FT FC HARTLEPOOL 2 RACA 1
RACA continue to limp towards the end of the season with a fourth successive defeat, this time a narrow 2-1 reverse at FC Hartlepool. Trailing 0-1 at the interval, Glenn Caygill levelled with his third goal in six games on 54 minutes, but Finlay O’ Gorman, who scored the opener, nabbed the winner for Pool on 66 minutes to put the final nail in the play-off coffin. Ironically results elsewhere went well with Esh losing and Thornaby only getting a stoppage time point at Grangetown but at least there’s the E Armstrong Cup to defend.
MATCH SUMMARY
With just the E Armstrong Cup to play for, FC Hartlepool hosted a RACA side striving to avoid a fourth straight loss, the Albion knowing nothing but a win and favourable results at Alnwick & Grangetown would extinguish the faint flicker of scraping in the play-offs.
Unfortunately for RACA the home side didn’t take long to open the scoring when in the 5th minute Arran Jackson lumped a ball forward from the touchline which curled between two defenders. Fin O’Gorman spotted the indecision in the Ryton rearguard, nipped in & slotted home past the exposed Brogan Colquhoun in the Albion goal. Chances were at a premium in an uneventful first half, Albion’s best chances were a flick from Albe Fletcher that wasn’t too far off the goal from a 40th minute cross from Declan Bisset, & 2 minutes later Fergus Lynch saw his shot from distance comfortably gathered by George Briggs in the Pool goal. FC for there part created very little too, a 34th minute O’Gorman shot that was deflected for a corner being their best effort outwith the goal.
HT FC Hartlepool 1 RACA 0
In a mirror image of the first period, the first action of note was a goal five minutes into the half, only this time it was to Ryton. The visitors had been awarded a corner which Lynch swung into the box where Glenn Caygill, who had found space for himself, was able to pick his spot & fire home. On 54 minutes Pool captain Josh Daley perhaps deserved more when going on an unorthodox solo run in the RACA box, taking full advantage of rebounds off defenders before finding a shooting chance, only to tamely put the ball wide. But the home fans didn’t have long to wait to see their side regain the lead when on the hour mark, Briggs launched the ball upfield, Jackson flicking the ball forward with his head into the path of O’Gorman who outpaced his marker & sweetly lobbed Colquhoun to make it 2-1. Hartlepool should have wrapped up the game on 83 minutes when Fin Smith crossed to an unmarked Will Okine six yards from the goal, but the ball hit the player rather than the other way round & it bounced harmlessly wide. Three minutes later & it was Albion’s turn to almost score, Luca Cairns winning the ball in the FC box, then finding Louis Calvert via a defender’s legs, but the RACA top scorer could only hit the bar. With just two minutes of normal time to play, Ryton were given a lifeline when awarded a soft penalty when Lewis Cowan was adjudged to have impeded Calvert in the FC Hartlepool box. While Calvert struck the spot kick well enough, Briggs pulled off an excellent save & Pool’s lead remained intact, a lead they held on to until full time consigning Albion to a fourth successive defeat.
FT FC HARTLEPOOL 2 RACA 1
RACA- Colquhoun, Spurr (Hoggins 54), S Oldfield, Grieveson, Caygill, Burrell (C Oldfield 69), Lynch, Fletcher (Symons 78), Calvert, Bisset, Dart (Cairns 83)