Albion found out who will make up Division 2 next season with the main headline a drop to 20 sides meaning just 38 league games instead of 42 last season. While we lost Esh Winning to the Wearside League, Prudhoe got a reprieve and no-one dropped down from the 1st Division, so the line-up is AFC Newbiggin, Alnwick Town, Billingham Synthonia, Billingham Town, Boldon CA, Chester-le-Street Town, Darlington Town, Durham United, FC Hartlepool, Grangetown BC, Jarrow, Newcastle University, Park View, Prudhoe YC, RACA, Seaham Red Star, Seaton Carew, Stokesley SC, Sunderland RCA and Tow Law Town.

FT DARLINGTON TOWN 3 (McMahon, Jackson, Backhouse) YARM AND EAGLESCLIFFE 3 (o.g. Atkinson, Wild) Yarm win 3-2 on penalties

Yarm & Eaglescliffe completed a remarkable season today by winning the Ernest Armstrong Cup, the trophy RACA won four years ago, beating Darlington Town on penalties at FC Hartlepool’s Greyfields Enclosure. This is added to promotion to Division 1 for the first time, and also winning the North Riding Senior Cup. Congratulations to the Eagles for a fantastic season.

This month’s lucky winners are-

1st prize No 31 J Irving who wins £100

2nd Prize No 26 P Graham who wins £75

3rd Prize No 94 E Watson who wins £25

Next month’s draw is on 07/06/2026

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 or contact Paul le Patourel on 07720 413390. Thank-you

Listed below is how many appearances, substitute appearances (in brackets) and goals scored by each of our players for the season just gone-

Callum Corkhill- Appearances 44 (0) Goals 0

Louis Calvert- Appearances 43 (0) Goals 28

Louis Anderson- Appearances 38 (1) Goals 24

Albe Fletcher- Appearances 29 (14) Goals 0

Morgan Dart- Appearances 29 (8) Goals 5

Josh Skivington- Appearances 28 (14) Goals 0

Callum Johnston- Appearances 28 (9) Goals 12

Nathan Beesley- Appearances 28 (0) Goals 2

George Hayton- Appearances 27 (1) Goals 0

Danny Driver- Appearances 24 (10) Goals 0

Kurtis Dodds- Appearances 23 (5) Goals 3

Fergus Lynch- Appearances 23 (5) Goals 1

Scott Oldfield- Appearances 21 (0) Goals 0

Glenn Caygill- Appearances 20 (3) Goals 0

Joe Groves-Forbes- Appearances 18 (12) Goals 4

Dylan Lawson- Appearances 18 (3) Goals 2

Declan Bisset- Appearances 18 (3) Goals 6

Jack Salkeld-Appearances 14 (2) Goals 4

David Luke- Appearances 13 (4) Goals 0

Jack Elliott- Appearances 10 (3) Goals 0

Rhys McLeod- Appearances 8 (8) Goals 1

Alfie Hyde- Appearances 8 (8) Goals 0

Ethan Bewley- Appearances 7 (3) Goals 2

Dan Ord- Appearances 6 (7) Goals 0

Tom White- Appearances 6 (0) Goals 0

Ryan Bailey- Appearances 4 (5) Goals 0

Craig Scott- Appearances 4 (4) Goals 0

James Blakey- Appearances 3 (3) Goals 0

Kieran Russel- Appearances 3 (0) Goals 0

Oliver Emmerson- Appearances 2 (7) Goals 0

Charlie Whittaker- Appearances 1 (13) Goals 0

Harrison Borley- Appearances 1 (6) Goals 0

Luca Cairns- Appearances 1 (5) Goals 0

Kian Parker- Appearances 0 (5) Goals 0

Noah Adotey- Appearances 0 (13) Goals 0

Daniel Craggs- Appearances 0 (1) Goals 0

Ryan Higgins- Appearances 0 (1) Goals 0

Callum Oldfield- Appearances 0 (1) Goals 0

Alfie Ord- Appearances 0 (1) Goals 0

Division 2 Play-Off Semi Finals
Jarrow 2 (Hardie, Bainbridge) FC Hartlepool 2 (McGee, Bayes) – Jarrow won 7-6 on pens
Yarm & Eaglescliffe 2 (Wild, Dalton) Seaham Red Star 0

Division 2 Play Off Final

Yarm & Eaglescliffe 0 Jarrow 0 (Y&E win 5-4 on penalties)

Congratulations to the Eagles who join Redcar Town in promotion to Division One which means two less trips to Teesside next season for RACA but Stokesley & Seaton Carew’s promotion plus Northallerton’s relegation will mean racking up the miles on the away trips in 2026/27

YARM & EAGLESCLIFFE 1 RACA 0 Attendance 150

A Daniel Jones first half goal separated the sides in this E Armstrong Cup semi final tie at Bedford Terrace as RACA were unable to breach The Eagles’ rearguard for the third time this season despite a late siege of their goal in the final few minutes. This brings down the curtain on Ryton’s season while Yarm & Eaglescliffe meet Darlington Town in the final of the Second Division Cup.

MATCH REPORT

This was Ryton’s third trip to Teesside in eight days & potentially the last game of the season against a Yarm & Eaglescliffe side who’d already done the league double over RACA. The prize for the winners was a place in the Ernest Armstrong Cup final to meet Darlington Town. RACA welcomed back Louis Anderson from his family bereavement and had George Hayton sporting a Terry Butcher type bandage round his nead tio protect the six stitches above his left eye from the cut picked up at Grangetown on Saturday. The opening period in this tie proved to be quite uneventful, the first real chance of note coming from a Ste Roberts free kick for the hosts which Callum Corkhill did well to push to safety. The Eagles did get the ball in the Albion net in the 21^st minute from a Harry Williams shot but by then the linesman had raised his flag & the ‘goal; was chalked off, but their goal on 27 minutes stood. This came from an Ethan Jones corner & after some head tennis in the box involving Williams and Roberts, the other Jones, Dan was on hand to nod home. Yarm or more specifically Isaac Coppinger, created the next chance , the youngster going on an eyecatching mazy run through the RACA defence only to screw his shot wide at the critical time denying himself of a goal of the season nomination. Meanwhile Albion huffed and puffed but never looked like troubling the Yarm stopper in that first period despite some good crosses going in, & went into the interval a goal behind.

HT Yarm & Eaglescliffe 1 RACA 0

Albion started the second half a bit brigher, Ethan Bewley went on a 49^th minute run down the right flank & spotting Anderson in the box tried to find him with a low cross, but Lee Roberts in the Y&E goal smothered the ball before it could reach the intended target. Yarm had a chance to make it 2-0 on 55 minutes when a Roberts free kick was floated into the box and Joe Dalton got his head on to the ball but put it over the bar. RACA came close to levelling on 77 minutes when Anderson found Callum Johnston who raced forward & unleashed a power drive which Roberts did well to get a strong wrist to and deflect for a corner. Although the shot was saved it prompted Albion into full attack mode for the rest of the match, but for all the time the ball was in and around the Yarm box they never looked getting the leveller. Callum Corkhill even came up for the last corner hoping to recreate the Jimmy Glass experience but it wasn’t to be and Albion closed the season with two defeats leaving The Eagles soaring and still batting on three fronts with the play offs and the County Cup final to look forward to.

FT YARM & EAGLESCLIFFE 1 RACA 0

RACA- Corkhill, Beesley, S Oldfield, Bewley (Johnston 56), Caygill, Hayton, Fletcher, Lawson (Driver 84), Anderson, Groves-Forbes (Dart 80), Calvert. Substitutes not used- C Oldfield, Skivington

A week after the 3-0 win over Billingham Town, RACA are back at Bedford Terrace to face Town’s tenants Yarm & Eaglescliffe in the second semi final of the Ernest Armstrong Cup with a final tie against Darlington Town awaiting the winners. Yarm have had a cracking season, finishing runners up to Redcar Town in & are in pole position for the play-offs. They have also made it to the final of the North Riding Senior Cup where they’ll meet Boro Rangers & have despatched both York City and Scarborough to get there, so that’s an exceptional achievement. Added to that, the Eagles have beaten us twice this season in the league without us scoring, so at first glance we look up against it. However with Y&E still battling on three fronts, they’ll be having to prioritise each tournament so hopefully the EA Cup final will be their least important target of the three! It’s all or nothing for Albion, losing this game ends our season but a win will put us in our third such final. Hope a few of you can make it down, if you can, the address for Billingham Town’s ground is 67 Surrey Terrace, Billingham TS23 4AG. HOWAY THE RACA!!!!

Congratulations to Seaton Carew who have won the Wearside League & will be one of our opponents next season, our 66th different opposition in the Northern League.

FT GRANGETOWN BC 4 RACA 1

Albion fell to a shock heavy defeat at Grangetown in the final league game ending the six game unbeaten run & succumbing to the Teesside outfit for the first time. A Jake Williams-Muthana hattrick in the opening half hour set the hosts on their way before Paul Young gave some Love to the Common People of TS6 with a fourth goal on 64 minutes. Louis Calvert got a sole consolation 2 minutes later but Ryton will need a much better performance on Tuesday night.

MATCH REPORT

Albion brought down the curtain on the league campaign at Grangetown and on current form must have fancied extending the unbeaten sequence to seven games against a side in the lower reaches of the table but safe from the drop. Those hopes were given a massive jolt within a minute when Grangetown’s Ben Urwin floated in a cross to the far post in the Ryton box where Jake Williams-Muthana was on hand to slide in & poke the ball home. Urwin himself had half a chance to double his side’s advantage in the 11^th minute when the ball from a corner landed at his feet but he scuffed his shot wide. Urwin was in the thick of the action again on 14 minutes when he took advantage of an ‘after you Claude’ moment between Albion keeper Callum Corkhill and defender Danny Diver, nipping in and shooting towards goal, but fortunately for RACA, the shot trundled just wide of the post. Ryton’s defensive disarray proved more costly in the 17^th minute when Boysie captain Oscar Mahoney bustled between two Albion players and poked a hopeful ball into the box. Stand-in defender Morgan Dart’s attempt to put the ball out to safety only succeeded in setting up Williams–Muthana who slotted home past the advancing Corkhill to make it 2-0. While Sam Pinnegar was having a comfortable afternoon in the Grangetown goal, Corkhill found himself exposed again in the 27^th minute when a break from the home side saw Williams-Muthana bursting forwards but his attempted lob to Alex Carr who was in acres of space near the far post ready for a tap in, was deflected by Dart for a corner. The half hour mark saw the hosts make it 3-0 when Fam Jatta played the ball to Urwin who in turn found Williams-Muthata & in a carbon copy of his second goal, completed his first half hattrick by slotting past Corkhill leaving defenders trailing in his wake. There was to be no further scoring in the first half, but Ryton went into the interval with much to ponder.

HT Grangetown BC 3 RACA 0

The second half started quieter than the first, though Williams-Muthana might have scored a fourth from a 53^rd minute drop ball, his cross taking an awkward bounce in front of Corkhill then clipping the crossbar before being booted to safety. But it was to get worse for Albion on 64 minutes when Corkhill punched a ball from a corner to the edge of the box where it was knocked back into the danger area, where Mahoney found Paul Young after some leg bagatelle & Young laid his hat on the ball & made it 4-0. RACA did finally raise a response three minutes later when a ball was launched up to Callum Johnston who laid to to Louis Calvert who elected to shoot from distance, his fine strike beating substitute keeper Joseph Hood, extending his sequence of scoring in six of the last seven games. The four goal cushion was almost restored straight from the kick off, Mahoney spotting Corkhill off his line & trying an audacious lob from a few yards in the Ryton half. While the effort was on target, Corkhill was able to scramble back and push the ball out for a corner. For all RACA were better after the interval, winning several corners, they didn’t look like scoring until Dart’s 90^th minute strike that Hood pushed over the bar. So RACA suffered their second heaviest defeat of the season on Teesside, but the big one is on Tuesday where surely there will be a better performance then.

FT GRANGETOWN BC 4 RACA 1

RACA- Corkhill, Beesley, Dart, Skivington (Lynch 76), Hayton (Ord 81), Driver, Lawson (Hyde 61), Bewley (Adotey 74), Calvert, Johnston, Groves-Forbes. Substitute Not Used Bailey

Saturday’s Other Division 2 Final Day Results

AFC Newbiggin 4 (Lizinde, Nelson, Smith 2) Boldon CA 1 (Whitfield)

Chester-le-Street Town 0 Alnwick 1 (Bright)

Darlington Town 0 Redcar Town 3 (McMichael, Thornton, Robinson-Coley)

FC Hartlepool 3 (Appleby, Bayes, Smith) Sunderland RCA 0

Jarrow 3 (Hardie, Barber, Karim) Esh Winning 0

Newcastle University 2 (Iverson, Kelly) Billingham Synthonia 4 (Healey, Evans, Marsay, Raby)

Tow Law Town 0 Seaham Red Star 0

Yarm & Eaglescliffe 2 (Atkinson, Marshall) Billingham Town 1 (Mitchell)

Albion make another trip to Teesside on Saturday to wrap up the league campaign at Grangetown Boys Club, hoping to extend the unbeaten run of games to seven in league and cup. ‘Boysie’ are in 18th place but safe from the drop, and Nathan’s men will be aiming to maintain our 100% record against the Teessiders having won all three games since their promotion into the Northern League in 2024. The reverse fixture this season saw us win 2-1 in the Tyne Valley, Louis Anderson and Louis Calvert on target for Ryton while James O’Brien got the goal for Grangetown, with all the goals in this game coming in the first half. Grangetown’s home form isn’t too bad having enjoyed seven of their ten league victories in TS6, their best result arguably being a 3-0 win over Park View in January.

Of course this isn’t our final game of the season as we’ve the E Armstrong Cup semi final game away to Yarm and Eaglescliffe to look forward to on Tuesday, and we now know the winners will play Darlington Town in the final following their surprise 6-0 thumping of Jarrow in the other semi final.

If you’re heading down to the B & W Lifting Stadium, the address is 19 Grange Farm Rd, Middlesbrough TS6 7HP. HOWAY THE RACA!