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Sunderland RCA 4 Hebburn Town 0

Submitted by Colin Wilson on Monday, 24 September 2018
Saturday, 22 September 2018 - 3:00pm
Northern League 1
Alex Ramshaw

Alex Ramshaw readies himself to shoot late in the second half of the match.

Sunderland RCA: Tsapalos; Lilley, Swansbury, Preston, McNab; C. Davis, Elliott, Page, Ramshaw; O’Neill, Moan. Subs Armstrong, K. Davis, Robinson, Richardson, Kokoska

Hebburn Town: Hubery; Groves, Wallace, Kerr, Storey; Tumilty, Fairley, Stephenson, Dibb-Fuller; Armstrong, Richardson. Subs Spence, Jennison (GK), Sullivan, Gilhespy, Shaw

This looked like a real good game in prospect, as the resurgent Hebburn Town, just off the top of the table at this early stage in their first season back in the First Division, came to Meadow Park to meet an in form, but still a bit disrupted RCA, who had secured two top notch away wins in the last ten days. RCA went into the fixture with Craig Hodgson serving the last game of his suspension, Michael Charlton missing with a injury picked up last week, Mark Davison, Scott Pocklington, Jonny Davis and John Jury unavailable, and Steve Callen now looking like a long term absentee with his stomach muscle problem. On the positive side, Nathan O’Neill, Dylan Elliott, and James Armstrong were back and available as was young Sam Robinson and new signings Kyle Davis and goalkeeper Dimitrios Tsapalos. So a number of changes in the team and on the bench were to be expected, and RCA fans were entitled to be a little nervous as to how things would work out, on a beautiful day in sunny Ryhope.

Newcastle Benfield 1 Sunderland RCA 3

Submitted by Simon Mears on Sunday, 16 September 2018
Saturday, 15 September 2018 - 3:00pm
Northern League 1

Double scorer Dominic Moan chases a through ball during the second half of the match.

For more photos from the match please click here.

For Newcastle Benfield's match report please click here.

Goal scorers - Newcastle Benfield: Scott. RCA: Ramshaw; Moan (2).

After good wins at West Auckland Town in the Northern League on Tuesday and the friendly at home to Carlisle United under 19s on Thursday, Sunderland RCA travelled to Newcastle Benfield this afternoon looking for a third victory of the week.

RCA made four changes to the side that won at West Auckland Town on Tuesday - in came Clayton Davis, Ross McNab, John Jury and Alex Ramshaw, for Sam Lilley, Jordan Watson (who had returned to Blyth Spartans after an excellent month on loan), Nathan O'Neill and Colin Larkin.

The two sides lined up as follows:

Newcastle Benfield: Grainger; Evans; Martin; Slaughter; Turnbull (c); Grieve; Orrell; Robson; Knight; Robinson; Scott.

Sunderland RCA: Pocklington; Clayton Davis; McNab; Preston; Swansbury (c); Jury; Charlton; Page; Davison; Moan; Ramshaw. Subs: Lilley; Kokoska; Richardson; Limbo; Robinson.

Sunderland RCA 2 Carlisle United U19s 0

Submitted by Simon Mears on Thursday, 13 September 2018
Thursday, 13 September 2018 - 7:30pm
Friendly

Dimitri Limbo gave RCA an early lead with a good finish.

For more photos from the match please click here.

Sunderland RCA welcomed Carlisle United under 19s to Meadow Park for tonight's friendly.

RCA lined up as follows: Kokoska; Richardson; McNab; Preston; Lilley; Larkin; Clayton Davis; O'Neill; Robinson; Kyle Davis; Limbo.

West Auckland Town 1 Sunderland RCA 2

Submitted by Simon Mears on Wednesday, 12 September 2018
Tuesday, 11 September 2018 - 7:30pm
Northern League 1

Mark Davison scores the winner for RCA from the penalty spot.

For more photos from the match please click here.

Goal scorers - West Auckland Town: Price. Sunderland RCA: Charlton; Davison.

The relatively short journey from Silksworth to West Auckland Town is one of my favourites of the season - a ground that is as quaint as it is quirky, with pleasant views over the County Durham countryside, proper floodlight pylons in all four corners, and a remarkably uneven pitch all adding up to a memorable experience, as day gradually turned to night, and the lights began to take effect. Sunderland RCA, meanwhile, were looking to emulate last season's emphatic 3-0 victory and continue to climb the league table.

RCA made three changes to the side which lost the second epic encounter with Clitheroe last Tuesday - Ross Preston returned in place of the suspended Craig Hodgson, Jordan Watson replaced John Jury, and Colin Larkin returned up front in place of Jonathan Davis, with Nathan O'Neill moving into central midfield.

The two sides lined up as follows:

West Auckland Town: Bland; Hegarty; Price; Snaith; Colquhoun; Cobain; Mitchell; Portas; Fisher (c); Purewal; Dodds.

Sunderland RCA: Pocklington; Lilley; Watson; Preston; Swansbury (c); O'Neill; Charlton; Page; Davison; Larkin; Moan. Subs: Jury; Clayton Davis; Ramshaw; Armstrong; McNab.

Sunderland RCA 2 Clitheroe 3

Submitted by Simon Mears on Wednesday, 5 September 2018
Tuesday, 4 September 2018 - 7:45pm
The Emirates FA Cup

Craig Hodgson shields the ball late in the match.

For more photos from the match please click here.

For Connor Lamb's match report please click here.

Goal scorers - RCA: O'Neill; Page. Clitheroe: Racizac; Matthews; Jacob Gregory.

After back-to-back league wins over Seaham Red Star and Ashington, Sunderland RCA welcomed Clitheroe to Meadow Park for tonight's Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round replay.

The two sides lined up as follows:

Sunderland RCA: Pocklington; Jury; Lilley; Hodgson; Swansbury (c); Davis; Charlton; Page; O'Neill; Davison; Moan. Subs: Larkin; McNab; Preston; Ramshaw; Elliott; Kokoska.

Clitheroe: Wilczynski; Harwood; Matthews; Bianca; Jeffries; Thompson (c); Jacob Gregory; Joshua Gregory; Wood; Hazeldine; Gosling.

Sunderland RCA 3 Ashington 1

Submitted by Colin Wilson on Monday, 3 September 2018
Saturday, 1 September 2018 - 3:00pm
Northern League 1

 

Sunderland RCA
Kokoska, Jury, Swansbury, Lilley, Watson; J. Davis, Hodgon, Armstrong, Charlton; Moan Davison.

 

Ashington
Grant; King, Armstrong, Vipond, Caygill; Bell, Morris, Downey, Frances; Stephenson, Humphries.

A bit of a strange one this, a largely anonymous game with one big and surprising incident, but overall a comfortable win for RCA, with one major downside.

In light of the Clitheroe replay on Tuesday, Swaz left out anybody who wasn’t absolutely 100% so the team had a bit of an unusual look to it, but RCA fans will have been delighted to see captain Greg Swansbury back in the line up after missing a few games. A calculated risk to play Swanna, but clearly he needs game time to get back to his best. In the event he was excellent throughout and must have been very close to being Man of the Match for RCA. Welcome back.

Seaham Red Star 0 Sunderland RCA 5

Submitted by Simon Mears on Wednesday, 29 August 2018
Tuesday, 28 August 2018 - 7:45pm
Northern League 1

Nathan O'Neill gets RCA off to a great start with the opening goal.

For more photos from the match please click here.

For Connor Lamb's match report please click here.

Goal scorers - RCA: O'Neill (2); Moan; Armstrong; Jonathan Davis.

Following Saturday's epic 12-goal Emirates FA Cup thriller at Clitheroe, Sunderland RCA made the very much shorter trip to Seaham Red Star for tonight’s Northern League match.

With both sides having only one win in their opening four league matches prior to kick-off, a win tonight was important to kickstart the league season. Early days, though.

RCA made a late change to the starting XI after Stephen Callen withdrew due to injury and was replaced by John Jury, who was making his first start since returning to the club.

The two sides lined up as follows:

Seaham Red Star: Harkess; Toward; Weirs; Hutchinson; Myers; Howe; Palmer; Gardiner; Gash; Steele; Jewitt.

Sunderland RCA: Pocklington; Armstrong; Watson; Lilley; Hodgson (c); Jonathan Davis; Charlton; Page; Moan; O'Neill; Jury. Subs: Davison; Callen; Richardson; Kokoska; Limbo.

Clitheroe 6 (six) Sunderland RCA 6 (six)

Submitted by Colin Wilson on Monday, 27 August 2018
Saturday, 25 August 2018 - 3:00pm
The Emirates FA Cup

Teams

Clitheroe Town
Wilczynski, Ja Gregory, Thompson, Jefferies, Snowden; Jo Gregory, Hazeldine, Bianga, Wood; Anoruo, Recizac. Subs Daniels, Cannon-Noren, Sloane, not used, Ashforth.

Sunderland RCA
Pocklington, C. Davis, Lilley, Hodgson, McNab, Charlton, Page, Armstrong, Moan, Davison, Larkin. Subs O’Neill, McGuinness, J. Davis.

Attendance: 230

Apologies if this report reads as a little bit unlikely; I was there and I can’t believe it.

Sunderland RCA 0 Stockton Town 3

Submitted by Simon Mears on Wednesday, 22 August 2018
Tuesday, 21 August 2018 - 7:30pm
Northern League 1

Adam McGuinness tracks Stockton Town goal scorer Mikey Roberts.

For more photos from the match please click here.

For Stockton Town's match report please click here.

For Connor Lamb's match report please click here.

Goal scorers - Stockton: Coleman; Roberts; Bulmer.

Sunderland RCA went into tonight’s Northern League match with Stockton Town looking to record their first home points of the season.

In the corresponding fixture last season, it may be recalled, RCA made wholesale changes to the starting line-up, with one eye on the big Emirates FA Cup tie at Scarborough Athletic. RCA were well beaten, 4-1, by Stockton on the night, as they recorded their first points of the season after being defeated in their opening eight league games. Stockton then went on to have a great season, culminating in a narrow defeat in the FA Vase final at Wembley.

The two sides lined up as follows:

Sunderland RCA: Pocklington; Lilley; Watson; McGuinness; Preston (c); Elliott; Clayton Davis; Hodgson; Davison; O'Neill; Moan. Subs: Larkin; Armstrong; Limbo; McNab; Kokoska.

Stockton Town: Arthur; Bulmer; Risbrough; Petitjean; Nicholson (c); Cossavela; Woodhouse; Craggs; Roberts; Coleman; Stockton.

Sunderland RCA 2 Dunston UTS 3

Submitted by Colin Wilson on Sunday, 19 August 2018
Saturday, 18 August 2018 - 3:00pm
Northern League 1

Teams

Sunderland RCA
Pocklington, Lilley, McNab, Hodgson, Preston (C), Clayton Davis, Dylan Elliott, Page, Moan, Larkin, Davison. Bench O'Neill, Kokoska, Limbo, Jonathan Davis, McGuinness.

Goals: Davison, Moan

Dunston UTS
Dryden, Marrs, Halliday, Stafford, Grant-Soulsby, Capewell, Thear, Pearson, Fitzpatrick, Heslop, Jack Elliott. Bench: Callum Elliott, Brookes, Hall, Nellis, Haley.

Goals: Heslop, Nellis, Stafford (pen)

Officials

Referee: Mr James Bancroft. Assistant referees: Mr Leonard Thurlow and Mr David Watson.

This was a cracking game between two good sides, clever inventive football, good strikes on goal, powerful challenges and top quality defending; and then a weird ending.

The game kicked off in a blustery wind and was immediately being played at a breathtaking pace. Dunston had the better of the early exchanges playing up the slope and into the breeze, which maybe allowed for more controlled football. The game was played mostly in midfield for the first quarter of an hour, and neither goalkeeper was seriously troubled. In the 16th minute a good move from RCA, as they finally got their passing together, ended with a super Colin Larkin strike which rattled the crossbar. Dunston responded with sustained pressure for a long period, and a number of corners and free kicks enabled them to get dangerous balls into the box, which were mostly dealt with confidently by RCA central defenders Craig Hodgson and Ross Preston and goalkeeper Scott Pocklington. As the half hour was reached RCA began to get more of a grip on the game with Clayton Davis looking dangerous running hard down the right and Dylan Elliott and Luke Page getting their foot on the ball and able to get better passes out wide and into their front men. In the 34th minute, though, Dunston might well have scored as a clever free kick from the corner of the box skimmed the cross bar.

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