RACA lost this vital game on Teesside in the scramble for play off places. A tight goalless first half was followed by two quick goals early in the second half, Thornaby scoring on 47 minutes with Glenn Caygill levelling within 90 seconds. The home side scored the winning goal in the 81st minute to move them above RACA leaving Ryton three points outside the play-off positions, the sole crumb of comfort of the afternoon being Esh Winning’s heavy home defeat at the hands of Horden.
MATCH SUMMARY
In this 7th v 6th clash of play-off hopefuls, home side Thornaby, unusually clad in lilac and black, were aiming to do the double over RACA having won the reverse game 4-2 at the Oldhaulage Stadium. Ryton manager Nathan Beckham pitched new signing Jack Spurr into the starting defence while the other new signing Ethan Bewley was named as one of the five man bench.
Albion started brightly & in the second minute, Declan Bisset set up Louis Calvert in the box & while his soft shot bypassed keeper Harry Alderson, Luca Sartini was able to prevent the ball rolling over the line & cleared it to safety. Within a minute Scott Oldfield found Morgan Dart whose shot from the right flank was pushed out by Alderson for a corner. With both sides packing the midfield, first half chances were at a premium but on 28 minutes Thornaby’s Shaun Ryder won a tackle inside his own half & played the ball up to Charlie Twinn, who saw Ryder racing unmarked up the left wing & passed back to him, but for some reason, instead of cutting in himself the played a poor ball back to Twinn, who by the time he gathered it, he was closed down by Ryton defenders forcing him into an ambitious shot that sailed over the bar. The hosts had an even better chance to open the scoring in the 43rd minute when quickly breaking, Ryan Wright ending up in a one on one with keeper Brogan Colquhoun but the Albion stopper did well to block the shot at the edge of the box. The ball spun out to Ryder who cleverly lobbed the stranded Colquhoun but Oldfield had read the situation well & was able to head the ball off the line.
HT Thornaby 0 RACA 0
The Blues kept their momentum at the end of the first half going into the second period, taking the lead on 47 minutes when a cross from Sartini on the far touchline was comfortably headed home by Dom Joynes. However the lead was short lived as Albion levelled in the 49th minute following a cleared corner when Declan Bisset showed some fancy footwork along the by-line, beating two defenders before pulling the ball back to Glenn Caygill whose sweet first time shot went straight into the net. Bisset had a chance to get on the scoresheet himself when a Dale Burrell header from a Thornaby goal kick looped over the Blues defence & Bisset found himself with just Alderson to beat, but his shot was too near the advancing keeper who saved well. A 72nd minute Thornaby free kick by Twinn called Colquhoun into action clawing the ball over the bar for a corner that came to nought. After a spell of RACA pressure with a few efforts wide of the mark, the Teessiders scored the winning goal in the 81st minute, Ryder putting the necessary spin on his cross to fall perfectly to Ryan Wright who slotted home to make it 2-1. As RACA pressed for an equaliser they can consider themselves a little unfortunate not to be given a penalty on 89 minutes when Calvert was brought down by Alderson, but referee Mr Stephenson wasn’t interested & the Tyne Valley outfit were left to think what might have been as their play off hopes took a significant setback.
FT THORNABY 2 RACA 1 Attendance 170
Very much mixed results for the other two play-off hopefuls with next week’s opponents Chester-le-Street United trouncing Grangetown 9-0, though the relegation threatened Teessiders had two men sent off including their keeper, while Esh Winning were humbled 0-6 at home to title favourites Horden CW. However defeat at Thornaby means anything but a win over United on Saturday probably extinguishes any realistic hopes of taking one of those two remaining play-off berths considering the run ins.
RACA- Colquhoun, Spurr, Oldfield, Grieveson, Errington, Caygill, Lynch, Burrell, Calvert, Bisset (Bewley 82), Dart (Hoggins 64)