RACA 1 BILLINGHAM SYNTHONIA 3
Albion’s extended tenure as holders of the E Armstrong Cup is over as they capitulated in the second half of this tie to a lively Synners side. Leading at the interval to another Glenn Caygill goal on 14 minutes, it all unravelled for Albion as Peter Bulmer, Thomas Birtles, Jack Spears all netted for the visitors to set up a quarter final with fellow Teessiders Yarm & Eaglescliffe. For Albion it’s now five straight defeats with now just two games left to play.
MATCH SUMMARY
With the promotion ship having long since sailed, Albion’s last chance of silverware this season was the retention of the E Armstrong Cup, the first hurdle being this 2nd tie at home to a similarly out of form Billingham Synthonia.
A quiet opening period saw Synners’ Jack Spears have the first shot on target on 10 minutes, but his grasscutter while on target lacked the pace to trouble Brogan Colquhoun in the Ryton goal. RACA’s first show of looking dangerous came in the 13th minute when Jack Errington launched a ball upfield to Richie Hoggins who cut in to the box despite the attentions of Adam Groom but as he pulled the trigger, defender Foster Garton slid in to pull off a fine block before the shot could cause any damage. However the reprieve was short-lived as from the resultant corner, Fergus Lynch’s cross was met by the head of Glenn Caygill who kept his scoring purple patch going by powering the ball past Sam Taylor. 1-0 to the Albion who were to create a decent chance on 23 minutes when Lynch found Hoggins unmarked in the Billingham box but he could only scuff his shot and it was comfortably cleared. The visitors were a awarded a free kick from around 30 yards out & while Matty Wilshaw’s effort was narrowly wide, it had Colquhoun scrambling across his line to ensure the ball wouldn’t creep into the corner. Then Albion were back on the attack on 34 minutes when Dale Burrell flicked on header to Hoggins who cut in from the left flank, outpacing one defender before putting his shot just wide of the post with Taylor at full stretch. Two minutes later and Hoggins was now the provider, finding Louis Calvert racing towards the Synners’ goal, but his shot was indicative of his recent fortunes in front of goal, bouncing wide of Taylor’s post. Lewis Porritt should have levelled for Synthonia in the 38th minute when he took advantage of a scuffed clearance by Colquhoun, rounding the keeper and firing goalward only to find his shot lacked the necessary venom, allowing Scott Oldfield to intercept & clear to safety. At the other end Ryton continued to be profligate in front of goal, another fine delivery from a corner from Lynch was put over the bar by Hoggins in the 40th minute, the home side going into the interval with the narrowest of leads.
HT RACA 1 Billingham Synthonia 0
Albion, usually at their most vulnerable just after half time, actually created the first chance, though Calvert’s shot on target was an easy gather for Taylor. But old habits die hard & RACA were in trouble on 53 minutes when conceding a free kick inside the box. With everyone in a black and blue shirt on the goal line, Willshaw’s strike was blocked and was followed by the mother of all scrambles before an unmarked Peter Bulmer found the ball at his feet and he coolly slotted home the equaliser. Willshaw brought another save out of Colquhoun from a tight angle on the hour mark but from the corner a Tom Birtles header ended up in the Ryton net despite howls of protestations that the Albion keeper had been fouled in the process. On 65 minutes, in a carbon copy of the build up to Billingham’s second goal, Willshaw brought another block from Colquhoun from a tight angle that resulted in a corner, but fortunately for RACA, this time the keeper plucked the cross out of the air. Synners looked to have wrapped the game up on 73 minutes when a combination of dogged determination and fortunate ricochets saw Ash Lavan bulldoze his way through the home defence before laying the ball to Jack Spears who stretched out a leg to divert the ball past Colquhoun to make it 3-1. Thereafter, rather like Albion’s season, the game fizzled out as a contest and it was the Teessiders who progress into the quarter finals. Meanwhile it’s five defeats on the spin for Albion with a trip to an even more out of form Bedlington to come on Saturday representing a rare golden opportunity to get back on track.
FT RACA 1 BILLINGHAM TOWN 3
RACA – Colquhoun, Fletcher (Cairns 88), Dart, S Oldfield, Errington, Caygill, Burrell (Symons 70), McCabe (Ledger 66), Calvert, Lynch, Hoggins (Adotey 80).