Albion dust themselves down from the disappointment at Durham United to travel to the coast to face Seaham Red Star on Saturday. Third place Star have had a week to recuperate following a 3-2 win over neighbours Prudhoe at Essity Park on Saturday & that coupled with our form against Seaham would suggest the East Durham side would be favourites. In our last six meetings we’ve drawn one and lost five including this season’s reverse fixture where we lost 0-1 to a Lewis Porritt goal, the only game this season where we’ve had a man sent off (ignoring the Prudhoe mistaken identity debacle). We have to go back to 2011/12 for our last win at what is now The Alexandra Steakhouse Stadium though we also won there in 2008/09. Overnight rain might play a factor in local non league games so best check before heading off for this one but if you are planning on heading there, the postcode & address is-

271 Station Rd, Seaham SR7 0BH.

FT DURHAM UNITED 2 RACA 1 Attendance 42

Albion let a 1-0 lead slip at a frosty Maiden Castle as Durham United turned the game on its head with two late goals to win the first completed fixture between the two sides. Louis Anderson’s 57th minute lob looked to see RACA extend the winning run to 4 games, but the Students struck back with a goal from Seb Hopkins plus an o.g. to take all three points.

MATCH SUMMARY

Albion travelled to Maiden Castle on a cold and frosty evening to replay the match abandoned following Jack Salkeld’s horror injury. In front of an understandably sparse crowd it was the visitors who created the first chance when Rhys McLeod picked up a stray ball, a pattern to be repeated throughout the game, stormed forward & found Callum Johnston out wide & his shot while full of venom, cleared the Durham bar. In an early period scant on goalmouth action, it was RACA who produced the next move of note & once again it was McLeod the creator. He found Louis Calvert who in turn played the ball wide to Johnston & this time his shot was on target, stinging the palms of United keeper Patrick Dixon whose parry was picked up by Calvert but he was crowded out by a posse of defenders & the ball was eventually played out to safety. Having lost Elliott Clarke to a nasty head injury, Durham were on the back foot again on 38 minutes, McLeod this time bringing a save out of Dixon before defender Maximillian Nissim blasted the ball in the face of Seb Chambers, the man who had replaced Clarke, in an attempted clearance flooring the substitute. This fixture was getting a worrying trend of injuries if no goals, but Chambers would be OK to continue. For all Durham’s absence of creating anything in the first 45 minutes, they burst into life in stoppage time, Jakob Routledge finally getting a shot on target two minutes into stoppage time, quickly followed by another from Oliver Dixon which Callum Corkhill blocked. Then just before the whistle, Corkhill made a triple save with his feet from Harry Stewart, Seb Chambers and Hamza Rob respectively & the Ryton goal remained intact, the sides going into the break goalless.

HT Durham United 0 RACA 0

Albion also started this half the brighter of the two sides & deservedly took the lead on 57 minutes when Scott Oldfield pumped the ball upfield to Louis Anderson who despite being flanked by two defenders, saw Dixon off his line & coolly lobbed the keeper to put his side ahead. Barely two minutes later Calvert could have made it 2-0 when he latched on to an Anderson cross but could only put his header over the bar. Albion were to rue not pressing home the advantage as the Students began to dominate the latter stages of the game & Seb Hopkins took full advantage of a partial clearance from the Albion defence,curling the ball beyond Corkhill on 77 minutes. It was to get worse for Ryton on 84 minutes when a cross from Nissim looking for Hopkins on the far post was intercepted by the luckless Kurtis Dodds who could only divert the ball into his own net for what would prove to be the winning goal.

FT DURHAM UNITED 2 RACA 1

Albion’s mini winning spree comes to an end but they remain in 9^th place, this the seventh game in a row where RACA have either won or lost by the odd goal. As a side note, Durham United were Ryton’s 65th different Northern League opponent since joining the league.

RACA– Corkhill, Beesley, Oldfield, Lynch (Whittaker 83), Dodds, Hayton, McLeod (Hyde 68), Skivington, Anderson, Calvert (Groves-Forbes 62), Johnston (Fletcher 78). Unused Substitute- Driver

It’s Thursday night action for RACA as they take on Durham United again following the abandonment of the original game following Jack Salkeld’s horrific injury. Apart from that curtailed fixture, the clubs have never met. Durham are currently in 17th place, 15 points behind Albion, though have had a 3 point deduction. Remember this is a Thursday kick off at 7:45pm & if you’re heading down to hopefully cheer the lads on to a fourth straight win, the address and postcode for Maiden Castle is The Graham Sports Centre, Stockton Rd, Durham DH1 3SE.

Tuesday’s League Cup Result

Yarm & Eaglescliffe 1 (Garton) Prudhoe YC Seniors 3 (Rogers, Anderson, Marr)

Wednesday’s League Cup Result

Jarrow 3 (Cunningham, Armstrong, Hudson) Billingham Synthonia 3 (Connelly, Mallia, Lamb) Synners win 5-4 on penalties

Declan Bisset has joined fellow play off hopefuls Jarrow after leaving the Albion. In his two seasons he started 36 games, came on as a substitute 8 times & scored 7 goals, one goal last season when he came on as a sub against Darlington Town & his six this season were one against the University, a brace against AFC Newbiggin and a hattrick against Esh Winning. We wish Declan good fortune at his new club.

FT RACA 1 SUNDERLAND RCA 0 Attendance 247

An injury ravaged RACA made it three wins on the spin with a hard fought 1-0 win over Sunderland RCA who were in fine form having won their last five league games. Morgan Dart’s 25th minute goal, having reacting fastest to the ball bouncing off the Ryhope post proving to be the only goal of the game. The Wearsiders piled on the pressure in the last quarter of the game but a fine Ryton rearguard action held firm to collect the three points.

MATCH SUMMARY

Nathan Beckham faced a selection headache for this home game against in-form Sunderland RCA . Fergus Lynch was serving a one match suspension while there was a whole doctor’s waiting room worth of injuries ravaging the squad & keeping several key players on the sidelines. Scott Oldfield was called up to made his seasonal debut while players were pushed into the forward line with Callum Johnston the only recognised striker in the starting eleven. Dylan Lawson was also named on the bench for the first time since recovering from his lengthy injury.

On a rain soaked pitch, it was visitors who created the first chance of the game on 7 minutes when Callum Guy found Jack Patterson unmarked on the left wing with an accurate cross, but Patterson, slightly off balance, couldn’t keep the shot down & it went over the Ryton bar. Albion’s first chance of note came after 17 minutes following a period of sustained pressure when Johnston struck a shot from the edge of the box which Ryhope keeper Karl Dryden stopped, but he could only parry the ball out to Albe Fletcher who fired over the bar from close range. RACA did manage to open the scoring on 24 minutes when they were awarded a free kick just outside the ‘D’ of the Sunderland box. Johnston struck the ball sweetly but Dryden just got enough contact on the ball to tip it on to his post, the ball bouncing into the centre of the box where Morgan Dart reacted quickest & he drilled his close range shot goalwards where again Dryden got a hand to it, but there was sufficient venom in the shot to just cross the line & Albion were ahead against a side that had traditionally struggled in NE40 over the years. Albion thought they’d doubled the advantage five minutes later when a neat exchange between Josh Skivington and Fletcher saw the latter loop in a shot that clipped the post, the ball bouncing to Johnston who prodded home only to be deemed offside by former Albion player Luke Watson now running the line in the Northern League.

HT RACA 1 Sunderland RCA 0

The opening stages of the second period were short on goalmouth action but on 65 minutes Ryhope’s Archie Dodds floated a free kick into the Albion box where Dominic Moan’s attempt at an overhead kick wasn’t far wide of the post. Sunderland’s best chance of an equaliser came in the 67^th minute when Luke Richards’ cross played pinball in the RACA box, the ball falling to Max Monaghan at the back post, but he could only fire wide from close quarters & Ryton had a let off. The visitors were beginning to pile on the pressure on the Albion goal & an Archie Dodds ball to Guy saw him cut into the box only to be denied a shot from a timely sliding tackle from RACA captain George Hayton. Dodds almost lobbed Ryton keeper Callum Corkhill on 71 minutes, a minute later Aidan Stanton connected with a corner to hook the ball just wide & on 83 minutes, Corkhill had to push a Dodds free kick round the post but despite the pressure, Albion’s backs to the wall defending kept the Wearsiders at bay. Ryton did look menacing on the break as Ryhope pushed more men forward, both Nathan Beesley and Morgan Dart bringing saves out of Dryden, but one goal was enough & they held on to the three points, completing an eleven day double over RCA having won the 9 goal League Cup thriller over them last Wednesday. Ryton remain in 9^th place despite the win.

RACA- Corkhill, Beesley, Oldfield, Hyde, Hayton, Dodds, Emmerson (Parker 39, Whittaker 84), Skivington, Johnston (Lawson 79), Dart, Fletcher (Driver 76). Substitute not used- Adotey

Veteran midfielder Daniel Craggs has moved to first division Whickham in what is believed to be in a player / coaching capacity. Daniel made 41 starts for us, coming on as substitute 11 times (including once this season) and scored 8 goals since joining Albion in 2023/24. We wish Craggsy the best of fortune at The Glebe.

Albion welcome Sunderland RCA to the Oldhaulage Stadium on Saturday just 11 days after the nine goal league Cup Thriller at Meadow Park, and hopeful of completing a clean sweep of wins over the Sunderland clubs following the away win at West End on Saturday. RCA bounced back from that defeat with a 3-2 win over Seaham Red Star at the weekend & also had a penalty saved in that game so their confidence is fully restored with that fine victory that sees them sitting in 11th place just a point behind us, though they have played a game more. Our home record against the Wearsiders is a good one, having won every second division fixture played in NE40 against them, the last one being the 4-1 win last season in which Morgan Dart, Louis Calvert, Glenn Caygill and Fergus Lynch (who is suspended for Saturday’s game) were all on target for RACA while Luke McCabe was sent off in that game. In this season’s reverse fixture in SR2 in early August we didn’t fare so well, Sunderland running out comfortable 3-1 winners with Dennis Knight (2) and Jackson Ward on target for the hosts while Louis Anderson scored a late consolation for Albion. Kick off is the usual 3pm & without any Premier League action to interrupt the real football hopefully there’ll be a decent attendance on Saturday. Be good to see you there if you can make it, your support is greatly appreciated & hopefully a few from Wearside can make the trip north-west too.

Tuesday’s Division 2 Result

Yarm & Eaglescliffe 4 (Hillerby, Dalton, Atkinson 2) Tow Law Town 0

Wednesday’s Division 2 Result

Prudhoe YC 0 Billingham Synthonia 5 (Marsay, Irvine, Raby, Lamb, Hodgkinson)

Wednesday’s League Cup Result

Esh Winning 0 Marske United 2

Friday’s Division 2 Result

Redcar Town 3 (Taylor, Clark 2) Sunderland West End 1 (Robinson)

Ryton & Crawcrook Albion produced a determined second-half turnaround to earn a hard-fought 2–1 victory away at Sunderland West End on Saturday.

Trailing at the break, Albion responded with real character and composure, with goals from Rhys McLeod and Louis Calvert completing the comeback and securing an important three points on the road.

RACA: Corkhill, Beesley, Fletcher, Lynch, Hayton, Dodds, Hyde (Skivington 57), Dart, Calvert (Parker 87), McLeod (Emmerson 78), Johnston (Groves-Forbes 68). Sub not used: Whittaker.
Attendance: 60.

Albion return to league action on Saturday with a trip to the Ford Hub to face Sunderland West End, fresh from Tuesday night’s dramatic 5-4 victory at Sunderland RCA in the Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup. Nathan Beckham will be hoping the character and attacking quality shown in that game carries into this weekend’s league fixture.

It’s also a chance to complete our first double of the season, having already beaten West End 1–0 at the Oldhaulage Stadium back in July, when Kurtis Dodds’ early finish sealed the points.

If you are travelling to support the lads, the address for your Satnav is: Keelmans Lane, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, SR4 0HB. Your support is always appreciated on the road!

Ryton & Crawcrook Albion edged a dramatic nine-goal thriller at Sunderland RCA to reach Round Two of the Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup, played in relentless rain at Meadow Park on Tuesday evening.

Albion made the perfect start when Morgan Dart opened the scoring in the third minute with a superb strike. The hosts responded quickly, however, with Lewis Lukeman equalising just two minutes later, before Aidan Stanton put RCA ahead on ten minutes.

RACA hit back in style. Louis Calvert levelled the match just after the half-hour mark, and moments later Nathan Beesley fired Albion in front. The momentum continued as Louis Anderson added a fourth before half-time, giving Ryton a 4-2 lead at the interval.

RCA reduced the deficit when Stanton converted from the penalty spot midway through the second half, but substitute Callum Johnston restored Albion’s two-goal cushion with a superb curling finish from the edge of the box with just over ten minutes remaining. Stanton completed his hat-trick almost immediately to make it 5-4, setting up a tense finale, but RACA held firm to secure a memorable victory.

The win sets up a Round Two trip to Birtley Town.

RACA: White, Beesley, Dart, Lynch (Fletcher 84), Hayton, Dodds, Groves-Forbes, Hyde (Parker 60), Anderson (Skivington 80), McLeod, Calvert (Johnston 67). Sub not used: Whittaker.
Attendance: 84.