Albion manager Nathan Beckham has signed central defender Jordan Shaw from Northern Alliance Premier League side Killingworth with whom he’ll remain on a dual registration. The 22 year old is well known to Nathan as he was part of his Northern Alliance League 2021/22 title winning Killingworth side. Welcome aboard Jordan.
Tonight’s Ebac Northern League Division 2 match away to Newcastle Blue Star has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
A rearranged date will be announced in due course for a fixture that was originally scheduled for Boxing Day.
Meanwhile, the NL have today announced that the venue for our match at Washington on March 19 has been switched to the Ford Hub after the continuous issues with Washy’s home pitch.
Originally a Boxing Day fixture, Albion make the short trip to Scotswood to face second placed Newcastle Blue Star on Tuesday night. We’ve not yet met the current re-incarnation of the Star who are the reigning Northern Alliance champions in a competitive game, so there will be a little bit of history created if the game survives the weather.
For those wanting to head over to Blue Star’s impressive stadium to cheer on RACA, the address is Scotswood, Denton Rd, Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 7HB.
RACA’s hopes of reaching the play offs took a shock blow when they were beaten at home by badly out of form Redcar Town. The Teessiders had lost their last six games coming into this match but certainly didn’t play like a side on such a bad run. There wasn’t much between the sides in the first half, but Town took the lead in the 44th minute from a corner which Thomas Ellington stabbed home, a goal which led to howls of protestations from the Ryton defenders convinced it should have been a goal kick rather than a corner. The goal stood & Albion went into the interval a goal down.
The second half saw RACA begin to dominate as Redcar began to tire on the heavy muddy pitch that was making quite an impact on their all white kit. Despite all the chances Ryton lacked the killer touch until Connor Shaw headed home on 78 minutes to score his first goal for the club and haul his side level. There was to be a frantic end to the game as Carl Williams took advantage of slack defending to put Redcar 2-1 up in the 87th minute, but they couldn’t hold on to the lead as RACA were awarded a penalty for a clumsy challenge which Daniel Craggs converted; it was now 2-2. But that wasn’t the end of the action as while Albion pushed forward for a winner, the Steelmen stole the points on the break in the 93rd minute with Williams unmarked firing home the winner for his 19th goal of the season including those scored for the two Billingham sides. Unlucky for RACA but a combination of missed chances & poor marking were their undoing. Redcar just delighted to end their run of defeats.
FT RACA 2 REDCAR TOWN 3 Attendance 135
The draw for March’s RACA 100 Club was held on Saturday.
The winners are:
Congratulations to the lucky winners! The next draw is scheduled for April 6, 2024.
To join the RACA 100 Club or for more details, please contact Mr Paul Le-Patourel on 07720413390.
RACA have signed midfielder Dario dos Santos from Blyth Town. The 27 year old also played for Boldon earlier in the season where he scored five goals, three in the league (including one against RACA in our 2-1 win over Boldon at Kingsley Park) and two in the Durham Challenge Cup. Welcome aboard Dario
Next up, Albion face out of form Redcar Town at Kingsley Park who we’ve yet to play this season, on Saturday. The Teessiders have lost six on the spin their latest a 2-1 home defeat to the much improved Chester-le-Street United on Wednesday night, so both sides will be wanting to bounce back from midweek home defeats. They currently sit in 20th place & looked to have turned a corner in mid January with back to back away wins at Esh Winning (4-0) and Sunderland West End (3-2) but since then their form has taken a nosedive. Can Albion end the mini blip against a struggling Redcar Town? Find out first hand at HQ -Kick off on Saturday is at 3pm
Quick news about a departing player, Kevin Mirzakhanian, who has made one substitute appearance this season. Kevin has been signed by first division Birtley Town & he goes to the Hoops with our best wishes.
Albion’s six game unbeaten run was ended at Kingsley Park by leaders Blyth Town. A fairly even first half saw Blyth get the upper hand when a late first half free kick on their left flank was scored by Max Cowburn. While Albion created at least three good chances in the second half, as they pushed increasingly forward for the equaliser, Town broke away to nab two late second half goals, from Brandon Slater in the 88th minute then from Dan Wilson a minute into stoppage time to wrap up a slightly flattering 3-0 win.
While Blyth extend their lead to 12 points at the top, Thornaby’s win means we drop down to the bottom half of the table again to sit in 12th place.
FT RACA 0 BLYTH TOWN 3 Attendance 190
Albion host runaway leaders Blyth Town on Wednesday night as we look to make it seven games unbeaten. Town surprisingly lost their 100% home record on Saturday when Esh Winning beat them 2-1 at Gateway Park and they will be keen to get back to winning ways. The reverse fixture saw Blyth coast to an easy 4-1 victory with Joe Gibson, Brandon Slater, Robbie Dale and ex RACA man Gavin Dick scoring for Town while Aaron Costello got our consolation goal. If you want to head down to Kingsley Park to cheer on the lads in their quest to beat the top side in Division 2, the kick off is at 7:30pm
The new date for our away game at Brandon United is on Wednesday 10th April kick off time to be confirmed but likely 7:45pm
