Albion were eliminated from the second cup competition in four days when West Didsbury & Chorlton proved just too strong for RACA in their FA Vase 2nd Round tie. A Jack Bannister goal had the South Mancunians ahead at half time & following Glenn Caygill’s 90th minute dismissal, Albion were left stretched as they battled for an equaliser & Reuben Dass wrapped things up for West deep into stoppage time.
MATCH REPORT
Ryton And Crawcrook Albion v West Didsbury And Chorlton might have been one of the FA Vase’s biggest ties in number of letters but Albion were one win from club history in the FA Vase as a win would take them further than ever before in that competition. Standing in the way were aforementioned West Didsbury & Chorlton who by a twist of fate are managed by Paul Marshall who masterminded Cheadle Town’s victory at Kingsley Park in last season’s competition.
In front of a noisy crowd with a vociferous & good natured away following, RACA’s higher ranked opponents should have opened the scoring in the first minute, Jack Banister sending a curling cross into the box that Jordan Lazenbury ran on to but managed to send his shot over the bar from a few yards out. Ryton’s first meaningful chance saw Louis Calvert get a shot on target after receiving the ball from Matty Hayton, but it was a relatively easy save for West keeper Oliver Martin who dived to smother the effort. On 13 minutes the RACA defence were tested when Fergus Lynch blocked a dangerous cross & Josh Skivington got his body in the way of the rebound that Banister struck goalwards. Ryton were back on the offensive in the 21st minute following a sustained spell of West pressure, Rhys McLeod firing narrowly wide on that occasion. Hayton came closer to scoring for the hosts after dispossessing West defender Paul Riley in the box & his shot brought out a good save from Martin & from the corner the keeper again had to be alert to prevent Dale Burrell’s effort from sneaking past him. RACA were proving dangerous on the break & Morgan Dart was the latest to test Martin in the 27th minute though his shot was straight at the stopper having the close attention of defender Max Sutton to contend with. The deadlock was broken at the other end however when in the 31st minute a Lazenbury shot in a typically crowded Albion box, bounced off a defender into the path of Banister whose low drilled shot evaded everyone & ended up in the net. Lazenbury wasn’t too far off doubling West’s lead on 35 minutes when his free kick from 25 yards out curled round the wall but didn’t quite have enough bend on it & the ball went narrowly wide of Brogan Colquhoun’s post.
HT RACA 0 West Didsbury & Chorlton 1
The second half started competitively with plenty of meaty tackles from both sides, but the first chance of note fell to the visitors on 51 minutes when Jack McConnell fired over from close range following a knock down from a corner ball. Albion responded two minutes later with a powerful strike from substitute Matty Harrison, on for the injured Louis Calvert, that was only a yard wide of the West goal. In the 63rd minute a great run from the visitors on the left wing saw Sutton beat the attention of Albion defenders somehow managing to keep his balance when gravity looked odds on to win & lay the ball to Victor Abadaki but his slightly scuffed shot was blocked by Colquhoun and Billy Matthews’ strike from the clearance was charged down by a Scott Oldfield sliding block. Chris Rowney the West captain was next to try his luck in the 67th minute, having been set up by Matthews, his effort clipped the outside of the post & out for a goal kick. There was more drama in the RACA goalmouth on 70 minutes when Banister saw his shot crash against the post & back into the danger zone, only for Abadaki to fire the rebound over the bar. Ryton huffed and puffed to get the leveller without really threatening the West goal, that was until the 86th minute when Rhys McLeod’s low shot in a crowded box brought out another fine save from Martin. With three minutes to go, there was real drama in the visitors’ box when a free kick was met by the head of Burrell who headed across the goal area to Caygill but he could only fire his shot wide. Caygill’s afternoon was to get worse on 90 minutes when he was sent off for holding back Abadaki when he was the last man so Ryton were faced with having to get a stoppage time equaliser a man light. Instead it was the South Mancunians who were to score, Reuben Dass ensuring West would be in the hat for the 3rd round draw with a goal in the 93rd minute, his initial shot being blocked by debutant Jack Wilson, his second hitting the back of the net.
A brave effort from Albion but just fell short on the day. Best wishes to WD&C in the rest of the competition
FT RACA 0 WEST DIDSBURY & CHORLTON 2 Attendance 329
RACA- Colquhoun, Skivington (Wilson 85), Oldfield, Burrell, Lynch, Caygill, Craggs (Todd 57), Dart, Calvert (Harrison 50), McLeod, Hayton.