Saturday, 12 February 2011
STL Northern League Division 1
Click here for a slideshow of photos from the match
In the third instalment of the recent triple Sunderland RCA once again travelled to Filtrona Park to play South Shields. RCA manager Neil Hixon was without Martin Smith for the trip but saw the return of Richie Logan, Carl Beasley and Paul Talbot to the starting line up after missing Monday evening’s game with Whitley Bay.
Intense rain the night previous had left the pitch at Filtrona Park heavy, with a passing game difficult to maintain on the muddy surface. RCA struggeled to adapt early on and were punished when South Shields took the lead through Tony Burnell.
South Shields were putting reliance on the long ball up to the frontmen which suited the conditions and led to their second goal. Hit from the back Darryl Hall played the ball long in the direction of Burnell. James Oates defended the first ball but Burnell was able to pick up the second. Shifting the ball onto his right Burnell shot low from distance and the effort skidded across the surface and slipped under the body of RCA goalkeeper Gary Hoggeth.
RCA slowly grew back into the game. During a period of pressure on the South Shields the ball was lifted into the path of Joe Walton who had found space in the 18-yard area. Walton hit the bouncing ball cleanly leaving Josh Carmichael a spectator but the effort hit off the inside of the post and fell fortunately for a South Shields player to clear.
Despite the difficultly of the surface RCA were able to work the ball around on the floor. Just before the interval a exchange of passes between Logan, Keith Graydon and Chris Smith gave the latter an opportunity to strike at goal but, from 12-yards out, Smith could only pull the shot wide.
RCA return for the second half looking for an early goal and after some last ditch defending by the South Shields rearguard Harrison Davies was able to pounce and convert only two minutes after the restart.
Davies was looking impressive in the second period committing South Shields defenders and driving into the box. He put RCA back on level terms with around 20 minutes left finishing confidently from inside the box after a misplaced pass.
The emphasis was very much with RCA now and Walton, Davies and Logan were all giving the South Shields back four problems. Logan picking the ball up deep was dragging Hall out of position and Hall, worried about the space was forced into some reckless challenges on the RCA forward. It would be two, in a 10-minute period, which would earn Hall his two yellow cards and resulting dismissal.
The returning Wayne Henderson’s first major involvement after being introduced as a sub was to make a sliding challenge attempting to win the ball. Henderson was adjudged by the officials of deliberately handling the ball despite tackling on the floor with his hands across his chest. The resulting freekick was floated into the box and met by Paul Stoneman who’s header came back down of the crossbar and was judged to have crossed the line by the referee’s assistant.
RCA began to throw men forward in search of the equaliser as a result leaving themselves exposed at the back and South Shields could have easily scored a fourth on the counter. RCA could not find the breakthrough and South Shields secured the league double over RCA.
