Ryton threw two points away as they let a 1-0 lead slip in stoppage time at the Mo Mowlem today. Having led for most of the game thanks to Matty Todd’s 9th minute goal, they drifted from total dominance to hanging on to the lead as the game progressed, but Sam Barnard’s 93rd minute leveller for Town ensured the points were shared.
MATCH SUMMARY
Albion finished 2024 with a trip to 17th placed Redcar Town, hoping to make it two away wins in three days & took little time in taking control of the game. In the fourth minute, RACA had three goal attempts in quick succession, Joe Groves Forbes raced forward & laid the ball to Matty Todd whose shot was saved by Town keeper Will Cowey, the loose ball was gathered up by Rhys McLeod whose shot was also blocked by Cowey, the loose ball falling to Morgan Dart who didn’t hit his first time strike cleanly & Redcar defender Jake Williams-Muthana was able to get himself in the way of the shot and this time the ball was hoofed to safety. However the visitors were ahead just two minutes later when Scott Oldfield found Louis Calvert in the Redcar box, his acrobatic volley crashing off the bar, landing on the head of Todd who nodded home for his second goal of the season. At that point it looked like RACA could go on and win the game comfortably as Redcar were offering next to nothing up front, but as the half wore on Albion posed less and less of a threat and Redcar steadied themselves and finally got a foothold in the game although the visitors were still creating more chances without ever seriously threatening Cowey’s goal, the nearest being a Calvert shot on 39 minutes the wasn’t too far wide of the Town goal. Redcar’s best chance came just before half time when Jos Storr broke down the left wing & crossed to the onrushing Mustapha Abdullahi who just couldn’t quite make contact with the ball as if he had, he had half an empty net to aim at.
HT Redcar Town 0 RACA 1
The hosts continued to grow into the game after the interval & a move in the 56th minute saw Connor Smith set up Liam Williams who got his shot on target but it lacked power & was a comfortable gather for Colquhoun. Calvert put an effort a yard over Redcar’s bar on 63 minutes & Rhys McLeod & Morgan Dart both brought out easy saves out of Cowey but in truth there were few real chances to excite the 107 spectators. There was a bit of a scare for Ryton on 83 minutes when Abdullahi jinked his way into the box & while his progress was checked by both defender & keeper there was a significant appeal for a penalty but referee Daniel Forbes wasn’t interested although he did have a brief consultation with linesman Andrew Tyrell. The Teessiders however, were to have the last laugh in stoppage time when a punt upfield from Cowey was flicked on by Abdullahi to substitute Sam Barnard who slotted home with his first ever Northern League goal to rescue a point amid scenes of jubilation on the home bench. Such a late leveller makes it feel like two points dropped & there was the added blow for Ryton of Dale Burrell looking to have picked up a nasty looking knee injury. On the positive side with Thornaby losing, Albion sneak back into the play-off places with the point.
FT REDCAR TOWN 1 RACA 1 Attendance 107
RACA- Colquhoun, Groves-Forbes, Oldfield, Grieveson, Burrell (Cairns 87), Caygill, Dart, Lynch, Calvert (Hoggins 79), McLeod (Ledger 76), Todd (Adotey 62)