Albion edged past Horden CW in the Durham Challenge Cup at a wet Oldhaulage Stadium & in doing so ended the Marras’ remarkable run of 15 games unbeaten while making it 3 wins from 3 in cup games this season. Rhys McLeod opened the scoring after just three minutes, a lead that Ryton held until the interval despite intense Horden pressure. Matty Harrison doubled the advantage in the 51st minute with a fine header but Horden struck back with a David Doughty goal on 54 minutes & despite several chances the East Durham side couldn’t get the equaliser as RACA’s defence hung on valiantly. Albion host FC Hartlepool in the 2nd Round on 6th November.

Albion still smarting from Saturday’s home defeat to Thornaby faced bang in form Division 2 leaders Horden CW in this enjoyable cup tie played on a heavy pitch with the prize of a home tie against FC Hartlepool for the victors. Both sides had made changes to their previous line ups on Saturday, RACA giving a debut to goalkeeper Aaron Carr, while Horden rested the experienced duo of Ben Riding and Jack Pounder who between them got three of their five goals against Esh Winning on Saturday. The home side got off to a dream start, after being awarded a free kick on 3 minutes on the edge of the Horden box following a foul on Louis Calvert. Rhys McLeod’s shot took a slight deflection off Martin Fowler on the end of the wall but it was enough to deceive Marras keeper Andrew Fletcher & Ryton were a goal up although they were to lose Dylan Lawson to injury just two minutes later. Albion maybe should have gone 2-0 up in the 12th minute when Matty Harrison burst through the Horden defence only to see his shot blocked by the legs of Fletcher, the ball falling to Calvert, but his shot was well blocked on the line as three Horden defenders got themselves between Calvert and the goal. Horden replied with a powerful shot from Ben Henderson on 15 minutes which wasn’t far over the Ryton bar. Then in the 20th minute Neil Fannan broke through the RACA defence & tried a deft lob over Carr who just got enough contact on the ball to deflect the ball out for a corner. Henderson was causing further mischief on the left flank in the 31st minute, cutting in & beating two defenders bur Carr thwarted his goalbound effort, palming the ball out for another Horden corner. Two minutes later from the opposite wing Robbie Bird spun round his marker then fired a ball across the six yard line but there was no-one in a red shirt to apply the finishing touch, the ball rolling to the safety of a goal kick.

HT RACA 1 Horden CW 0

Albion started the second half as they did the first, scoring early on when Matty Harrison headed home from a fine cross in the 51st minute to make it 2-0 to the hosts, but the two goal advantage wasn’t to last long. Just two minutes later a move that began with a quickly taken free kick in the Horden half ended up at the end of a swift move forward with the unmarked David Doughty sliding the ball home to make it 2-1 despite protestations of offside from the home side. The second half was summed up with the visitors pushing forward looking for the equaliser but fully committed Ryton defending with slide tackles galore keeping Horden at bay, Albion making the odd fast break forward but also being thwarted by equally committed albeit often stretched Horden defending. Taylor Campbell’s 90th minute dipping shot from distance did look like it might cause Carr some angst but thankfully for RACA the ball went just over the bar. Campbell had one last chance to take the game to penalties in stoppage time when a cross was fired over from the left but his charge into the box was in vain as he could only head over the bar. So a gritty RACA minus a few regular starters made it through past difficult opponents on a heavy pitch, Nathan & Co will be hoping it hasn’t sapped too much energy for the FA Vase tie against Barnoldswick on Saturday, a sentiment surely shared by the Horden camp as they too fly the Second Division flag against NWCL opposition in Padiham on Saturday

FT RACA 2 HORDEN COMMUNITY WELFARE 1 Attendance 130

RACA- Carr, Skivington, Oldfield, Lynch, Errington, Caygill, Lawson (Burrell 5, Craggs 60), Dart (Todd 68), Calvert (Adotey 60), McLeod (Salim 55), Harrison

It’s hopefully second time lucky for RACA as we try again in our Durham Challenge Cup tie against Horden tomorrow (Wednesday) night, the original game being postponed due to the waterlogged pitch last Wednesday. Since then our fine unbeaten run came to an end at the hands of Thornaby on Saturday, while the ‘Marras’ blew Esh Winning away 5-1 in a Division Two top of the table clash, thus extending their unbeaten record to FIFETEEN league & cup games, so it will be one tough assignment for Nathan & his men.

Kick off is 7:30pm if you can make it. The reward for the winners is a home tie against FC Hartlepool in the 2nd Round

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.

Should RACA beat Horden in the re-arranged 1st Round tie in the Durham Challenge Cup, we will face FC Hartlepool in the 2nd Round at the Oldhaulage Stadium. The full draw is-

Stockton Town FC v Shildon AFC
Easington Colliery AFC v Durham United/Consett AFC
Dunston FC v Seaham Red Star/Farringdon Detached
Bishop Auckland v Birtley Town
Hebburn Town FC v Sunderland West End
Ryton & Crawcrook Albion/Horden CW v FC Hartlepool
Spennymoor Town FC v Boldon CA/Whickham FC
West Auckland Town v Gateshead FC

The tie would be played on Wednesday 6th November should we overcome Horden.

With tonight’s Durham Challenge Cup tie against Horden a victim of the weather, next up is a visit from Thornaby on Saturday providing the rain abates. The Teessiders currently sit in 6th place in the table & rather like Chester-le-Street United last week, are on a run of five games unbeaten, aren’t prolific scorers but have a mean defence, having only conceded 14 goals in their 17 league games to date. They’ve also played out three goalless draws, all at home, something we’ve not done for 97 league games now! We’ve played Thornaby a total of 22 times in the Northern League, winning 8, drawing 4 and losing 10 of those games, but last season proved our best yet against The Blues, winning 4-1 at Teesdale Park & 3-0 at home, Fergus Lynch, Aaron Costello & Glenn Caygill each bagging a goal in the game at HQ.

Kick-off on Saturday is 3pm if you want to head down to the Oldhaulage Stadium to see if RACA can push the unbeaten record out to eleven games, hope to see you there.

Tonight’s Durham Challenge Cup First Round tie against Horden CW at the Oldhaulage Stadium has been postponed following the heavy rain.

The match has now been rescheduled for next Wednesday, 16th October.

In the first of five successive home games for Albion, on Wednesday evening we welcome Horden Community Welfare in the 1st Round of the Frank Pattison Durham Challenge Cup, the last 32 stage, and our reward for beating Darlington Town in the Preliminary Round. While RACA have never played ‘The Marras’ in any cup competition in our Northern League era, our recent league form against them has been poor with one draw & five defeats against then in the last 6 games, the draw coming at Kingsley Park earlier this season. Horden didn’t play in the preliminary round of this season’s tournament but have some impressive history having won the trophy on five occasions in 1935/36, 1963/64, 1980/81, 1981/82 and 2002/03 albeit as Horden Colliery Welfare. Remarkably, they are on an even better vein of form than us, having just had a twelve match winning run ended with a 1-1 draw with Yarm & Eaglescliffe on Saturday, but have still gone fourteen games unbeaten in league & FA Vase in which they have eliminated two first division sides in Birtley and Kendal. Remember if it’s all square after 90 minutes it goes straight to penalties. This really should be an interesting game with two teams in red hot form so do try & get along the the Oldhaulage Stadium on Wednesday if you can to cheer on the black and blue, kick-off is 7:30pm.

This month’s lucky winners are-

1st prize No 54 N Lawson who wins £100

2nd Prize No 10 Stevie Carter who wins £75 (no begging letters please!)

3rd Prize No 69 A Ord 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

Albion extended their fine unbeaten run to ten league and cup games with a 1-1 draw away to previously draw-less Chester-le-Street United. Matty Hayton scored his second goal in as many games to put RACA a goal up on 17 minutes but United levelled the scoring through Dan Robinson just seven minutes later.

These two sides faces each other both in fine form & Ryton made their intentions clear straight from the kick off as Louis Calvert had the ball in United’s net within the first minute, only for it to be ruled as offside. Stags keeper James Hughes was called into action in the 10th minute when Matty Hayton picked up Hughes’ poor clearance & fired a low shot which the Chester le Street keeper managed to push away but only to Josh Skivington’s head, but the RACA defender could only head tamely over the bar. However Hughes only kept the visitors at bat until the 17th minute when Scott Oldfield launched a ball forward from well inside the Ryton half which the United defence were unable to deal with. Hayton nipped between two defenders & fired home past Hughes to open the scoring & take his personal tally to two goals in two games for RACA. Chester game close to levelling on 20 minutes when Dan Robinson looped a shot towards the Albion goal from the touchline, forcing back-pedalling keeper Brogan Colquhoun to tip the ball over the bar. Robinson was to equalise four minutes later when a Chester corner bounced of Steven Siyanbola’s head back-over to Robinson who blasted a pearler past Colquhoun to level the scores at 1-1. Colquhoun had to be at his best on 36 minutes when a Stags corner was headed back into the box by Dylan Wilkinson onto the head of Siyanbola whose close range header was pushed away by the Ryton keeper. Just before the interval RACA had the ball in the back of the United net again this time Jack Errington scoring from a Josh Skivington free kick, but again it was disallowed for off-side

HT Chester-le-Street United 1 RACA 1

Albion created the first half chance of the second half when in the 53rd minute, Hayton squared the ball to Skivington across the Chester box, but the RACA number 4 could only fire narrowly wide. On the hour mark Siyanbola went on a solo run & fired in a shot which Colquhoun gathered comfortably, though the shot was from a difficult angle. Both sides were limited to half chances , Siyanbola firing another shot at Colquhoun on the edge of the box on 79 minutes, while a minute later Ryton substitute Matthew Harrison picked up a loose ball in the Chester box but his shot was smothered by Hughes. The closing stages saw RACA throw everything at their hosts but United’s defence held out & both sides had to settle for a point. Albion go to ten games unbeaten & the Stags, with their first draw of the campaign, go six unbeaten in the league

FT CHESTER-LE-STREET UNITED 1 RACA 1 Attendance 57

RACA- Colquhoun, Groves-Forbes, Ledger, Skivington (Grieveson 75), Errington, Oldfield, Lynch, Lawson (Bisset 75), Calvert, Dart (Harrison 65), Hayton.

ENL Pos: 4th.

Albion revisit the venue of their 3-1 win over Sunderland West End on Saturday as they take on Chester-le-Street United in the Ebac Northern League Division 2. United are relative newcomers to the Northern League, this being their third season at Step 6 & RACA have yet to lose to The Stags, drawing both games in 2022/23 (including a 0-0 at Kingsley Park, the last time we were involved in a goalless draw, a full 95 league games ago) & winning both games last season. For now United are playing their home games at the Ford Hub instead of the Riverside so if you are attending on Saturday make sure you go to Keelmans Lane, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, SR4 0HB.

Ryton can go ten games unbeaten if avoiding defeat while Chester have won their last five league games so something has to give although if Saturday’s game is a draw it will be United’s first of the season having won eight & lost eight of their league games so far. They’ve only scored 15 & conceded 18 league goals in their 16 league games, so defences have generally been on top in their games, though RACA have netted 28 times in the current unbeaten run so it could be an interesting clash of styles at the Hub. Kick of is at 3pm so hope to see plenty of black & blue clad fans there.