Max Allen in action during the second half of the match.
RCA travelled to the East Palmersville Sports Pavilion for this Ebac Northern League fixture against West Allotment Celtic. The previous encounter between the two clubs earlier in the season ended in a 0-0 draw.
RCA’s injury list continues to grow with Mikey still out with an ankle Injury, Hall struggling with a groin/hamstring problem; Lavery also has a tight hamstring and Jakab suffering knee problems. Added to that the suspension of Moan meant that the management team had to rely on bringing in both Patton and Morris who haven’t played competitive football for two weeks.
The teams lined up as follows:
Sunderland RCA: Marrs, Nelson, Charlton ©, Allen, Hawkins, Trewick, Fryatt, Bennett, Davison, Patton, Morris. Subs: Lavery, Hall, Richards, Lawrence, Ezard
West Allotment Celtic: Gladstone, Higgins, Parkinson, Forster, Scott ©, Errington, Pearson, Kanda, Bates, Larmouth, Lowery-Matondo. Subs: Gaffney, Scott, Thompson, Conway, Martins.
To commemorate Armistice Day there was an impeccably observed minute's silence held before the match.
The pitch, it has to be said, was not looking at its best. Any thoughts of attractive passing football were quickly erased as both teams settled for playing the ball forward in the hope of defensive mistakes.
An early chance fell to RCA when Fryatt picked up a long ball forward wrong footed his marker before firing in a shot which was palmed away by Gladstone and the ball was just out of the reach of Morris at the back post.
West took the lead when a Marrs freekick was won by Errington who hooked the ball forward to Bates who outpaced the RCA defence before squaring the ball to Lowery-Matondo who had the simple task of steering the ball into an empty net.
Within minutes RCA’s captain Charlton limped off the field to be replaced by Lavery.
RCA were awarded a penalty in the 23rd minute when Patton was upended in the box, he picked himself up to take the penalty but side footed the ball over the bar.
With the game literally bogged down in a midfield battle neither team seemed able to get much impetus into the game although the home team seemed to be more able to get the ball forward quickly.
A long range freekick by Larmouth seemed to be dipping under the bar until Marrs managed to get a fingertip to the ball and it went out for a corner, Parkinson took the in-swinging corner which Marrs decided to try and punch clear but instead the slightest of touches sent the ball directly into the net.
West Allotment then started to take command of the midfield with Kanda and Larmouth starting to make them tick.
A throw in on the right started the move which led to the third goal. The ball thrown to Bates who looked to be fouled by Hawkins, the Assistant Referee flagged for the foul but the Referee waved play on and Bates crossed into the box for Larmouth to smash the ball into the net in the 45th minute.
This was a disappointing end to a poor first half display by RCA.
The second half started quietly with nothing of note happening at either end of the pitch. Most of the action centered on the midfield area as Trewick and Bennett tried to get to grips with Larmouth and Kanda.
A ball forward by Higgins on the right, he squared the ball to Larmouth who dribbled the ball across the 18 yard line before hitting a powerful shot straight at Marrs.
That’s about as good as it got regarding goalmouth chances by either team.
In the 76th minute RCA reduced the arrears when Fryatt whipped in a cross which was missed by Errington and the ball fell at the feet of Davison who made no mistake from inside the 6 yard area.
The game sparked into life for the final 15 minutes as RCA went looking a second goal which would give them a chance but the home defence were looking solid.
RCA had a lot of possession during this period without really troubling the keeper who was intent on wasting as much time as possible.
The visitors continued to try and play football but far too often the final pass was intercepted or went astray. A quickly taken throw in by Fryatt was picked up by Richards who took the ball across the 18 yard line before laying it off to Patton but his shot sailed well wide of the target.
At the other end a mis-placed pass in midfield was picked up by Kanda who played the ball forward to Bates who crossed into the box for Larmouth but Marrs was able to smother the ball comfortably.
As RCA pushed forward they left gaps at the back and the long ball tactics of West Allotment caused panic on several occasions towards the end of the match, none more so than when Marrs looked to be beaten by a Bates shot but Lawrence was on hand to clear off the line.
The final play of the game went to West Allotment. Good play down the right by Higgins who crossed the ball into the box for Larmouth who hooked his shot over the bar.
The old adage about a game of two halves was indeed true for RCA today, poor in the first half, a lot better in the second half. West Allotment took their chances when they came along and had luck on their side with two of their goals.
That being said RCA can have no complaints about this defeat. We dust ourselves down and get ready for the next match, a little matter of the Durham Challenge Cup match against Stockton Town on Tuesday, 15 November 2022: Kick off 7.30pm.