NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY 3 RACA 1

Albion’s recent poor record against the University continued with a flat performance at Essity Park last night. Since beating them in the Ernest Armstrong Cup final at the end of the 21/22 season, we’ve picked up a solitary point against the Students in our five games since. RACA started brightly enough but gradually the Uni took control, opening the scoring on 31 minutes when Dominic Griffin crossed the ball from the touchline to James Kelly who slotted home from close range. It was Griffin’s turn to get on the scoresheet on 41 minutes, latching on to a Ben Holland pass to give the hosts a 2-0 lead at the interval.

Any hopes of a swift comeback were dashed on 51 minutes when Tom Iverson made it 3-0 firing home from a Joel Manning ball to stun the large RACA contingent in the 191 attendance, four times the figure the University pulled in on Saturday against Horden. Fortunately, that was as bad as it got for Albion in the match as Rhys McLeod opened his account for the season just two minutes later following a pass from Saturday’s scorer Joe Groves-Forbes. As the game wore on, a galvanised RACA increasingly pushed on for a second goal but despite camping in the University box for the last ten minutes, the requisite goals wouldn’t come & Ryton fell to their first defeat of the new season.

FT NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY 3 RACA 1 Attendance 191

RACA– Colquhoun, Symons (Todd 60), Ledger, Skivington (Craggs 47) Errington (captain), Burrell, Lynch (Luke 69), Groves-Forbes, Salim (Harrison 57), McLeod, Bissett (Walker 65)

ENL Pos: 13th