Sunderland RCA 2 Willington 2

Under 18s League

11 April 2009

The opposition knew what to expect at Meadow Park today and made a number of changes from the starting line up that had turned out in the cup match the previous Monday. SRCA made a couple of changes from the previous two games with Ryan Graham returning in goal and Anthony Gamble back in the back four.

The visitors were clearly up for it and if Monday's start by SRCA was impressive Willington's was equally as good, attacking from the off. After good midfield play between Richard Suddes and Lewis Brown in midfield, a great ball was played over the head of SRCA's central defenders and centre forward Barry Thompson raced onto it, despatching the ball over the head of advancing Graham in goal. 1 - 0 to Willington and only six minutes played. If this was a wake-up call for RCA it was ignored as moments after a ball was played in from the right wing and again missed by SRCA defenders; it fell to the feet of Thompson who in a great position hammered the ball over the bar from only eight yards. The home side could not settle down in the first half hour, but did create a good chance from a corner, which Luke Page headed over. A strong penalty claim was also turned down when a Willington defender, who did not make any contact with the ball, challenged Knight, racing into the box. The increased pressure paid off though; on 40 minutes with Alan Tench instrumental in playing one-twos down the right before delivering a great ball to Knight in the box, who raced on and made no mistake hitting the ball right into the corner of the net. SRCA were very alive know and right on half time they beat the offside trap and with Knight in again with the keeper to beat the referee blew for half time.

SRCA commenced the second half like they finished the first with Lee Andrews hitting a good tester for the keeper and left back Liam Dunn also getting into the box after a terrific solo run with the final effort drilled over the bar. However Willington dusted themselves down and after winning a corner they took the lead after 60 minutes. The corner hit in well from the right had keeper Graham coming off his line however after a challenge the ball spilt free and number eight, Evan Graham wasted no time in dispatching the ball home. 2 - 1 to Willington. The visitors then invited pressure on themselves opting to play one up front and it was generally one-way traffic after that. Nicholson, Reynolds and Bradley were brought on in quick succession to mix things up as Willington were closing all the doors just in front of goal. Robinson on the left was beating his markers at will, but there was no final finish by the SRCA attackers. However when a long ball was played through the middle on 88 minutes, Mathew Reynolds ran onto it and in a race with the keeper he got to the ball first and from 25 yards and a very tight angle hit it high over the keeper's head, bouncing once and then hitting the roof of the net. Big celebrations as the SRCA lads were ecstatic in hitting the equaliser and getting their rewards for the long period of domination. Final whistle 2 - 2 and the unbeaten run continues. It's a long break now after the quick rush of games, with no fixtures for two weeks. Not a good time to have a break but big games to look forward to with two semis, a County Cup Final and one league game left against Willington with the runners up spot still possible.