Penrith 5 Sunderland RCA 1
The 'Blood Moon' lunar eclipse phenomenon was apparent in Cumbria during the match.
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
EBAC Northern League Division 1
Goalscorers: SRCA: Morris : Penrith: og. Hall, Rigg, Coleman, Wilson.
The 170 mile round trip to Penrith turned into a disastrous night for RCA as another abject second half performance saw them well and truly beaten by a much better organised and disciplined Penrith outfit.
With Stanger and Patton unavailable due to work commitments and Barton and Jury stuck in traffic on the A66 the team that started was as follows: Carmichael, Halliday, Horsman, Wray, Henderson, McAvoy, Fryatt, N Wilson, Morris, Hughes, J Wilson. Subs: Barton, Jury, Shields, Stanger and Patton were named in case they could get off work early.
RCA opened the game on full throttle and pressed Penrith onto the defensive, they deservedly took the lead in the eighth minute when a through ball caught the Penrith defence flat footed and Morris took full advantage bursting into the box before slipping the ball into the net past a bewildered Newton to make it 1 0.
Unfortunately that was as good as it got for RCA's following supporters as Penrith took the game by the scruff of the neck.
Why it took until the 23rd minute for the home team to equalise was down to some good saves by Carmichael and at least one shot cleared off the line.
Penrith's equaliser had a bit of luck attached to it as the ball was centred into the box from a freekick on the right, McAvoy, under no pressure at all, headed sweetly into his own goal.
Three minutes later and a through ball from Rigg found Coleman in acres of space, but Carmichael was equal to the striker's shot, saving low down to his left.
On the half hour Penrith upped the tempo again and Carmichael had to be at his best to save from Coleman again and then a flowing move starting with Davison saw the ball switched to Tinnion who played the ball into the path of Read whose crafty little backheel found Coleman and once again Carmichael was equal to the shot.
In the final minutes of the half RCA withstood a barrage of shots in a goalmouth scramble which saw shots rain in from Coleman, Rigg and Hall before the ball was cleared off the line by Henderson.
In the final minute of the half Penrith were awarded a corner which was swung towards the far post where Hall rose unchallenged to head home from close range.
In the opening minute of the second half RCA won a corner and Nathan Wilson took it, sending the ball to the far post where Horsman headed the ball down toward Barton whose snap shot was blocked by Little and cleared up field.
Two minutes later and a Penrith corner was headed toward goal by Rigg and cleared by Horsman.
On the hour mark another corner for Penrith saw the ball headed down by Tinnion to Coleman, but he shot wide.
Twice in quick succession a long ball from Simpson found Tinnion in acres of space and on the second occasion he forced a superb save from Carmichael.
The RCA keeper sent his clearance forward where Barton controlled the ball well before scuffing his shot and it was easily picked up by Newton.
Penrith killed the game off in the next two minutes when Tinnion once again found space on the left before crossing into the box where Rigg was first to the ball heading powerfully past Carmichael.
From RCA's kick off the ball was won by Paul on the left, he sent the ball forward to Coleman who somehow managed to squirm his way past four RCA defenders before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net, 4-1 down in the blink of an eye.
RCA's response was via Hughes who found himself one-on-one with Newton, but could only chip the ball straight at the Penrith keeper.
A Shield's free kick caused problems in the Penrith box when Newton punched the ball away, but it fell to Horsman however his cross was missed by Barton and cleared.
In the 87th minute Penrith completed the scoring when substitute Wilson latched onto a through ball and fired first time into the net.
This was a night to forget if you are a fan of RCA.