Sunderland RCA 3 Hebburn Town 1

Mark Davison heads home RCA's third goal of the match.

More photos from the match are here.

We welcomed Hebburn Town from the Northern Premier League Division One East to Sunderland LGV Park for this Extra Preliminary FA Cup tie.

This was Hebburn’s first competitive match of the season, with RCA having already had two, so a competitive match was expected. There has always been a healthy but respectful rivalry between the two sides from their encounters in the Northern League.

Marrs and Hawkins returned from holiday and were included in the starting eleven with Moan and Annang-Colquhoun added to the team as the manager made a number of changes.

The teams lined up as follows:

Sunderland RCA: Marrs, Nelson, Charlton ©, Allen, Jakab, Hawkins, Moan, Patton, Davison, Johnson, Annang-Colquhoun. Subs: Guy, Richardson, Richards, Charmey, Ene, Kharufa, Lowerson.

Hebburn Town: Newbrook, Groves ©, Waters, Carson, Devitt, Phillips, Spence, Reid, Henderson, Martin, Purewal. Subs: Murray, Archer, Busola-Bada, Rutherford, Moore.

Players from Sunderland RCA YFC under 11s accompanied the first team players onto the pitch as match day mascots in what is hoped to be a familiar occurrence during the season with members of other junior teams given the opportunity.

Unusually RCA had the advantage of the slope in the first half and began the game on the front foot. An early corner taken by Charlton found Patton on the edge of the box but his shot was always rising and sailed over the bar.

Hebburn, with a patient build up, had the next chance with Henderson having a shot blocked by Jakab; the loose ball was picked up by Martin who was dispossessed by Allen with the Hebburn players claiming a penalty which was waved away by the Referee.

RCA took the lead in the ninth minute when a ball forward by Hawkins was headed into the path of Nelson by Davison, Nelson switch play to Charlton who crossed into the box where Davison got in front of his marker to volley home from ten yards out.

A Hebburn free kick taken by Phillips found Purewal at the far post but his header was met by the head of Jakab and Hawkins was on hand to hook the ball down field.

RCA almost got a second goal when Charlton played a lovely ball through to Johnson who dribbled past two defenders before stabbing the ball wide of the upright.

Within a minute the two combined again with Johnson latching onto Charlton’s pass on the edge of the box, the RCA striker jinxed his way into the box before curling his shot wide.

RCA were well on top as Hebburn tried to come to terms with the pace of the game, Annang-Colquhoun was causing problems in the heart of their defence with his pace and willingness to close defenders down.

A Jakab free kick after Annang-Colquhoun was fouled was flicked on by Davison and headed out of play for a throw in by Devitt. From the throw in Nelson curled the ball into the box where Newbrook plucked the ball out of the air with Davison and Johnson both in close attendance.

The front two of RCA Davison and Johnson almost made it 2 – 0 when a Davison backheel inside the box set up Johnson who fired in a low shot which Newbrook, at full stretch, managed to turn away and the ball was cleared .

With minutes of the first half remaining Johnson again picked up a through ball from Charlton, tricked his way into the box but Newbrook again denied him with a terrific one handed save.

The resulting corner was met by Davison who headed the ball down to Moan, but his shot was well blocked by Phillips.

Half time and no one could believe that it was only 1-0.

Within a minute of the restart Henderson was booked for a raised arm proved too hot to handle, and the latter was somehow denied by the fingertips of Shaun Newbrook at point-blank range.

The visitors first attempt of the second half came when Martin, with his back to goal, received a ball from Philips turned a hooked shot toward the bottom corner but Marrs managed to get across to turn the ball away for a corner.

Within minutes RCA were 2-0 up, a clearance by Newbrook was picked up by Charlton, he took the ball forward at pace, unopposed he cut inside before placing a terrific low shot beyond the reach of Newbrook and into the bottom corner of the net.

In the 73rd minute, Hebburn were awarded a free kick for a needless trip, which was taken by Phillips and headed out for a corner by Jakab. The resulting corner was swung in by Martin and eventually fell to Devitt whose shot was blocked, but Purewal was on hand to smash the rebound into the net.

The visitors with their tails up pushed forward and Marrs had to be alert to a long range effort from Waters which he parried away and Hawkins cleared up field.

RCA defended well and were quick to break especially on the left where Charlton was immense. His quick thinking earned RCA a corner on the left and he took it himself sending in a beautifully directed cross onto the head of Davison who powered the ball into the roof of the net for his second and RCA’s third.

The game however was not over with RCA trying to run the clock down they lost possession on the half way line and Murray picked up the ball before chipping in a cross which was met by Moore but his header was scrambled away.

A piece of ingenuity in the final minute of added time almost got Charmey a goal, with RCA seemingly content to keep the ball in the corner he decided to surprise the visitors by dribbling along the goal line past two players before drilling a low shot across the face of goal.

This was a truly magnificent performance from the lads, even surpassing the outstanding performance at Frickley Athletic last season. The team was up for the match and dominated their opponents for the majority of the game. From back to front everyone did their job and executed the manager’s game plan to perfection.

We play Whickham in the next round on Saturday, 20 August 2022 after they beat Frickley Athletic 2-1.

Next up we are back to League action when we entertain West Auckland Town on Tuesday, 9 August.