skilltraining Northern League

Tuesday, 9 September 2008

RCA put on a battling display, especially after going down to ten men, but Esh will think that they should have got three points from this match.

Esh Winning kicked off the match kicking up the slope and after ten minutes they had the balance of play with some strong crossing from both left and right wings keeping the RCA defence on its toes. The number 11 Michael Fort was particularly incisive. On 13 minutes though the home side nearly took the lead when Lee Owens stole the ball and ran through to chip over the keeper and shave the post. The ball came back in to Andy Jennings who headed strongly towards goal but the keeper gathered.

The RCA keeper Jon Minniss was in action two minutes later when Chris Smith curled a 25 yard Esh free kick round the wall. The on target shot was smothered by the keeper and then held.

On 25 minutes new RCA right back, Patrick Little suffered a bad injury and had to leave the field. Dave Anderson came on in his place, to make his first appearance for RCA.

On 31 minutes close skill and speed from Lee Owens led to a good cross, which was cleared for an RCA corner. Good pressure was followed by captain Keith Graydon turing the ball back in for Andy Jennings to jump and head just wide.

On 42 minutes Lee Owens was nearly through again and appealed for a handball on the blocked ball, but Esh broke quickly down their left and RCA were asleep as Craig Coates ran through and the ball broke for Nicky Martin to hit home to make it one-nil to Esh.

In the second half it was Esh who were looking the more dangerous. A cross from Craig Coates glanced the bar on 54 minutes.

On 61 minutes new boy and ex-Ryton player David Lee, who was playing left wing for RCA, equalized, shooting past the keeper from close range as the ball broke to him.

On 65 minutes, Dave Anderson was shown a straight red for a two footed tackle. Andy Jennings went into the defence.

On 67 minutes an Esh shot across the goal hit the post and rebounded back into open play, but no Esh player was near to capitalise. A minute later and RCA had a terrific chance to take the lead, an attack ending in a strong RCA shot which was deflected behind for a corner.

RCA lived dangerously for the rest of the match as Esh sought to make their numerical advantage pay. Resolute defence and brave keeping from Jon Minniss kept them at bay.

League Cup

Wednesday, 17 September 2008

Faced with a few injuries manager Neil Hixon decided to take no chances on fitness and go with a much altered team for the League Cup tie at Northallerton. Three players made their debuts, centre forward David Tait who joined from Nissan, and youngsters Michael Chapman playing wide left and Michael Laidler playing right back.

Within a couple of minutes of the start we went behind as Northallerton took the lead with a softish looking goal from centre forward John Ryan. Northallerton stayed on top for the first 10 minutes or so as we got ourselves sorted out, with their excellent left winger giving young Laidler a particularly hard time. But things steadied as Halliday and Coghlan got a grip in the middle of the park, and our wide players, Lee Owens and Michael Chapman began to see more of the ball.

Dean Goodwin, who had taken a nasty knock very early which will leave him with a right shiner, had a good effort saved before Owens went on a mazy run and slipped the ball through to young Chappie who finished well for his first RCA goal in the 15th minute.

And things got better a few minutes later as Tait also marked his debut with a goal, and a real good one, as he turned and volleyed past the keeper from 20 yards, We were on top for the rest of the half, and went in at the interval at 2-1 up, looking good.

Northallerton changed their formation for the second half, flooding midfield to try and stop Buddy and Micky Coghlan from playing, and for a while it worked, and they got their reward with an equaliser in the 51st minute. From then for the next half hour it was a real good cup tie with chances at either end, although to be fair I think we had the best of them. Lee Owens looked good, getting onto Coghlan's long ball's from the middle, young Chapman had an excellent debut, with good hard running and good positional play, David Tait worked hard on his own up front, and will think he should have scored from a header he put straight at the keeper, and Buddy was probably man of the match with good control in the middle of the park.

Having said that Jon Minniss, who had come into the side at the last minute for the injured Craig Shields made a number of good catches from dangerous crosses, as Northallerton constantly looked for their big men up front, who always looked a threat, and their wide men got at our defenders with pace on more than one occasion.

With 20 minutes to go and the game poised Neil went for an even more attacking formation, bringing Anth Holmes and Gary Shields on for Coghlan and Chapman, both of whom had understandably tired. The changes led to a flurry of chances for RCA, before disaster struck in the 81st minute as a free kick from wide right was not dealt with. Minniss came when he maybe should have stayed, and Roberts headed Northallerton ahead, this just after Paul Sammons had come on for Michael Laidler.

We chased the game even more. Bowesy ended up playing centre forward, and right at the death Northallerton broke and made it 4-2, which did not reflect the game. Lots of positives though, good debuts from Tait and Chapman, and it is good to have Lee Owens back, good width on both sides, and good quality in the middle of the park, if we can get the formation right, but a lack of pace in the middle and at the back. Lets be optimistic for the Vase on Saturday!

Saturday, 20 September 2008

FA Vase

Sunderland RCA won their first FA Vase game in a long time with an excellent performance at first division West Auckland Town, a result which seems sadly to have cost West's manager Phil Owers his job soon after the final whistle. It's no secret that injuries, suspensions, postponements and the like have meant that so far this season we have not performed as we thought we could, but with manager Hixon back on the job we were confident for Saturday's game. Skipper Keith Graydon was still out injured, as were a few others, including Paddy Little who failed a late fitness test, and Paul Taylor was suspended, but we still fielded a strong looking side, and from the off dominated the game.

Andy Jennings could have scored after four minutes, and had a penalty appeal turned down after 10. Gary Shields was making a great job of his role as stand in right back, and linking well with Lee Owens who had the West defence worried every time he ran at the them, while at the back Neil Moan and Andy Bowes looked very assured, with Dava Lee comfy at left back. Neil could have scored with a header when he went forward, David Tait had an effort blocked, and Lee Owens had a couple of decent efforts. In response West Auckland were working hard and running at our defenders when they got the chance, but generally we looked comfortable, with Buddy and Sammo dominating in the middle of the park. it was a surprise therefore that it took until the 42nd minute for us to take the lead. A free kick wide right was blocked and came out again to Andy Jennings, who turned well and knocked the ball over for Lee Owens to finish.

1-0 at the break, and it should have been more. And two minutes into the second half it should have been as Lee was set free to run in on the goalie, who saved his shot with his legs - should have scored, son! The next 15 minutes however were all West Auckland, as they repeated Northallerton's tactic of flooding the middle of the park to try and keep Buddy's passing out of the game, and it worked for a while. After 55 minutes they levelled and we were rocking under good pressure from the home side, although to be fair, Jon Minniss mostly only had to catch crosses and long range efforts. West couldn't capitalise on their possession, and gradually we worked our way back on top of the game. For the last 25 minutes we pressed them very hard. Taity should have scored with a header, then the keeper made a brilliant stop from a Paul Sammons volley, before the pressure told with two goals in three minutes for David Tait from Andy Jennings assists. First the big man crossed superbly for a header, then the keeper couldn't hold his powerful shot and Taity picked up the pieces. Game over, but West got another one back to make for an exciting last five, before Jennings notched his usual goal to make the scoreline more accurately reflect the match. A great win, lets hope we can really kick on from this!

Durham County Challenge Cup

Saturday, 27 September 2008

Another Jekyll and Hyde performance, as the same team who won so well at Northern League First Division West Auckland last week went down to a 2-1 defeat at Wearside League outfit, Jarrow FC.

Take nothing away from Jarrow, they were a committed and hard working group of players, and a credit to their club, but nonetheless with the amount of possession we had in the game we really should have come out comfortably on top. RCA had a good start as well, with decent possession from the kick off eventually leading to a very well worked Lee Owens goal after only seven minutes. Young Michael Chapman got down the left after a good passing move orchestrated by Buddy Halliday, and delivered an excellent cross which was well finished by Lee coming in on the back post.

But a few minutes later a mistake by Dava Lee, who will have nightmares about his attempted crossfield ball, led to Jarrow equalising after good quick passing and a solid finish. 1-1 after 12 minutes.

The rest of the first half saw mostly RCA possession, with good chances for Jennings and David Tait, but with Jarrow always dangerous on the break.

The second half continued in much the same vein as the first, we had most of the ball, got plenty of crosses in, but couldn't get a finish, while Jarrow always looked to exploit the pace of their front men on the counter.

A scramble on 50 minutes saw the Jarrow bar and post struck in quick succession, while on 55 minutes Jarrow struck the bar.

Lee Owens ran at the defence constantly, without always producing good balls for the forwards, and just before the hour, Hicker took off Tait and Sammons, both of whom were struggling with knocks, with Dean Goodwin and Glen Moan replacing them. Gaz Shields moved forward to replace Tait, and the pressure continued but without end result.

A break from Jarrow was always to be feared, and sure enough on 79 minutes their quick forward Craig Armstrong got away, two defenders clashed as they tried to tackle him and he coolly drew keeper Jon Minniss and slotted home. We huffed and puffed but it was not to be, so good luck now to Jarrow in the County Cup, and for us, all eyes now on the Vase next week!