The Draw for RACA’s Christmas Raffle was done today & the winners are-

1st Prize-Ticket Number 0986 which wins 4 corporate Newcastle United tickets in The Four Corners with a 3 course meal.

2nd Prize-Ticket Number 3420 which wins a Marks and Spencer Indulgence of Christmas Collection Hamper

3rd Prize-Ticket Number 3438 which wins a Marks and Spencer Joy of Christmas Collection Hamper

4th Prize-Ticket Number 4053 which wins a Marks and Spencer Deluxe Collection Hamper

5th Prize-Ticket Number 3711 which wins Afternoon Tea for Two at No19 Close House

Congratulations to all our winners and a big thanks to everyone who took part in the raffle.

Two late goals from Synners’ Ash Lavan ensured the Teessiders beat Albion since the 21/22 season, Morgan Dart put Ryton ahead on 4 minutes but Lewis Porritt levelled on 12 minutes for the hosts. Ryan Appelby’s 38th minute goal had Billingham 2-1 up at half Time. Louis Calvert’s 64th minute converted penalty looked to have earned Albion a point, but Lavan’s brace on 89 & 94 minutes won the points for Synthonia

MATCH SUMMARY

Albion made the trek down to a breezy Map Group UK Stadium to face Billingham Synthonia with a substitution bench that had last season’s top scorer Aaron Costello & also Friday’s signing from North Shields, Alby Fletcher on it. Both sides came into the game having won their last games but it was Albion who made the first impression on the game taking the lead on 5 minutes. Fergus Lynch crossed the ball into the Synners’ box, Louis Calvert flicked the ball to Morgan Dart who reset himself and fired past a crowd of defenders to score his 5^th goal of the season. The lead didn’t last too long as Billingham levelled in the 12^th minute when Lewis Porritt picked up a loose ball from a clearance, powered down the left flank & slotted home from an unlikely angle. Charlie Grieveson came close to restoring Ryton’s advantage on the quarter hour mark, a nice move from the visitors ended with Lynch setting up Grieveson who drilled his angled shot low past the despairing dive of Sam Taylor in the Synners’ goal, but also just past the post. The gusty wind was having quite an influence & when Billingham defender Foster Garton didn’t fully control a difficult cross to him on 23 minutes, Dart darted in, nicked the ball off Garton but fired just wide though gained a corner for RACA which was delivered perfectly by Lynch, but no-one from either side could get a touch on it. The hosts had a good chance to get their noses in front on 26 minutes when Ryan Appelby raced forward following a slip by Albion’s Scott Oldfield but keeper Brogan Colquhoun blocked his shot, the ball falling to Billingham’s no7 Ben Priestley whose shot took a nick off defender Jack Ledger and all they had from a golden chance to score was a corner which the Ryton rearguard comfortably dealt with. However they failed to deal with a Billingham attack in the 38^th minute, losing possession to Ash Lavan who set up Appelby who with the Ryton defence stretched had time and space to land his shot into the back of the net. The only other effort of note in the first half came from Albion’s Dale Burrell on 44 minutes when his looping shot dipped just the wrong side of the bar, but Taylor arguably had it covered anyway

HT Billingham Synthonia 2 RACA 1

Synners had the first good chance of the second half on 49 minutes when Porritt raced down the left wing & his cross found Appelby but his close range effort hit the post & RACA were still in the game. Calvert wasn’t too far off levelling on 55 minutes when Matty Hayton set him up but his curling shot was well saved by Taylor then Calvert had a golden opportunity to restore parity on 64 minutes when Albion were awarded a soft penalty which he despatched sending Taylor the wrong way. Albion had a good spell as they pushed for a winner, Jack Ledger hit the side netting on 68 minutes while Hayton pulled a good save out of Taylor two minutes later & then RACA struck the Billingham bar on 76 minutes. But it was to be Synthonia who’d walk away with the points as Lavan made it 3-2 on 89 minutes, picking up the ball in his own half before going on a fine solo run past several Ryton players & slotting home off the far post. As Albion pushed for an equaliser they were caught out again, substitute Matty Willshaw forcing a save from Colquhoun with his feet, but when the ball rolled back to Willshaw he laid it off to Lavan who smashed home to seal the the points with the last kick of the game deep in stoppage time.

BILLINGHAM SYNTHONIA 4 RACA 2 Attendance 70

RACA- Colquhoun, Skivington (Fletcher 75), Ledger, Burrell, Oldfield, Errington, Grieveson, Lynch, Calvert, Dart (Todd 72), Hayton.

Albion travel to Stockton tomorrow to face Billingham Synthonia, who now play at Stockton Town’s Map Group UK Stadium on Bishopton Road West, having moved from Stokesley’s Broughton Road where they played last season.. Synners are having a slightly disappointing season so far but results are slowly improving with just one defeat in the last six league games. Albion beat the green half of Billingham in the reverse fixture in August, Abu Salim bagging both goals, meaning Ryton have won four & drawn one of the last five games between the clubs. Synners have won five and lost six of their league games at home, including a handsome 7-1 victory over Sunderland RCA and also could be RACA’s next opposition in the Ernest Armstrong Cup depending on how things pan out against the blue half of Billingham following the floodlight failure on Tuesday evening. If you’re planning to head down the A19 to cheer on the black and blue the full address for your sat nav is Bishopton Road West, Stockton-on-Tees TS19 0QD. Kick off is at 3pm, Howay the RACA!

The Ernest Armstrong Cup First Round tie between RACA and Billingham Town ended up being abandoned as the Teessiders chose not to resume play after the floodlights went off for over half an hour on the stroke of half time. Albion were leading 2-0 with goals from Charlie Grieveson and Louis Calvert but after 43 minutes all the lights went off at the Oldhaulage Stadium. With no sign of an immediate return of power, referee Elliot Cowens wisely blew half time early to give maximum opportunity for remedial action with minimum disruption.

Unfortunately by the time the lights came back on at 8.50pm; and Mr Cowens had stated that the game would restart at 9:25pm – giving players 25 minutes to warm up again at the request of the visiting management team and agreed by Ryton; incredibly Town players were dressed & ready for the trip home while the Albion players were warming up again on the pitch!

Ultimately though, Billingham chose not to resume playing and the match was officially abandoned at 9.20pm. The league will presumably have to decide on the outcome of the tie.

Attendance: 101.

Albion belatedly begin the defence of the Ernest Armstrong Cup on Tuesday evening when Billingham Town travel to the Oldhaulage Stadium. We’ve played the Blues twice in this competition previously, losing 3-2 at Bedford Terrace in the 2014/15 second round while winning 1-0 at home at the same stage in the 2017/18 tournament but more relevant is the need to get revenge for that 6-0 drubbing Town handed out to RACA a month ago on Teesside. Please note that due to Newcastle United’s League Cup tie at home to Brentford being played on Wednesday evening, we’ve switched this game to 7:30 on Tuesday to avoid the clash. As this is the last cup Albion are still in this season plus the fact that we’re the holders, hopefully there will be a decent attendance despite being so close to Christmas. Hope to see a good few of you there, howay the RACA!

RACA added more pressure on basement club Washington with a comfortable 5-0 win under the lights at the Northern Area Playing Fields. Three goals in five minutes midway through the first half did it for Albion plus two penalties converted by Louis Calvert made absolutely certain of the three points that move us back into a play off berth, for a few hours at least.

MATCH SUMMARY

The Northern League fixture computer threw up four consecutive games against the bottom four sides in Division Two, theoretically giving RACA a chance to get their season back on course & closing on the leading pack again. While Grangetown were duly despatched 4-1, the weather claimed the Sunderland RCA and Boldon fixtures making claiming all three points at Washington all the more important.

So on a heavy pitch under the lights Albion set out to do the double over The Mechanics & should have taken the lead on 10 minutes when a ball was fired upfield to Louis Calvert who had the pace to leave his markers behind but was thwarted by Washington keeper Andrew Coulson who advanced to narrow the angle and Calvert could only shoot straight at the stopper. Despite creating a few chances, RACA had to wait until the 20^th minute to break the deadlock, Matty Hayton tapping home a Joe Groves-Forbes pass from the left flank, a goal which heralded an amazing 5 minutes for the Tyne Valley outfit. Two minutes later & it was 2-0 to RACA when this time on the right wing, Groves-Forbes was the creator, beating four Washington defenders before crossing into the box where Fergus Lynch was on hand to slot home. 2-0 became 3-0 on 24 minutes when Rhys McLeod’s free kick into the Mechanics’ box wasn’t properly dealt with by Washington’s rearguard & the ball fell to Glenn Caygill who after a few ricochets around the six yard area, blasted into the net from close range to all but put the game beyond the hosts. Washington steadied the ship after that blitzkrieg without ever threatening Brogan Colquhoun in the Ryton goal but wouldn’t quite see out the first half without conceding a fourth goal as in stoppage time the Mechanics’ number 3, MacKenzie Stores, was deemed to have pulled back Calvert in the box and the referee awarded a penalty. Calvert stepped up to take the spot kick a sent Coulson the wrong way to make it 4-0

HT Washington 0 RACA 4

The second half wasn’t to be as eventful as the first although Caygill brought a save out of Coulson, heading a Ryton corner goalbound in the 51^st minute. There was to be a second penalty for Albion though, this time Joe Bengochea was the offender, bringing Calvert down in the box. This time Coulson guessed right but couldn’t prevent Calvert from scoring his second and RACA’s fifth of the evening. Ryton pushed on for a 6^th goal, another Caygill header on 63 minutes had Coulson diving low to push the ball out for a corner, while Matty Todd shot narrowly wide on 77 minutes, but that was it for meaningful chances & the game drifted to a relatively quiet end. Albion move up one place to 5^th and back into the last play off spot with back to back victories while Washington continue to be cut further adrift from the other strugglers in Division 2. Albion have the Indian sign over the Mechanics in recent years with this being the 10th successive win over the Wearsiders.

FT WASHINGTON 0 RACA 5 Attendance 93

RACA- Colquhoun, Groves-Forbes, Ledger (Tait 53), Grievson, Caygill, Oldfield, Dart, Lynch (Lawson 56), Calvert, McLeod, Hayton (Todd 59)

Albion’s next game is on Friday night when we make the trip to the Northern Area Playing Fields to face Washington. The Mechanics are currently propping up the second division with just seven points from their 21 league games played to date & are eight points behind second bottom Grangetown so will be keen to take something from the game. RACA and Washington have already met in the league this season, back in August when we ran out 3-0 winners at home, Abu Salim (2) and Louis Calvert scoring for us while Washy missed a penalty that evening. Washington have lost their last three but before that run of defeats pulled out a cracking result, beating Bedlington Terriers 4-0 at home to claim their to date only points at the Northern Area Playing Fields in 2024/25.

After last Saturday’s fixture wipe out it would be good to get this game on & if you want to head down to cheer on the Albion (kick off 7:45pm) , the address is – Northern Area Playing Fields, Off Stephenson Road, Washington, Tyne and Wear NE37 3HR. Howay the RACA!!

This month’s lucky winners are-

1st prize No 3 D Lamb who wins £100

2nd Prize No 67 R Fox who wins £75

3rd Prize No 46 D J Cook who wins £25

Well done to our three winners, if you’d like to take part in this monthly fundraiser from just £5 a month, please contact us via the usual channels on the foot of the homepage. Thank-you

Today’s Ebac Northern League Division Two match against Boldon at the Oldhaulage Stadium has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch and the strong winds from Storm Darragh.

A new date for the fixture will be announced in due course.

UPDATE (08-12-2024): The match has now been rescheduled for Saturday 1st March, 2025.

As the mad run of home games continues, (this will be our 11th home match in the last 13 games!) we welcome Boldon CA to the Oldhaulage Stadium. The South Tyneside head west in a bit of a slump in form having lost seven out of their last eight league & cup games, but the game they didn’t lose in that sequence was a 5-1 thumping of Bedlington Terriers at the Dr Pitt. Boldon sit in 19th place in the table tonight, their latest defeat being a bitter one losing 0-2 to derby rivals Jarrow in midweek with former CA hotshot Levi Collins scoring Jarrow’s second goal to rub salt in the wounds.

In the reverse fixture in early September, RACA ran out 7-0 victors at the Villa, with five different scorers for Albion- Daniel Craggs, Louis Calvert (2), Abu Salim (2), Matty Todd and Rhys McLeod all on target that day. Something similar tomorrow would do nicely so we can keep in sight of the play off places. Kick off is at 3pm & hope to see a few RACA fans there, though it’s forecast to be wrap up warm time. Howay the RACA!!