Tuesday, 12 October 2010
STL Northern League Division 1
A trip to the Northern League's furthest north ground faced Sunderland RCA as they travelled to Woodhorn Lane, the home of Ashington AFC. RCA manager Neil Hixon was without Scott Richards, Richard Logan and new signing John Ryan, but was able to call on other debutants left back Paul Talbot and Marc Ellison, who came in to partner Micky Coglan in the centre of midfield. With a lack of striking options, central defender Paul Wardle was entrusted with the job of spearheading the RCA attack.
Woodhorn Lane, Ashington’s home since 2008 when they moved from Portland Park to the edge of the town, has a wonderful playing surface that lends itself to tidy, passing football. This suited RCA who began the game looking accomplished in possession. However, RCA’s early attacking moves found themselves breaking down up front with a final ball.
At the opposite end Ashington were less subtle in their approach play. Long balls up top to the target of ex-RCA centre forward Phil Bell. It would be Ashington who would carve the first opening of the match. A long ball out of defence found its way to the Ashington right flank. Alex Houlsby was given time to pick a decent cross into the box and he didn’t fail to deliver. His ball with pace picked out Phil Bell at the back post but the big centre forward headed wide from six yards clattering RCA goalkeeper Gary Hoggeth in the process.
As the first half progressed RCA began to look more threatening in front of the Ashington goal. Wardle as the makeshift centre forward was causing the Ashington defence problems with work rate and unpredictability. 20 minutes in a long ball up to Wardle caused uncertainty in the Ashington defence. Karl Dryden in the Ashington goal, trying to read the play, came out to intercept and clear but a touch from an Ashington defender took the ball away from him and into the path of Harrison Davies. Davies watched the bouncing ball carefully and hooked a special effort over the back peddling Dryden. The ball held in the air over the stranded keeper before dropping onto the crossbar and then kindly to an Ashington defender who was able to clear.
Minutes later, in almost similar fashion, a long ball up towards Bell was headed away by James Oates in the RCA defence. The bouncing ball fell nicely for David Colvin who had drifted infield. Colvin hit an equally spectacular effort that left Hoggeth helpless but struck the crossbar.
Joe Walton had been causing problems for Ashington left back Darren Lough all night and on the 35th minute he found the breakthrough. Walton ran at his man, carrying his team forward, before neatly checking back and laying the ball into Martin Smith. Smith held the ball in front of the square Ashington defence and bided his time before picking the perfect ball through to find the run of Walton who finished confidently.
Five minutes later and Walton should have made it two. A similar move saw Coghlan this time slipping through the winger. His first effort was saved by Dryden but the re-bound fell kindly for Walton, taking the keeper out of commission, but his second attempt was cleared off the line by an Ashington defender.
RCA came out after the interval still on top. Ellison in the centre of the park was having an excellent debut winning every tackle and motivating the team with his tenacity.
RCA were presented with two excellent chances to extend their lead. Firstly, Wardle pressured Dryden, who had come out of his area to deal with a long ball, into a mistake. But, with the goal gapping and more time that he imagined he miscued his finish sending the ball wide. Then, five minutes later, an excellent passing interchange on the edge of the box put Coghlan through on goal but, off balance, he sent his effort into the side netting.
Still behind Ashington began a 20 minute spell of pressure on the RCA goal however, Carl Beasley and Oates looked comfortable in dealing with everything the Ashington attack was throwing at them. An RCA corner would be the source of the Ashington equaliser. Floated in the corner was easily defended landing towards Talbot who pushed up field to collect. His first touch however was poor and presented Ashington with the opportunity to spread the ball wide, then, play a long ball over the top. Steve Jones stepped out to deal with it but misjudged his positioning and got under the flight of the ball. RCA were now exposed at the back and a simple cross into the middle found Phil Bell who headed into the bottom corner.
In the dying embers of the game an Ashington corner was well dealt with by RCA who found themselves with a break on. The ball was played to substitute Gavin Parkin, who had come on only minuets earlier for Smith. Parkin carried the ball the length of the field and found himself with a three on two situations. Opting instead to shoot Parkin picked his spot from 25 yards and found the postage stamp between post and crossbar, emphatically giving RCA the lead and ultimately all three points.
