Ryton & Crawcrook Albion were denied all three points after conceding a late equaliser in a frustrating 2-2 draw with Bedlington Terriers at the Oldhaulage Stadium on Saturday in a match that hit the milestone of 100 Albion league games without a goalless draw.
RACA went into this game on a run of just one defeat in fourteen games but needed to keep up the wins as the four teams above them were also in fine form. The Terriers were having a mixed bag of results & their top scorer this season, Matty Hayton, was ironically lining up against Bedlington, now plying his trade in NE40.
Bedlington got off to a blistering start when they broke swiftly Kai Charlton running down the right wing crossing to Jack Spurr who got his first goal for the Terriers, sliding in to slip the ball past Brogan Colquhoun in the Ryton goal. Only a minute later & it was Bedlington keeper James Lone who was called into action when Glen Caygill floated a free kick into the Terriers’ box & Matty Hayton leapt highest to nod the ball goalwards, but was unable to get one over his former employers as the ball was smothered by Lone.
However the custodian was unable to prevent an equaliser on 7 minutes from a Dan Craggs corner which Dale Burrell headed home for his third goal of the campaign. Spurr had a golden chance to put Bedlington back in front on 12 minutes when he nipped in to take advantage of a short back pass, but Colquhoun was alert to the danger & narrowed the angle sufficiently to deflect the shot to safety with his feet. Hayton went close for Ryton from another corner on 26 minutes when Burrell headed the floating ball towards him, but his headed effort glanced off the top of the bar. Colquhoun was called into action when a one two in the box between Spurr & James Hampson saw the latter jab a shot home that the Albion keeper block with his feet.
RACA took the lead on 36 minutes with a move that started with dogged determination from Hayton not to lose the ball in midfield despite the attentions of two opponents, eventually the ball went wide to Rhys McLeod whose cross was headed home by Louis Calvert for his 12th of the season who moved to the top of the club scoring stakes ahead of Abu Salim. Bedlington responded with a shot from Jordan Stephenson who turned his marker but shot just wide. The hosts almost made it 3-1 just before the interval when Craggs launched a ball into the box & Calvert just beat Lone to the ball, but it trickled wide of the post.
HT RACA 2 Bedlington Terriers 1
The second half saw less chances created than the first but Spurr was again causing the Ryton defence trouble in the 64th minute beating two opponents before drilling a ball across the box past Colquhoun but Jack Ledger was there to hoof the ball clear with Stephenson waiting unmarked at the far post to tap home. The visitors continued to create chances on their right flank & on 75 minutes, Rhys Brunton delivered a fine cross which Stephenson just couldn’t connect cleanly with. Albion were struggling to create meaningful chances, though Matty Todd beat his marker on 81st minute but fired wide from the edge of the box. A much better RACA chance came in the 85th minute when a Jack Errington free kick was met by Matty Harrison’s head & he brought a great one handed save from Lone. That proved to be an important save for the Terriers as they got their equaliser from a corner in the 88th minute. Luke Ogden sent the ball to the back post where Spurr was waiting to head home off the post to salvage a point.
Ryton weren’t quite done with though & Bedlington had Lone to thank in stoppage time as he clawed a fine Caygill shot from distance to safety that looked destined for the top corner, but the points were shared in what was probably a fair result. Albion stay 5th in the table despite the dropped points.
FT RACA 2 BEDLINGTON TERRIERS 2 Attendance 230
RACA- Colquhoun, Skivington, Ledger (Symons 85), Burrell (Oldfield 52), Errington, Caygill, Craggs, Dart, Calvert, McLeod (Todd 75), Hayton (Harrison 64)