Tuesday, 10 December 2013
EBAC Northern League Division 1
Goal Scorers: SRCA: Barton, Fryatt Marske: Alexander, Earl, Wheatley.
RCA named an unchanged eleven for this EBAC Northern League away match against a Marske team who started the season with a 17 game unbeaten run follow by eight straight defeats but who seemed to have steadied the ship of late.
RCA had the ball in the net within two minutes of the start when a cross field ball from Baynes found Fryatt free, the diminutive winger cut inside, rounded the keeper and slotted home only to find that the assistant had raised his flag for an offside against Patton who didn't seem to be interfering with play.
Three minutes later and Marske took the lead, a quickly taken throw in by O'Sullivan found Stewart on the left and the ex-RCA Winger crossed low into the box where Alexander took full advantage of a mix up in the RCA defence to force the ball home at the second attempt.
RCA where back level within five minutes when a free kick was awarded for a foul on Fryatt. Wilson crossed high into the box and Barton, rising above Oliver in the Marske goal headed home.
Marske applied a little pressure in the next 10 minutes. A shot from Butterworth went well wide and then a promising move saw Macdonald slip the ball inside to Earl who played the ball forward toward Alexander who beat Carmichael to the ball and slid the ball goalwards but Horsman was on hand to clear the danger.
RCA almost took the lead in the 20th minute when a Oliver, looking a little casual, was caught in possession by Patton. With the goalkeeper out of position he laid the ball back to Barton, but his effort was blocked, at the expense of a corner, by Wheatley. The resulting corner was headed wide of the target by Preston.
Back came Marske with full back Gott sending a long ball forward to Earl whose shot was blocked by Carmichael and cleared upfield by Horsman.
A through ball from Stanger was intercepted by Tidy and sent forward to Earl who looked to lob Carmichael, but it flew well over the bar.
The game then became a bit scrappy as both teams started to find it hard to create openings for their forwards and the game got bogged down in midfield.
A Clough headed clearance flew all the way back to Oliver who mis-cued his clearance and it fell to Stanger who tried to find Fryatt, but his pass was blocked by Wheatley.
Another long throw by O'Sullivan almost caught RCA out in the 40th minute and although Preston read the danger his clearance only went back to O'Sullivan but he blazed his shot over the bar.
Two minutes later and RCA were awarded a penalty when Fryatt was uppended in the box. Barton stepped up to take and Oliver made a terrific save and Wheatley blocked the followup shot from Barton.
Immediately after the restart a through ball from Wilson was miskicked by Oliver and fell to Patton who was fouled by the keeper on the edge of the box. The referee awarded a freekick and gave Oliver a yellow card.
Wilson took the resulting freekick firing the ball straight at the keeper who dropped the ball again but this time Fryatt was on hand to stab the ball home. RCA 2-1 up, should have been 3-1 up and game over.
Dean replaced Oliver in the Marske goal.
In the 55th minute Butterworth picking the ball up in his own half played a magnificent pass into the path of Alexander who fired in a shot which beat Carmichael but rebounded off the post to safety.
On the hour mark Patton picked up a pass from Baynes and dribbled past three defenders before firing in a low drive which Dean managed to get a foot to. The ball spun away to Fryatt who was following up and he drilled in a shot which was blocked by Wheatley.
Butterworth was staring to see more of the ball in the final 20 minutes of the game and was using it intelligently. A through ball to Macdonald split the RCA defence and Carmichael had to be at his best to turn the ball round the post.
It only delayed the equaliser for a matter of minutes as O'Sullivan swung in the corner and it was met by Earl who headed home from 10 yards out.
Both teams made substitutions in an effort to win the game, but until the final minutes neither keeper was really tested.
In the 91st minute and with the game drifting towards a draw RCA conceded a corner and once again O'Sullivan took it and swung the ball into the danger area. There followed a scramble in which Wheatley managed to get a head on to the ball and direct it into the net. A massive blow to RCA who had battled hard to try and get something out of this game.
Substitutions can make or break a game and the substition of Oliver for Dean by Ted Watts was a good decision as the ex-Spennymoor keeper made a couple of good saves and also kept on top of his defenders.
RCA conceded from two corners late in the game after taking off Barton who is augably our best defender at corners. There was probably a reason for the change and the fact that the player is unavailable for the weekend might have been a factor.
All in all RCA probably deserved something out of this game but we have said that in a number of games this season and we need to start picking up points to avoid a similar fate as last season.