Esh Winning 1 Sunderland RCA 2

Arngrove Northern League Division 2

Saturday, 13 October 2007

A bit of a smash and grab! The game started at a good pace, and the first half was very evenly contested. Gary Shields gave us the lead after 10 minutes with a well struck goal following a quality passing move.

Esh Winning were always dangerous, playing patient possession football, but lacking a real cutting edge. After 25 minutes Jif Dickinson hit the bar with a diving header when he probably should have scored, and RCA went into the break with the single goal lead, reasonably happy with the performance, and with little inkling of the second half to come.

Jif was hurt late in the first half, taking a blow in the ribs, so Willie Crew replaced him for the second period.

Esh Winning came at us in waves from the restart. There must have been five corners in the first five minutes. Constant pressure, but thankfully not many real chances created.

On the hour a super move on the break saw Lee Bell finish coolly and if Willie had scored from a great chance after another quality move a few minutes later it might have been a different story. As it was the pressure from Esh intensified again, they got one back after 70 minutes and then it was all hands to the pump for the last 20. Craig Shields pulled off a couple of great saves, there were crosses and half chances galore, but we held on to take all three points. Phew!