Saturday, 3 Aprill 2010
skilltrainingltd Northern League Division 2
Sunderland RCA went back to the top of Division 2 with this win against lowly Darlington RA. However they did not have it all their own way. Darlington gave as good as they got in the first half and took a surprise lead and could have doubled it before RCA turned on the style.
A torrential hailstorm greeted the players at the start of the match and it soon became clear that the pitch would cut up badly. RCA were finding it difficult to adapt their passing style on a sticky pitch and it was RA who seemed to revel in the conditions early on with Donalson causing problems down the left and Abel holding the ball up front. Eventually RCA got it together and should have taken the lead when a Stewart cross was met at the far post by O' Riordan, but he somehow managed to steer the ball wide of the opposite post.
RA took the lead when O'Riordan was dispossed on the halfway line and the ball was quickly fed to Abel who made no mistake from 12 yards out. This was a wake up call for RCA and they pushed forward, but could not seem to do the simple things well and were getting caught with smart counter attacks from RA.
In the 25th minute Kokes went past two defenders and fired in a shot which Moody was equal to, the resulting corner was headed over by Hall.
RA almost doubled their lead when another defensive mistake saw Freary release Donaldson on the left and his cross was met by Abel who looked to fire home, but Hoggeth got down to turn it round the post for a corner.
RCA were level after 38 minutes when a through ball from Richards found O'Riordan and he cooly curled the ball into the top corner.
This was the start of some sustained pressure from RCA and both McBryde and Kokes were unlucky with efforts that went narrowly wide. When they did get shots on target, Moody was saving them with ease.
The sun tried to make an apppearance for the second half and RCA certainly did with a blistering assault on the RA goal. A through ball from Halliday found McBryde in space and his shot was inches over the bar. O'Riordan was having a field day on the left and on three occasions he went past the full back but could not get an effective cross in.
In the 52nd minute a clipped through ball by Halliday was handled inside the box and a penalty was awarded; O'Riordan stepped up and blasted the ball home.
Two minutes later and the same player was clear of the defence the simple pass to Kokes or McBryde was on but he went for glory and hit the side netting.
RCA were rampant now and RA could not get the ball out of their own half. The whole RA Back four were being pulled apart, but RCA were squandering chances and while it was still 2 - 1 RA were in with a shout. The longer the game went on the more RA turned the tide and came back into the game and Hoggeth had to be at his best to hold a fierce shot from Freary.
In the 80th minute Coghlan replaced Kokes and with his first touch made the score 3 -1 when he found space in the box to steer the ball past the helpless Moody. Two minutes later and he latched onto a through ball from Davies and fired home at the back post. Two goals in two minutes with two touches of the ball: an inspirational substitution, playing a central midfield schemer as a make-shift centre forward.
With the game over RCA played out the remainder of the match in comparative ease.
