05 September 2009

FA Vase First round Qualifying

Sunderland RCA welcomed Armthorpe Welfare from Doncaster to Welfare Park for this first round Preliminary FA Vase match. Both teams are top of their respective divisions, both teams are unbeaten in the league and have only lost one cup match. So this should be an interesting match.

Armthorpe took advantage of the wind and the slope and were on the offensive from the off forcing a corner when an overhead kick by Holden was well saved by Hoggeth. When the corner was swung into the near post Nelthorpe was first to react steering the ball into the net from two yards out. 1-0 down inside two minutes was not the sort of start that RCA wanted.

In the 10th minute Coghlan beat two players on the right wing before crossing for Davison who missed the target with a free header from eight yards.

Armthorpe immediately went down the other end and RCA conceded another corner; this time when it was swung into the near post and the ball was cleared but only as far as Nelthorpe who this time hooked the ball into the net.

RCA were shocked by this second goal, but continued to play some good football and it was only the final ball that was letting them down.

RCA were awarded a penalty after 35 minutes when an Armthorpe player was adjudged to have handled inside the box. Davison stepped up but his spot kick was well saved by Murray.

Hoggeth was called into action again as the second half came to a close when Davis fired in a shot from 35 yards,

The second half saw RCA piling on the pressure as wave after wave of attacks were repelled by a well organised Armthorpe defence.

Davison had a header which went wide then a long range effort from Coghlan flew over the bar. McBryde and Davison combined in a one-two which resulted in a shot from McLeod going wide.

Armthorpe seemed happy to absorb the pressure and try to counter.

Whatever RCA did Armthope seemed able to cope with and James Walker was outstanding. For all their second half supremacy RCA did not test Murray in the Armthorpe goal.

12 September 2009

skilltrainingltd Northern League Division II

Sunderland RCA maintained their inpressive start to the season with a seventh successive league win at Thornaby. However the "Ryes" didn't have it all their own way as Thornaby showed plenty of fighting spirit in the first half.

RCA opened the scoring with the first real attack of the game when a through ball from McLeod found Taylor on the edge of the box where he beat the defender before blasting the ball into the back of the net.

A minute later and Thornaby were almost level when a shot from Livingstone rattled the post before being cleared by McGuinness. Davison saw an effort go wide and Taylor was also off target with a shot. At the other end Thornaby were causing a few problems of their own with McLean called upon to make a save from Winspear.

The equaliser came in the 24th minute when the quick thinking of Tomlinson caught the RCA defenders sleeping. While they were still arguing about the validity of a freekick, Tomlinson stepped up and passed the ball to Gibson who squared it to Garside who fired home.

RCA reacted with some good football down the right and when Stewart was fouled on the edge of the box it was an ideal situation for them to exploit the Thornaby defence; unfortumnately the well taken free kick went narrowly wide. Thornaby then suffered a major setback when Abdullah, auguably their best defender, was carried off the pitch with a pulled hamstring.

RCA took control of the game in a scintillating 15 minute period at the start of the second half. Davison had two efforts on goal in the opening four minutes of the half and when Stewart cut inside he was brought down inside the box by Reed and a penalty was awarded.

Coghlan took the penalty and his well struck shot rebounded off the post. Jones reacted the quickest and fired the ball home from an acute angle.

Stewart was starting to get at the Thornaby defence on the right and Davies was causing problems down the left. It was only a matter of time before they increased their lead - this time Stewart played a neat one two with Davison inside the box before beating Pisawi with a powerful shot.

Thornaby were unable to cope with the pace of the game and started to tire while RCA were starting to play some really good football. Stewart was the provider for the fourth goal when he burst past two defenders before firing in a shot which was weel saved by Pisawi, but the ball rebounded to Stewart who squared the ball to substitute Davis who sidefooted home from close range.

Thornaby tried to make a fight of it but could not get past the RCA defence and were for the most part kept at bay by a well-drilled RCA defence. When they did get into good positions their final ball let them down or they found McLean in the RCA goal hard to beat.

In the 85th minute Davison rounded off a good second half performance when a received a pass from Noble, controlled the ball with his right foot and turned a hit a thunderbolt of a right foot shot into the top corner of the net.

16 September 2009

skilltrainingltd Northern League Div II

Sunderland RCA lost their 100% league record to a very good Crook Town team who more than matched them in a very competitive 0-0 draw at Meadow Park.

How often have you heard it said that 0-0 draws were predictable? Well when these two teams met they had scored 45 goals between them so a no score draw was probably the most unpredictable score line imaginable.

The game started with Crook forcing the pace and a shot from Kokes going wide. It didn’t take long for RCA to respond and it was Davison who produced a cracking shot which was well saved by Lanning.

In the 18th minute Crook looked to have taken the lead when a cross into the box was met by Olusoga who scrambled it home, but he was adjudged to be offside. Crook were piling on the pressure and gained two corners in quick succession; however they were well dealt with by RCA defence.

In the 37th minute RCA were awarded a freekick on the edge of the box and Coghlan passed the ball to Davies who crossed into the box only for Lanning to get to the ball just before the head of Davison.
Two minutes later and another Coghlan freekick went inches wide with the keeper beaten.

In the 42nd minute Taylor tried an audacious shot from 25 yards which rattled off the crossbar and was cleared by Hall.

The second half saw Crook well on top in the opening 10 minutes with Kokes going close with a snap shot and Hall heading against the crossbar. The two forwards were causing all sorts of problems and only some superb defending by Wardle and Anderson kept them at bay.

In the 70th minute a corner was awarded to Crook and when the ball was delivered into the box Hall powered a header downward into the bottom corner. Somehow Mclean got a hand to the ball and turned it over the bar. A great save to keep RCA in the game.

The introduction of Richards to the midfield added something to RCA as an attacking force and they came into the game a little more. Coghlan sent another freekick inches wide and when Davis crossed to the far post Taylor was on hand to volley the ball home only to be flagged for offside.

Both teams continued to attack and to try to win the game and as the match reached its conclusion a flare up between a number of players resulted in the dismissal of Davis.

RCA will probably not face a sterner test than this one and they came through with their unbeaten league form intact. Crook will be disappointed that they did not convert at least one of their chances.

19 September 2009

skilltraining Northern League Division II

Sunderland RCA continued their unbeaten League run against a hard working Washington team. Another three points keep them clear at the top of Division II.

RCA were once again caught napping in the opening minutes of the game when a through ball from Lydon found Emmerson unmarked inside the box and he made no mistake from 12 yards out.

Within four minutes they had equalised when Stewart's supurb cross evaded the Washington defence and found Davies at the far post and he cooly slotted home.

Washington were unlucky when Reays cross was volleyed over the bar by Emmerson and Watling had a shot which flew wide. A quick Coghlan freekick to Davies almost punished Washington as the cross found Richards but his shot was deflected for a corner. From the corner Richards headed over.

Within a minute a cross from Taylor found Davies at the far post, but this time he volleyed the ball wide of the target.

A bizzare incident near the end of the half when Watling challenged McLean in the RCA goal and the ball ran free, Watling picked himself up and stabbed the ball home. The Assistant Referee disallowed the goal presumably for a foul on the keeper.

An even sillier incident occurred after six minutes of the second half when the whole Washington back four appealed for offside against Taylor as he ran past them; the keeper raced off his line and was favourite to get to the ball, but Taylor challenged him and won the ball and from near the touchline curled the ball into an empty net.

RCA started to dominate in the next 20 minutes with constant pressure on the Washington goal, Davison had a header fly over the bar, Davies should have killed the game off with shot that flew wide. A minute later and a Davison header found Richards who crossed for Coghlan, but he shot over. Within minutes Davies won a header in the box and the ball fell to Davison who chested it down before hitting a shot which Starford saved brilliantly. From the corner Anderson had a great header well saved by Starford.

Washington having survived this onslaught came back at RCA and some good work by Lydon and Oliver in the centre of the park saw the latter make a supurb pass which found Emmerson free and his shot beat Mclean but was cleared off the line by Jones.

In the 85 minute Davison received a pass from Richards, turned and fired in a shot which beat Starford, but rebounded off the upright; the ball fell to McBryde 12 yards out but he fired over the bar.

This seemed to spur Washington on and they finished the game putting pressure on the RCA defence without really testing McLean.

26th September 2009

skilltrainingltd Northern League Div II

RCA were forced to make three changes for the visit of Whickham for today's match. In came Club Captain Stephen Halliday for the injured Coghlan, Ashley Davis started in place of McGuinness who was on holiday and Liam Mcbryde took over at centre forward from the injured Taylor.

The game started in beautiful sunshine with RCA taking advantage of the slope in the first half and it was not long before they were on the attack with a crossfield ball from Halliday finding Davies on the left wing, his cross was met by Davison, but his header was saved by Cresswell.

In the 10th minute another good ball from midfield found McBryde on the right and his cross was headed over the bar by Davison.

RCA took the lead after 15 minutes when a surging run by Richards left the Whickham defence in disarray, his cross found McBryde at the far post and he headed goalwards, Stewart made sure nipping to head home from close range.

The Whickham response was immediate with Tait firing wide from 15 yards out and within a minute they put pressure on the RCA defence and a mistake was almost punished by Laws, but he fired straight at McLean.

RCA had the ball in the net when McBryde rose high above Andison and headed home only for the linesman to flag for an infringement.

Late in the half a lovely cross from Stewart found Davies inside the six yard box, but he could only guide the ball onto the bar and into the waiting arms of Cresswell and a minute later the same player shot across the face of goal. McBryde had another goal disallowed when he ghosted in at the back post to score from a well taken corner. The referee awarded a freekick for a foul on the keeper. However, on the hour mark McBryde got the goal that his efforts deserved when he latched onto a pass from Stewart and although Cresswell saved the first shot he followed up and slide the ball home.

Within a minute RCA were 3 - 0 up when Richards hit an unstoppable 25 yard screamer which the goalkeeper never saw.

Only some brilliant saves from Cresswell kept the score at 3 - 0, firstly a point blank save from Shields and then he saved with his feet from Stewart.

Chances were coming and being squandered by a rampant RCA and Whickham were struggling to keep up with the pace of the game.

To their credit they stuck at it and as the game entered the final five minutes they started to put pressure on the RCA defence. Swanston had probably the best chance when he went clear of the defence, but decided to shoot when there were two team mates in a better position in front of goal and his effort went wide.