Sunderland RCA FC grassroots football

Funny place Consett; for a start it's a lot further away than you think. By the time you get there you fancy you should be seeing lakes and mountains, but you don't, just sheep. You are however, up a good height, which got me to thinking whether the laws of nature that give those mountain men from Kenya and Ethiopia such an advantage when they come down to sea level to run against our plucky lads also apply to Consett footballers? Does plying your trade on a regular basis in the thin air of the Belle Vue mean that your legs go round a lot easier when you come down to the flatlands? Should there be a handicap system in the Northern League that negates this advantage? And if so, how much more would it apply to Tow Law? Could be fun when reporting the results, "Consett won 1-0 but thanks to the high altitude factor being applied the final result goes down as 2-1 to RCA", "Tow Law were going well in the race for the championship until the mountain handicap kicked in and they were docked 12 points". Well, the management committee would have something else to do other than worrying about bad language, which might be a blessing; not that I am religious you understand. Or over sensitive. Or suggesting anybody else is.

Anyway I only jest of course, nothing wrong with being up high, I could do with being up six feet higher myself but there you go....

Sunday, 22 January 2012

Sunday League Cup

RCA Barnes exited the League Cup when Farringdon deservedly defeated them at Meadow Park, albeit with a slightly flattering scoreline of 4-0.

Farringdon had the advantage of the slope and a fierce wind in the first half and were immediately on the front foot, but RCA withstood the early pressure until a corner was badly defended allowing Pope to shoot through a crowded penalty area into the far corner from 10 yards, after 10 minutes to put Farra 1-0 ahead. The game then became a more evenly balanced affair with RCA breaking forward effectively and having one or two half decent chances to equalise up till half time.

Saturday, 21 January 2012

STL Northern League Division 1

Penalty? Tom Berj goes down inside the Penrith area, but this and other appeals went unanswered.

Click here for a slideshow of photos from the match.

The dismal home form continues with yet another draw against a below average Penrith team who battled hard but only really created the one chance with which they scored. For all our possession we were unable to produce the quality in the final third of the pitch. Ifs and buts will not win games, if the penalty appeal had been successful would we have scored the equaliser? Never mind we are as high in the league as any other RCA team in history and teams are coming to Meadow Park to defend, we need to find a way of breaking teams down, the same way that Spennymoor do.

So, having hesitated longer than a virgin behind the bike sheds on a cold Thursday night, the fat lad has said the word, and it turns out the Evo-Stik League is the holy grail after all. Probably a mistake. The ground can't possibly be up to standard yet, and he is surely not relying on the council to get their act in gear by the end of March? To be fair mind, they have only had a hundred years to get the Colliery Welfare up to scratch, and they have very nearly made it already, so what's three months when they put their minds to it?

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Durham Challenge Cup 2nd Round

Over 200 attended this match and witnessed a hard fought contest in which RCA matched the reigning League champions Spennymoor for over an hour before succumbing in the 72 minute to a beautiful own goal by Mark Davison and 2 minutes later Ex RCA player Keith "Rasher" Graydon rubbed salt in the wounds with a brilliantly executed freekick which, stand in keeper Craig Shields, couldn't reach as it floated into the net off the far post.

RCA did have chances in the first half and should have got one back late in the game when Owens shot was cleared off the line. Overall Spennymoor looked the more composed team and deserved to be in the next round of the draw.

Sunday, 8 January 2012

Sunderland Sunday League Premier Division

RCA The Barnes returned from the Xmas break to record a comfortable 4-0 victory over Paragon, at Silksworth Welfare Park. RCA had a strong squad available, but plans had to be redrawn when keeper Stoker went down with a back injury during the warm up and midfielder James 'JimBob' Dunn took over the gloves.