Albion completed the double over Washington with a 2-0 victory at Kingsley Park but the strong south-westerly wind spoilt the game as a spectacle, especially in the first half where Washington had the wind behind them. The opening stages of the game became so breezy with the ball constantly being blown out of play that the referee consulted both benches to see if they wanted to continue. Thankfully they did as Rhys McLeod opened the scoring for RACA on 20 minutes connecting on to a pass from debutant Lucas Lowery-Matondo. The visitors weren’t able to take full advantage of their tailwind & RACA went interval 1-0 up. Oddly enough Washington looked more dangerous kicking into the wind in the second half although thankfully it had relented a little. Albion keeper Brogan Colquhoun was tested a few times by the visitors but the venom of most of the shots had been taken out by the headwind, likewise there were several last ditch defensive tackles being made in the RACA box as the Mechanics pressed for an equaliser. At the other end, McLeod almost doubled his & Ryton’s tally as his header struck the bar. The game was put beyond Washington’s reach on the 90th minute when Matthew Todd scored his first goal for RACA when the visitors’ defence were caught out by a swirling ball & were left short staffed at the back. Washington ought to have scored a late consolation in stoppage time when substitute Flavio Silva found himself on a one on one with Colquhoun, but he misjudged his attempted lob & it was a fairly easy gather for the RACA stopper. A good win but not a game to live long in the memory.

FT RACA 2 WASHINGTON 0 Attendance 177

Weather permitting we host Washington at Kingsley Park on Saturday in our penultimate home league game. It’s not that long (March 19th) since we played The Mechanics at the Ford Hub where we won 3-2 in a game we were hanging on to our points at the end despite being 2-0 up after five minutes. Aaron Costello scored the first two goals & Fergus Lynch the 82nd minute winner that evening. Washington have been busy of late catching up on postponed games & were in action at the Hub last night losing 4-2 to Sunderland West End. This game is the first of two consecutive Albion games against the bottom two, with a midweek trip to basement club Brandon United to follow.

Kick off is at 3pm & we’d love to see as many of you as possible at Kingsley Park to cheer on the boys in Black & Blue after the disappointment of losing to Blue Star on Easter Monday.

With all today’s rain it comes as no surprise that tonight’s game at Boldon has been called off due to a waterlogged pitch. We’ll let you know when the re-arranged date is once it has been rescheduled.

Albion are scheduled to play at Boldon CA tomorrow night but with heavy rain forecast tomorrow the game at ‘The Villa’ may be in some doubt. Boldon’s twitter account advises checking their social media for updates before heading off, & their home derby game with Jarrow on Easter Monday was a victim of the weather. Should the game go ahead, kick off is at 7:30pm & the postcode for the stadium is NE35 9AL if you fancy a trip to South Tyneside to cheer on the Black & Blue

Newcastle Blue Star got their revenge over RACA for Tuesday’s defeat in Scotswood with a 2-1 win at an overcast and drizzly Kingsley Park. After a fairly even but scrappy opening period, Star were harshly awarded a penalty on 31 minutes but Dan Lanning’s strike from the spot was superbly saved by Brogan Colquhoun & the sides remained at 0-0, though eight minutes later Star did open the scoring when substitute Reagan Patterson fired home. The lead lasted just three minutes until Aaron Costello scored his 30th league goal of the season to restore parity for Albion. Before the interval Star should have been awarded a penalty due to a blatant push in the box but thankfully for RACA the referee waved play on & the sides went into the interval at 1-1.

The second half saw Blue Star dominate possession & went 2-1 up in the 50th minute from a corner when Shaun Ryder bundled it home amidst a sea of bodies in the box. Dan Lanning was denied his goal when Colquhoun pulled off another fine save, and there were to be no further goals as Albion spent most of the rest of the game on the back foot & Star made the short trip home deservedly with all three points. Not a bad bank holiday crowd considering the cold and drizzly conditions but the home fans maybe saw their team’s slim play-off hopes extinguished.

FT RACA 1 NEWCASTLE BLUE STAR 2 Attendance 302

In a late deadline swoop RACA have signed striker / winger Lucas Lowery-Matondo from West Allotment. The Northern League transfer window closed yesterday at 5pm so Lucas will be our last signing until next season. Welcome aboard the good ship RACA Lucas.

Just a quick reminder that Albion and Newcastle Blue Star meet for the second time in a week on Easter Monday with a 12:00pm kick off at Kingsley Park. It promises to be a good occasion with hopefully a sizeable Bank Holiday crowd and we’d love to see you there if you can make it to cheer RACA on to a third straight win.

Both Ryan Smith and Paul Dudgeon have left Albion to join Division 2 rivals. Smith who played 11 times for Albion this season scoring in the 7-1 win over Brandon United has gone to Bedlington Terriers, while Dudgeon who made ten appearances this campaign has gone to Newcastle Blue Star and might be eligible to face us on Monday. We wish Ryan & Paul good fortune at their respective clubs.

RACA put in a solid defensive display to come away from Denton Road with a 2-0 victory in the first game of the Easter double header with Newcastle Blue Star. Aaron Costello scored his 30th goal of the season after just 9 minutes, taking advantage of a defensive mix up to slot home. Both sides had goals ruled out for offside before Lucas Hildreth scored a superb solo goal running rings round two Star defenders before firing the ball in the back of the net to ensure Albion took a two goal lead into the interval.

The second half saw Blue Star camped in the RACA half as they pressed to reduce the deficit but Albion held firm repelling the home side’s attempts to score despite having Costello sin binned for the final few minutes of the match. That’s four unbeaten for Ryton whose next game is the reverse fixture with Blue Star on Easter Monday

FT NEWCASTLE BLUE STAR 0 RACA 2 Attendance 198

After the disappointment of Saturday’s late postponement at Bedlington, Albion make the relatively short trip to second placed Newcastle Blue Star for our first game of a quick double header against them. This was originally the Boxing Day fixture that was called off & is now being played at Scotswood, Denton Rd, Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 7HB kick off at 7:30pm if you fancy cheering on the Black & Blue.