RCA's Kyle Fryatt and Phil Horsman combine to crowd out the Celtic Nation forward.
Saturday, 14 December 2013
EBAC Northern League Division 1
Goalscorers: SRCA: none Celtic Nation: Murphy (2), Coleman
Please click here for photos from the match.
Sunderland RCA made a number of changes to the squad for the visit of title chasing Celtic Nation. Into the starting eleven came Ross Wilkinson, on loan from Shildon, Stephen Halliday, Aaron Brown and Andrew Brown. The team started the game in an unfamiliar 4-5-1 formation.
The match was completely ruined as a spectacle by the blustery wind which was blowing straight down the pitch. It has to be said that the Celtic Nation players coped better with the weather conditions than our lads.
Celtic Nation took advantage of the slope and the wind in the first half and pressed forward early in the game, the first chance of the half fell to Atkin at the far post a cross in from the right by Coleman found the tall centre forward, but Carmichael was able to turn the header wide of the post.
The home team tried to respond but were finding it difficult to get the ball up to lone striker Patton and Celtic's defence where picking up the loose balls easiliy.
Ten minutes into the game and the lively Fryatt skipped past two tackles before cutting the ball back into the path of Aaron Brown, but he snatched at his effort and it flew harmlessly over the bar.
The wind was playing havoc with the game as Celtic Nation looked to take control, ball after ball was being caught on the wind and ending up going out of play and goalkicks were only just getting out of the 18 yards area.
On the quarter hour mark a cross in by Gibson was met by the head of Atkin who headed the ball back across goal toward Coleman, but Preston reacted quickly to clear the danger.
Celtic took the lead in the 24th minute when the impressive Murphy dribbled into the area before unleashing a shot which was blocked by Wilkinson, the ball fell to Coleman who chipped the ball back into the box where Murphy was on hand to head home from six tards out.
They increased there lead five minutes later when a poor clearance fell to Murphy who played a great ball in to Coleman. The ex-Penrith striker held off the challenge of Preston before turning and striking a low drive into the bottom corner of the net.
It was almost all one-way traffic as Celtic poured forward looking for the goal that would surely kill the game off. Luscombe was unlucky not to divert a hasty clearance into the top corner as the ball struck his boot and flew inches over the bar.
To their credit, RCA continued to try and play football with Andrew Brown and Stanger looking to create things in the centre of the park, but it was difficult in the conditions to string any meaningful passes together.
The second half saw RCA looking to mount a comeback with the assistance of the wind, but it was Celtic who had the first attempt on goal when a cross from Gibson was headed away for a corner by Wilkinson. The left wing corner was headed well wide by Johnson who was in a good position and unmarked.
RCA changed formation and introduced Wray in the heart of the defence pushing Wilkinson forward in an attempt to unsettle the Celtic defence and almost immediately it had an effect as the ball was played forward into Wilkinson he headed the ball back to Andrew Brown 35 yards out and he curled a wonderful shot inches wide of the upright with Taylor rooted to the spot.
Five minutes later and a through ball from Stanger found Patton on the edge of the box, the striker turned and shot but Taylor was equal to it and made a comfortable save.
RCA were, for the first time in the match looking likely to score and when Jury slipped the ball to Aaron Brown his cross into the box was sloced away for a corner. The corner was headed clear by Johnson but only as far as Andrew Brown who picked out Wray at the far post with an inch perfect pass but he could only steer the ball wide of the target.
Back came Celtic, having stopped RCA from scoring they were now looking to run down the clock with some good passing and movement, retaining possession for long periods.
As the game looked to be petering out up popped man of the match Murphy. He picked up a clearance on the edge of the box, controlled the ball with one touch and drilled in an unstoppable shot into the net giving Carmichael no chance.
As has been mentioned already the wind played a big part in today's match and it was obvious that the team pushing for promotion were looking to bag all three points and were the better side overall.
Having said that RCA proved once again that they are good enough to play at this level against good opposition and with the team spirit that has developed they will only get better. What we really need is a win to boost our confidence.
After the game a good night was had by all who attended the Race Night and a big thank you to the players and supporters who contributed to the proceedings.