FT BEDLINGTON TERRIERS 4 RACA 4
Despite RACA being expected to win this game, Albion can be commended for fighting back to snatch a point being a man light. Trailing 0-1 from a 32nd minute opener, Louis Calvert broke his recent goal drought to level for Albion to put the sides into the break level. Terriers then took the lead straight from the interval. When Bedlington made it 3-1 on 52 minutes it looked bleak for the visitors especially with Fergus Lynch having been sent off, but a Morgan Dart brace had Ryton level again at 3-3. The Terriers looked to have won the game with a fourth goal in the 92nd minute, but Albe Fletcher had the last laugh with a 95th minute equaliser to end a frantic game all square.
MATCH SUMMARY
With finishing 7th in the table being all RACA had to play for now, this trip to a badly out of form Bedlington Terriers could be an ideal opportunity to play without the shackles of expectation. Terriers without a home win since early November fielded former Albion favourite Mason Stephenson in their starting XI, looked booked to finish in 20th place just ahead of the expected drop zone. Albion handed a second debut to Connor Brown following his recent move from Crook Town, though Glenn Caygill, scorer of Ryton’s recent goals during the barren spell up front, was unavailable.
With neither keeper being unduly troubled in the opening stages, Bedlington’s Kai Charlton had a good opportunity to put his side ahead on 20 minutes, dispossessing a Ryton defender but with just keeper Brogan Colquhoun to beat, he put his shot wide. Charlton was to atone for his miss in the 31st minute when Ryan Dougherty flicked the ball forward to him & with the Albion defence expecting the linesman’s flag to be raised, were caught out, and Charlton nipped it to tap home from close range. Ryton looked to draw level in the 40th minute when Louis Calvert cut in from the left & tried to find Richie Hoggins unmarked at the far post, but Patrick Crombie in the Terriers’ goal got his fingertips to the ball to divert it out for a corner. Albion did equalise with just two minutes to go until half time, when Jack Ledger found Calvert who sped past his markers and slotted home.
HT Bedlington Terriers 1 RACA 1
True to form Albion conceded almost straight from the start of the second half, conceding a free kick which Connor Taggart floated to the back post where Hamza Mohammed flicked the ball to Rio Eastway who in turn steadied himself and his shot found the back of the net. To add insult to injury Fergus Lynch was dismissed for a deliberate hand ball and RACA had to play almost a whole half with ten men. 2-1 became 3-1 on 52 minutes following a move down Bedlington’s right flank, Jordan Stephenson found Mohammed whose cross was latched on to by Charlton who had nipped between two defenders to tap home into the corner of the net for his brace. Just as it looked like all was lost for Ryton, Morgan Dart halved the deficit when in the 73rd minute, Calvert found him in acres of space on the left. Dart then had time to pick to spot and shoot home giving Crombie no chance as the ball bulged the corner of the net. A 87th minute free kick to RACA was the catalyst for an unlikely equaliser, Declan Bisset’s cross somehow evading a raft of players to find Dart who struck bullseye with his first time shot that made it 3-3 and seemingly rescue a point for the Tyne Valley outfit. A minute later & Ryton could have snatched the win following a scramble in the Bedlington box, the ball running out to Albe Fletcher but his low drive was smothered by Crombie. Then heartache for Albion as a poor clearance landed at the feet of Jordan Stephenson who found Joe Ledger in space who went it alone and struck the ball past Colquhoun to make it 4-3 to Bedlington and surely end their win drought at the Dr Pit. But no, in a final twist deep into stoppage time, Albion’s Scott Oldfield just beat Callum Robson to a loose ball, then continued his run down the left wing, crossing the ball into the box for Albe Fletcher to nod home his first goal for the club and definitely this time rescue a point.
So Albion end the losing run but it’s six without a win and a tricky last game against Jarrow to end the campaign. However coming back three times from a losing position in the same game can’t be sniffed at.
RACA- Colquhoun, Fletcher, Ledger (Adotey 68), Brown (Cairns 73), Errington, S Oldfield, Lynch (s/o), Dart, Calvert, Bisset, Hoggins (Symons 48)
FT BEDLINGTON TERRIERS 4 RACA 4 Attendance 48