Albion’s impressive unbeaten run is over after dishing up the worst 45 minutes of the season. Dylan Lawson got his first goal for RACA to put his side in front after just 4 minutes, but a defensive collapse overshadowed Lawson’s special moment as Thornaby struck with two first half double whammies, Mackenzie Ciciccio netting in both the 18th & 21st minute, then right at the end of the half, Ciciccio & Luca Nelson both scored within a minute of each other to make it 4-1 at the interval. RACA did improve in the second half, Louis Calvert reducing the deficit in the 57th minute but by then the damage had been done.
A match that an hour before kick off looked like being played in heavy rain & a strong westerly ended up in somewhat more pleasant conditions for the 207 spectators as the rain stopped, the wind died right down & the low sun even came out to cause more than a few visibility problems. Albion were looking to extend their unbeaten run to 11 games following a scintillating September & a decent October to date, & Thornaby, with a healthy away following making their way up from Teesside, on their own run of five games unbeaten.
It took RACA only four minutes to breach the notoriously frugal Thornaby defence, Joe Groves-Forbes racing through the centre of the visitors’ defence before laying the ball to Dylan Lawson who slotted it past keeper Mark Foden to score his first senior goal for Albion & set his side on their way to another game unbeaten…. or so we thought. Thornaby, in their ‘Anderlechtian’ lilac strips, drew level on 18 minutes when Mackenzie Diciccio took full advantage of a poor defensive clearance to fire home from the right flank to open his account for the season, celebrating the occasion with a backflip. If that didn’t take the wind out of Albion’s sails, another Diciccio goal just three minutes later did. A ball lumped forward from defence evaded everyone, & the Thornaby No9 picked up the loose ball & slotted it past the advancing Brogan Colquhoun to turn the game on its head. There was little in the way of meaningful chances for either side until the closing moments of the half when the visitors’ Charlie Hindson launched a ball into the Ryton box & Luca Nelson was there to head flick the ball into the net to make it 3-1. Within a minute 3-1 became 4-1 when an up and under found Diciccio who outpaced his marker & lobbed Colquhoun to surely put the game to bed with a whole half to go, Diciccio completing his hattrick in the process.
HT RACA 1 THORNABY 4
Thornaby started the second half the stronger without ever threatening to get a fifth goal, but it was Ryton who were to score next having been awarded a free kick on the left flank. Rhys McLeod curled the kick round the defensive wall, the ball striking the post, leaving Louis Calvert to tap home & give Albion a lifeline in the 57th minute. While the hosts spent a good while on the front foot in the second half, Thornaby’s relentless closing down & a half fragmented with free kicks, ensured Albion wouldn’t close the deficit any further. To add insult to injury, Ryton also picked up their first red card of the season in the 88th minute, when Abu Salim was dismissed for a two footed lunge on Connor Gant on a day to forget for those of a black and blue persuasion.
FT RACA 2 THORNABY 4 Attendance 207
RACA- Colquhoun, Skivington, Ledger (Caygill 48), Lynch, Errington (cap), Oldfield, Lawson (Salim 75, sent off 88), McLeod, Calvert, Groves-Forbes (Dart 65), Hayton (Todd 58).
ENL Pos: 5th.