Guisborough Town 1 Sunderland RCA 2

Arngrove Northern League Division 2

Saturday, 9 February 2008

Get a high resolution copy of the team photo, with credits and partners' logos, taken just before the Guisborough match and celebrating eight wins on the trot. Please right click on this link and select 'Save Target As...' Please note that the file is very large at 3.57 MB. The file is set up for 10 X 8 printing.

RCA finally got a game on Saturday when they faced Guisborough after a frustrating couple of weeks of postponements. Craig Shields failed a fitness test with another recurrence of his increasingly troublesome leg problem, and may face further surgery and be out for some considerable time. Hard luck for Craig who has been rock solid since returning to the club, but an opportunity for Jon Minniss to step in and show his worth. Dean Goodwin returned in central midfield for the suspended Scott Richards.

The game started scrappily, with RCA showing the effects of their break in some sloppy play, while Guisborough failed to make much headway against rugged defending from the RCA back line. Andy Jennings had the ball in the net after five minutes but was rightly pulled back for offside, the first of a large number of such calls, both right and wrong, which were to frustrate the RCA strikers all afternoon. Jon Minniss made a good save after 12 minutes, before RCA took the lead with a goal of real quality. Lee Owens carried the ball 60 yards past three defenders before playing in Gary Shields with a superb pass. Gary went past the last defender, rounded the keeper and slotted the ball home with great confidence. The goal clearly boosted RCA who began to play with more fluidity, and after having a strong shout for a penalty turned down, Shieldsy doubled the lead with a good turn and finish from 12 yards after 33 minutes.

It looked like plain sailing for RCA, but a minute later the referee, who did not have the best of games, turned the match on its head, first harshly dismissing Lee Owens after mishearing a shout from the bench, then sending manager Neil Hixon to the stand for expressing his frustration. Guisborough were lifted by the prospect of facing 10 men for an hour, and after Sean Davies had blasted a dangerous free kick over the bar, the referee intervened again on 41 minutes to award a controversial penalty to the home team for a challenge in the box. Jon Minniss very nearly saved the spot kick, getting a good hand to the ball which just crossed the line, but nonetheless a 2-1 scoreline at the break looked less than secure under the circumstances.

The second half was goalless as Guisborough huffed and puffed without threatening very much or very often, against the RCA back four of Davies, Henderson, Wardle and Anderson, well in command of things with a no nonsense display, and Jon Minniss proving a more than capable deputy in goal on the rare occasions he was called into action. On the break RCA always looked dangerous, and Jon Newton, who was always lively, could have marked his debut as a 65th minute substitute for Andy Jennings with an immediate goal, but his close range shot hit the side netting. Ash Davis, who had replaced Adam McGuinness at the half time interval, always looked to carry the ball on his trademark long runs, and Gary Shields adapted well to life out wide as RCA went to a one up formation. Paul Sammons, man of the match for me, was his usual tigerish self at the heart of the RCA midfield. Shieldsy should have got what would have been a well deserved hat trick when played in by Newton after 73 minutes, but chose power when a careful place might have done better, and the game finished with Anth Laidler, on for Dean Goodwin, holding the ball well in the corners to count down time. A solid if unspectacular performance, against the odds for a lot of the time, and the run goes on, now eight wins on the spin. Come on Esh!