which Atkinson did well to save.

A cracking move in the seventh minute should have been rewarded with the opening goal. Jennings won the ball in midfield and gave it to Close who crossed the ball into Davidson who in turn chested the ball into the path of the advancing Walton. His terrific shot was heading for the bottom corner when Pickering stuck out his left hand and gathered in a truly breathtaking save.

Stewart was beginning to be a thorn in the RCA defences side as he and Shandran linked up well to create an opening but Stewart’s final shot was straight at Atkinson. The game was flowing now and a quick break by RCA saw Close feed the ball to Jones who crossed first time into the area where Davison making great strides to get into the box could only steer his header wide. From the goal kick Bedlington set up their next attack when Oates won the header the ball fell to Harrison who was allowed to carry the ball 20 yards before delivering a dangerous cross into the box which was only inches away from the outstretched foot of Shandran.

A minute later and Bedlington took the lead when Blackstone won the ball and fed Stewart on the left wing; the Bedlington striker did well to get in a great cross which beat both Atkinson and McGuinness and fell invitingly for Morton who headed home from three yards out.

RCA were level within a minute when Close dispossessed Convery just inside the Bedlington half and raced forward before passing the ball to Davison who made no mistake from 12 yards, steering the ball past the despairing dive of Pickering.

The impetus this equaliser gave RCA was immediately evident, the belief returned and everyone seemed to lift their game by 10%. A corner in the 22nd minute was taken by Walton and flicked on by Jennings to McGuinness at the far post, but his header went straight into the arms of Pickering. Then came a good move involving almost the whole team. James won the ball and passed to Paxton, he spotted Jones’ forward run and played the ball into his path, the RCA defender squared the ball to Davison who slipped the ball to Walton inside the area, he cut the ball back into the path of Jennings, but his shot went over the bar.

Bedlington seemed unable to cope with RCA at this time and Close was running the midfield. Picking up a loose ball he slipped past two tackles before squaring the ball to Davison whose first time shot was dipping just under the bar until the untimely intervention of Picking who pulled of a tremendous save tipping the ball over.

RCA took the lead from the resulting corner. The cross from Walton was headed on by Jennings and punched clear by Pickering, but only as far as James on the edge of the box; the RCA defender took aim and fired in a sweetly struck shot through a crowd of players into the bottom corner of the net.

With the lead RCA did what infuriates supporters and they dropped off and allowed Bedlington a spell of play which could have lead to a quick reply when Shandran’s shot had to be saved by Atkinson only two minutes after taking the lead. Concentration restored RCA looked to take control of the game with some good passing movements and holding onto the ball, however the front two for Bedlington were still looking dangerous when they got the ball and Paxton McGuinness and James had to be at their best to contain them.

In a final flurry before the end Shandran had another shot saved by Atkinson.

RCA, kicking down the slope in the second half were quickly on the attack and where unlucky not to extend their lead when Davidson crossed into the area for Davison but he could only direct his header over the bar.

In the 52nd minute Bedlington had a great chance of levelling the game when Convery won the ball on the left wing before sending in a well weighted cross for Stewart, inexplicably the Bedlington striker stabbed the ball wide from five yards out. Five minutes later RCA extended their lead with an unusual goal. Walton raced down the right before sending in a lovely cross to Davison who powered in a header which was destined for the net only for it to hit fellow striker Andy Jennings on the back of the head, the ball was scrambled clear, but only as far as Close who burst past four defenders into the box before sending in a low cross which was collected by Davison with his back to goal. The RCA Striker turned quickly and curled the ball into the net.

All over you would think but both teams were having none of it. Both sides made changes and were still committed to attacking at every opportunity. Baptist went close with a snap shot and minute after coming on Jardine had a great chance to put the game to bed, a through ball from Close was flick over the keeper by Jardine and shaved the outside of the post.

The introduction of Berj was causing the Bedlington midfield problems with his tenacious appetite for the game.

In the 81st minute RCA should definitely have sealed the game when they were awarded a penalty when Jones was unceremoniously dragged to the ground by Snowdon. Jennings stepped up to the plate, but blasted the ball high over the bar a la Chris Waddle.

Bedlington were reduced to ten men when captain Bowey was dismissed for deliberately kicking out at Berj. There was little of not in the final six minutes with both teams having given their all in the previous 80 plus.

On the balance of play RCA deserved the points and will now finish the season no lower than fourth in the league a great achievement with the limited resources at our disposal.

Monday, 16 April 2012

The Brooks Mileson League Cup

Scorers: Spennymoor: Graydon, Cogdon, Andrews 2

As one RCA player commented after the match "Just to come here and score would do, never mind get a result". The Spennymoor Cup curse continued with this defeat. Although the final result somewhat flattered Spennymoor, in the end the best team overall on the night probably did win.

Preparation for this match was almost catastrophic with Paxton unavailable through work committments, Davidson, Jardine, Davies and Berj all cup-tied and Owens unavailable due to family matters. RCA only had 11 fit player and two of those were goalkeepers. Mark Davison passed a very late fitness test and give credit to the lad he played through the pain barrier for almost three quarters of this game.

The team therefore was changed from Saturday with Cuthbertson coming in for Davidson, Beasley replaced Paxton and Craig Shields the only other fit player on the bench.

The game as expected started briskly with the inevitable onslaught by the nippy forwards of Spennymoor being repelled by some stubborn defensive work by a resilient RCA defence. The opening five minutes was almost entirely spent in the RCA half, but the only opportunity fell to Johnson who curled his effort well wide of the target after some good build up play by Cogdon. It took RCA ten minutes to mount their first serious threat on the Spennymoor goal when Walton received a through ball from Cuthbertson before crossing into the box, but Jones at full stretch could only head straight at Dean. Spennymoor were quick to respond and from the throw out the ball was collected by Ruddy who crossed the half way line before sending in a sublime cross which was met by Moore who headed over.

In the 14th minute, Moors were awarded a contentious freekick when James seemed to hold off Peacock to let the ball run for a goal kick, Graydon took the freekick aiming his shot at the near post and it took some great defending by McGuinness to clear the danger. From the clearance RCA broke quickly and it was the unlikely appearance of Beasley heading the charge inside the Spennymoor half; he seemed to get caught in two minds whether to shot or to pass to Davison and in the end the cross cum shot was saved at the second attempt by Dean with Davison in close attendance.

In the 20th minute a good run by Johnson across field was rewarded when his cut back was deflected for a corner. Spenny brought up the big guns for this and Ruddy sent in a beautiful kick which Ryan met but could only poser his header onto the roof of the net.

After a couple of niggling fouls RCA were awarded a freekick on the edge of the box, Walton and Davison lined up to take. Walton squared the ball to Davison who fired over the bar from 20 yards out.

Another Codgon run ended with the ball running on to Atkinson and his long clearance was headed out of defence by Mason straight to Walton who volleyed over the bar from 35 yards out.

On the half hour Spennymoor seemed to up the ante and when Moore found Cogdon with a great ball the little forward went on a mazy crossfield run past four or five defenders before unleashing a terrible shot which went well wide.

The game changed in dramatic fashion when a long ball from Ryan found Johnson on the edge of the RCA box. Initially Beasley did well to make the Spennymoor forward go towards the corner flag however in doing so he was adjudged to have fouled Johnson. After a long discussion with the referee Beasley was cautioned and up stepped Graydon with a trademark freekick straight into the corner of the net at the near post 1-0 to Spennymoor.

RCA tried to respond and were unlucky with a couple of attempts, Dean was first to react to a through ball from close and got to the ball just in front of the tiring Davison. Then Davison fired in a freekick which took a wicked deflection for a corner. At the other end Foster struck the bar with a superb header from a Ruddy cross.

RCA looked to get back into the game early in the second half with Walton making a number of good runs early on but none coming to anything and the Spennymoor defence held firm.

In the 55th minute a cross from Cogdon was met on the volley by Ruddy, but McGuinness was on hand to clear off the line.

RCA were committing men forward and leaving gaps at the back but it was to be an uncharacteristic defensive mix up which would lead to Spennymoor extending their lead, when Mason’s long clearance fell between Beasley and Atkinson neither looked to take charge and Andrews nipped in to steer the ball into the net. Spennymoor looked well on top at this point and it was only some resolute defending that kept the home side at bay.

In the 75th minute RCA were forced to bring on substitute goalkeeper Craig Shields to replace the struggling Davison up front.

RCA continued to pose a threat when they were going forward, but Dean in the Spennymoor goal had little in the way of saves to make mainly due to the great defence he had in front of him. The final chance for RCA fell to Shields, but he managed to slice his shot wide of the target.

As the game entered the final ten minutes Spennymoor tightened their grip on the tie. Andrews hit the post with a terrific shot.

A rare attack from RCA saw Walton break into the box before firing wide. Then Atkinson was forced to make a great save from Harwood and the ball was cleared up field by James.

In the next attack Cogdon attacked the RCA defence at pace before curling the ball into the top corner from an acute angle a breathtaking goal.

There was still time for the rare sight of Shields taking a free kick from 20 yards out and managing to almost decapitate the corner flag.

Deep into stoppage time Andrews finished off the scoring piece of clinical finishing. From just inside the area he unleashed an unstoppable shot into the corner of

RCA even in adversity still came together to produce another example of the team spirit that has seen them stay at the top of the league for so long.