John Butler making his debut against Jarrow Roofing.
More photographs from the match are here.
Goalscorers: SRCA: None Roofing: Chow.
RCA gave debuts to new signings Ross Preston and John Butler, though whether they are technically debuts is open for discussion as both players have played for RCA previously.
The squad was further enhanced by the return of Swansbury.
RCA quickly took control of the game and in the third minute a Davis freekick caused problems in the Jarrow defence and eventually Purewal headed clear, the ball fell to McNab 25 yards out but he shot wide of the target.
At the other end a free kick was crossed into the box by Sakr and Myers rose to head straight at Bussey.
The game was flowing from end to end as both teams looked for an early opener. Sakr picked up a loose ball in midfield and played a reverse pass to Myers but Noble was alert to the danger and cut out the cross.
In the 15th minute the persistence of Hassan won a corner, Davis swung it over to the far post where Preston connected with a shot which bounced into the ground, Jennison managed to get a fingertip to it and it struck the bar and went over for another corner, this time the ball found Hassan whose shot was blocked for a third corner which Swansbury headed wide.
RCA were on top at this point but couldn't push home their advantage. A quickly taken free kick by McNab to Cassidy caught the Jarrow defence flatfooted and the wingers curling cross had to be saved by Jennison with Butler ready to pounce on any mistakes.
Jarrow were being restricted to quick breakaways and in Williamson they had the perfect paceman. In the 28th minute a long ball forward was controlled by the winger before he crossed into the box and the ball was met at the far post by Sakr whose volleyed was saved by Bussey.
RCA's best move of the match came in the 40th minute when Davis clipped the ball forward to Hassan who controlled it on his chest before setting off on a run which saw him play a one two with Davis and then with Butler before taking the ball round the last defender and shooting, unfortunately the ball flew wide of the far post.
The good work of the first half was completely forgotten at the start of the second half as the indiscipline in the RCA ranks reared its ugly head again.
In the 47th minute Noble chased the ball into the opposition penalty area, sliding in he collided with Jennison and a defender; the goalkeeper collected the ball but an altercation between Noble and the defender saw Noble dismissed for violent conduct.
To make matters worse Lay was dismissed only six minutes later when he saw red for serious foul play: when challenging for the ball his arm made contact with a Jarrow forward.
The remaining nine men of RCA rallied round and looked fairly comfortable with the Roofers although having a lot of possession failing to test Bussey in the RCA goal.
The RCA goalkeeper picked up a knock in the 70th minute which had him hobbling for the remainder of the game.
It was almost the nine men of RCA who opened the scoring when McBryde slipped the ball through to Butler who fired in a low shot which was headed behind for a corner which was headed over the bar by Swansbury.
Williamson had a great chance to score when a long ball upfield from Jennison landed at his feet, but he fired high and wide.
However, Roofing did take the lead in the 85th minute when Williamson picked up the ball on the left before cutting inside and squaring the ball to Chow, who slotted home from close range with the RCA defence breached for the first time in the match.
In the dying minutes RCA threw players forward in an attempt to salvage something from the game, but they never troubled the Jarrow keeper Jennison.
Footnote to the match: it looks like Neal Bussey suffered a fractured ankle during the match, but carried on despite being in obvious discomfort. I personally wish him a speedy recovery.