Albion host Prudhoe based Newcastle University at The Oldhaulage Stadium on Wednesday evening in the third of a run of four consecutive home games.

Our recent record against the Uni is dreadful however, since beating them in the 2022 Ernest Armstrong Cup Final we’ve picked up one point out of a possible eighteen, losing the corresponding fixture last season 0-2. The Students are seven places above us in 6th place, but only three points better off in the congested mid table of Division 2, & a two goal victory in our favour actually would see us leapfrog them, so a win would project us right up the table.

If you’re planning on coming to cheer on the boys in black and blue, the kick off on Wednesday is at 7:30pm

Monday’s Durham Challenge Cup Result

South Shields 1 Durham United 6 (Hopkins, Kay 2, Boothroyd, Challinor, Bell)

Tuesday’s Division 2 Results

AFC Newbiggin 0 FC Hartlepool 1 (O’Gorman)

Redcar Town 2 (Clark, Beach) Billingham Synthonia 5 (Irvine 2, Gray, Lawrence, Webb)

Tuesday’s Durham Challenge Cup Results

Billingham Town 3 (Spencer, Mitchell, White) Darlington 3 (Town win 5-4 on penalties)

Chester le Street Town 6 (Brownsword, Robson 3, Bainbridge, Nelson) Durham Corinthians 1

Farringdon Detached 3 Boldon CA 1 (Gateshill)

This month’s lucky winners are-

1st prize No 97 M Dobson who wins £100

2nd Prize No 32 K Wilkinson who wins £75

3rd Prize No 80 S Cairns who wins £25

next draw is on 05/10/2025

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 at the club on 07720 413390 . Thank-you

Albion played out a fifth consecutive 2-0 result, this time in our favour at home to strugglers Billingham Synthonia. Both goals came in the first half, a back flicked header from Kurtis Dodds & a free kick from Louis Calvert doing the damage that moves us up to 13th place, while Synners are now two points adrift at the foot of the Division 2 table.

MATCH SUMMARY

RACA hoped to get their stuttering season back on track with the visit of basement boys Billingham Synthonia in front of another impressive home attendance of 207 enjoying the early autumn sunshine.

Albion started straight on the front foot and within a minute, Synners keeper Will Lawrence was called into action when Callum Johnson tried to square the ball to Louis Calvert who was bearing down on the Billingham goal, but the custodian managed to smother the ball before the probable tap in. Within a minute there was an almost carbon copy move, again Johnston playing in the ball from the right to Calvert only this time the Ryton number 9 was thwarted by defenders, Ryan Johnson blocking the ball before being punted to safety by Ethan Cartwright. However RACA were rewarded for their persistence in the 3^rd minute when Danny Driver launched one of his trademark exocet throw into the Synners’ box & Kurtis Dodds cleverly back flicked the ball with his head into the back of the net. The Teessiders’ first chance of note came on 11 minutes when the Ryton defence failed to clear the ball properly from a Synthonia clearance and Ben Riddiough nipped in & chanced his arm with a shot that Albion keeper Callum Corkhill had to push over the bar. It was RACA who’d get the next goal of the game & it came in slightly comedic fashion from a 28^th minute free kick awarded just outside the Billingham box. Synners set up a four man wall & as Calvert struck a low drive, the wall jumped, the ball zipped under them and found its way past Lawrence and into the net. Billingham responded on 32 minutes with a neat move involving Spencer Evans and James Webb which culminated in the latter striking the ball cleanly, beating the keeper but firing into the side netting.

HT RACA 2 Billingham Synthonia

Synners created the first real chance of the second period, Evans taking advantage of hesitant Ryton defending on 53 minutes, sliding in before an intended clearance, the ball falling kindly to Webb who, flanked by two defenders struck for home only to see Corkhill block his shot with his legs. A minute later another Driver long throw into the Billingham box caused panic, this time it was David Luke who back flicked towards the goal with his head though this time Lawrence clawed the ball away and eventually the Synthonia defence played it to safety. The visitors brought another save out of Corkhill, this time from a Sam Lawrence free kick on 60 minutes that he curled round the wall, and then came even closer to scoring seconds when Cameron Thompson looped a ball over Corkhill which glanced off the bar. Billingham were back on the attack in the 64^th minute following a fine run by Webb down the left wing. With Thompson unmarked on the far post, Morgan Dart made a crucial intervention of the cross, knocking it out for a corner when on another day it could have easily been a classic own goal. Ryton were presented a half chance on a plate when the Synners keeper Lawrence got himself in a total mix up trying to shepherd out a loose ball for a throw in, but Calvert dispossessed him & from a tight angle hit a shot goalward, but luckily for Lawrence, and Synthonia, Cartwright was on the line to clear to safety. It was Will’s brother Sam who tried to pull one back for Billingham from a free kick on 70 minutes. Once again he beat the wall but not Corkhill. Thereafter the game fizzled out which of course sorted Albion as they held on to the 2-0 win, and extended the unusual sequence of both teams not scoring in a RACA match to seven games.

FT RACA 2 BILLINGHAM SYNTHONIA 0 Attendance 207

RACA– Corkhill, Skivington, Dart, Luke, Dodds, Driver, Salkeld (Ord 73), Elliott, Calvert, Bisset (Whittaker 62), Johnston (Blakey 84). Substitutes not used – Scott, Cairns

Saturday’s Other Division 2 Results

Alnwick Town 1 (Hayes) Boldon CA (Robertson)

Durham United 2 (Selvardoray, Boothroyd) Prudhoe YC 1 (Wilson)

FC Hartlepool 2 (McGee, Bayes) Chester-le-Street Town 1 (Nelson)

Grangetown BC 0 Jarrow 1 (Bates)

Newcastle University 1 (Redford) Seaham Red Star 3 (Weirs, Leonard, O’Connor)

Park View 0 Esh Winning 0

Sunderland RCA 4 (Stanton 2, Dodds, McCarthy) Billingham Town 3 (Mitchell, Stares, White)

Sunderland West End 3 (Hunter, Davis, Norton) Darlington Town 0

Tow Law Town 1 (Raitt) AFC Newbiggin 2 (Hoggins, Cooper)

Yarm & Eaglesciffe 1 (Roberts) Redcar Town 2 (Gott, Clark)

Saturday sees Albion host Billingham Synthonia in the second of four home games on the trot. The Synners are currently bottom of Division 2 having had a turbulent start to the season with some heavy defeats early on, but recently having signed numerous players from Yarm & Eaglesciffe Reserves as well as the bulk of their management team, results look a lot more respectable with the last three defeats by just the one goal plus a decent away point as West End thrown into that sequence. Our own season is still a bit start-stop with more stop of late with Wednesday’s disappointing 0-2 against Yarm & Eaglescliffe’s first team the latest setback.

In the 26 previous encounters with the green half of Billingham, we’ve played them in the first division, second division, the FA Cup, FA Vase, the E Armstrong Cup (they knocked us out of that competition last season) and of course the Durham Challenge Cup final back in 2010 when it was held at Hetton-le-Hole which Synners won 2-0. We did win this corresponding league fixture 2-0 last season though, with Abu Salim scoring both goals in that purple patch he had around this time last year.

Kick off at the Oldhaulage Stadium is at 3pm if you want to make the most of the international break & cheer on the RACA

Albion played out another 2-0 result in a combative game against Yarm & Eaglescliffe, their fourth 2-0 in a row, but sadly were on the wrong side of the score line as two second half goals from Joe Dalton and Peter Bulmer ensured the points went back to Teesside. To add to the woes, the home side had their chances and also missed a penalty with the game at 1-0. The defeat means Ryton drop two places to 15th in the table.

MATCH SUMMARY

RACA faced a Yarm side who had lost just one of their eight league games to date & who had also despatched next Wednesday’s opponents, neighbours Newcastle University, out of the FA Vase so the Albion management team knew they were in for a tough task despite a previous 100% record against the Eagles in Crawcrook.

In autumnal conditions after some welcome rain it was Albion who almost went ahead on 8 minutes when a corner found its way to the head of captain for the night Craig Scott who headed the ball downwards, it bouncing up past the outstretched arm of Lee Roberts in the Yarm goal and bouncing off the bar. Y&E had a decent chance of their own in the 17^th minute from a free kick which Harry Stewart-Titchiner launched into the RACA box, finding Daniel Jones who chested the ball to Harry Williams who struck a sweet first time volley which wasn’t too far wide of the post. The visitors felt harshly done by three minutes later when what looked like a clear handball from a Ryton defender in the box was waved away by the referee, and while they were protesting, Albion broke away smartly with Jack Elliott forcing Roberts in the Yarm goal to come wide and close him down. Elliott managed to find Declan Bisset in the box but by then the Eagles defence had piled into the six yard area, Ethan Jones looking to have been the man in yellow who blocked Bisset’s shot. RACA had a penalty claim of their own turned down on 29 minute when Louis Calvert was bundled over in the box but again the referee wasn’t interested in awarding anything. Calvert had half a chance to get on the scoreboard on 40 minutes when he cut from the right, but the angle was tight & his shot lacked the power to trouble Roberts, who made a routine save. Albion were creating chances but lacked accuracy at the crucial moments, Scott heading wide from a 37^th minute corner being about the best effort as a free kick punctuated half came to a close.

HT RACA 0 Yarm & Eaglescliffe 0

The opening minutes of the second half were uneventful although on the hour mark Stewart-Titchiner almost caught out Albion keeper Callum Corkhill out with a free kick that almost sneaked in to the unguarded side of the goal, but Corkhill was able to scramble back & prevent Y&E opening the scoring. The respite was brief as on 62 minutes Yarm played out a snappy four man move from a throw in that finished with Josh Marshall laying the ball to Joe Dalton who struck the ball sweetly giving Corkhill no chance as it rippled the net. Albion were given a golden opportunity to draw level when the referee awarded the home side a spot kick in the 66^th minute when Declan Bisset was brought down in the box. After much protestation from the visitors, recently introduced substitute Louis Anderson stepped up to take the spot kick but crashed his shot against the bar and the Teessiders were let off the hook. Albion plugged on in an ever increasingly niggly game & on 79 minutes Anderson played a short ball across the box & keeper and defender rather got in each others way allowing Calvert to nip in but Roberts recovered quickly to bravely dive at Calvert’s feet to snatch the ball back. Morgan Dart was next to create a chance when on 80 minutes he played a low cross from near the by-line which evaded several players from both sides before being scrambled to safety near the far post. But any chance of a comeback was snuffed out in the 89^th minute when a ball forward was flicked on by Harry Williams to Marshall who had got goal side of the Ryton defence. He played the ball to Peter Bulmer who eventually knocked home his first goal of the season after evading the desperate slides of RACA defenders to wrap up the game. There was one last chance from Ryton for a consolation when Dart had a shot on goal deep into stoppage time, but while on target, it lacked the power to trouble Roberts too much & Albion were left to rue missed opportunities again.

FT RACA 0 YARM & EAGLESCLIFFE 2

RACA– Corkhill, Driver, Dart, Salkeld (Lynch 33), Dodds, Scott (Blakey 80), Luke, Elliott (Skivington 77), Calvert, Bisset (Adotey 83), Johnston (Anderson 60)

Wednesday’s Other Division 2 Results

Darlington Town 0 FC Hartlepool 1 (Burrows)

Esh Winning 2 (Bower, Cherrie) Alnwick Town 2 (Smith, o.g.)

Jarrow 2 (Beattie, Karim) Durham United 2 (Bramwell, Kay)

Prudhoe YC 2 (Lowes 2) Boldon CA 3 (Zych 2, B Robertson)

Ryton face a stiff test on Wednesday as last season’s Division 2 runners-up Yarm and Eaglescliffe visit NE40. The Teessiders sit in 9th place but have games in hand over everyone else in the division, and have lost just the one of their nine league and cup games this season, that a narrow 0-1 loss at FC Hartlepool. Since their promotion from the North Riding League, RACA have played the Eagles four times, winning both home games & losing the two games on Teesside. Last season this was the opening fixture which we won 1-0 with Joe Groves-Forbes, who sat out Saturday’s Park View match due to injury, on target for Albion.

If you want to see if RACA can make it four wins from five at home, the kick off is at 7:30pm

Tuesday’s Division 2 Results

AFC Newbiggin 2 (Hoggins 2) Grangetown BC 2 (Leka, Dixon)

Chester le Street Town 1 (Akal) Tow Law Town 0

Redcar Town 0 Park View 0

Seaham Red Star 1 (Appleby) Billingham Synthonia 0

Sunderland RCA 1 (Stanton) Newcastle University 2 (Pennington, Pow)

Nice to see Richie Hoggins net his first goal of the season for Newbiggin

Here is our schedule for September. We have six out of seven games at the Oldhaulage provisionally scheduled including the next four.

Ryton put in a flat performance at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street as they went down 0-2 to two second half goals from Park View Academy. Nathan Conroy & Stephen Siyanbola were the men on target as Albion struggled to create much up front at the other end. New signing Danny Driver was in Nathan’s starting XI but started his Albion career on the losing side who drop two places to 13th in the second division table.

MATCH SUMMARY

RACA fielded new signing Danny Driver in the starting XI at the Riverside & in an otherwise fairly drab game it was noticeable how far the signing from Jarrow can get from a throw in. It took 18 minutes for any meaningful effort to materialise & it came from RACA when one of the aforementioned Driver long throws was punched out by Academy keeper James Hughes. Midweek hero Louis Calvert collected the loose ball, nutmegged his marker & struck the ball goalwards which Hughes parried, fortunately for him the ball landing behind the predatory Louis Anderson who was waiting for a tap in, and it was cleared by Jamie Frizzel. Park View responded a minute later with a run down the right flank by Rayhan Grimaud who found Sam Beattie, his shot on goal being smothered by Ryton keeper Callum Corkhill. The Academy’s Jacob Mallinson also had a first half shot on target on 33 minutes, but it was from distance and was an easy stop for Corkhill. The half came to an end with little for the 90 spectators to enthuse about during the interval, Ryton reaching the milestone of three and a half league games without conceding a goal.

HT Park View 0 RACA 0

The home side soon put paid to Albion’s defensive solidity when on 52 minutes, they opened the scoring. A Dylan Robson throw was headed on by Alexander Clark, the ball falling to Nathan Conroy who turned his marker in the box & fired home his sixth goal of the season into the corner of the net. RACA pressed the self destruct button on 71 minutes when dispossessed trying to play the ball out of defence, the ball rolling kindly to the unmarked Stephen Siyanbola who had the simple task of slotting home past Corkhill. Albion came close to pulling a goal back on 75 minutes when Morgan Dart took advantage of a Grimaud error & sped down the wing, squaring the ball to Fergus Lynch who struck the ball well enough, but Hughes pulled off a good save to push the ball out for a corner. Albion almost shot themselves in the foot again in the 81^st minute when Kurtis Dodds miskicked a ball in a defensive position, the ball being picked up by Siyanbola who found Zac Boddy who struck a shot that had Corkhill beaten but clipped the top of the bar. There was one final half chance for the home side on 84 minutes when Mallinson cut in a ball to Ben Gallagher whose shot rippled the net but fortunately for Albion it was the side netting that the ball nestled in.

FT PARK VIEW 2 RACA 0 Attendance 90

Albion’s poor form on Saturday afternoons continues having lost four of five games on the traditional time slot & we’ve still yet to win outside the Tyne Valley this season. Thankfully the next game is on Wednesday night against Yarm & Eaglescliffe, the first in a run of four home games following the forced switch of venue of our Billingham Synthonia game, so an ideal opportunity to accrue some points & move back up the table through the first half of September.

RACA- Corkhill, Blakey, Skivington (Dart 56), Lynch (Whittaker 77), Driver, Dodds, Salkeld (Elliott 56), Luke, Calvert, Bisset, Anderson (Johnston 65). Unused Substitute Adotey.

Saturday’s Other Division 2 Results

Alnwick Town 2 (Anderson, Wilkinson) Redcar Town 4 (Clark, Robinson-Coley 3)

Billingham Synthonia 2 (Evans, Nevitt) Sunderland RCA 3 (McCarthy, Lukeman, Stanton)

Boldon CA 1 (Purvis) Esh Winning 0

Durham United 1 (Boothroyd) AFC Newbiggin 5 (Barber, Cooper 2, o.g., Smith)

FC Hartlepool 1 (O’Gorman) Billingham Town 1 (Roddam)

Grangetown BC 0 Chester le Street Town 2 (Nelson, Simpson)

Jarrow 1 (Beattie) Prudhoe YC 2 (Wilson, Lane)

Newcastle University 0 Sunderland West End 0

Tow Law Town 2 (Adams, Burnicle) Darlington Town 0

Yarm & Eaglescliffe 2 (Roberts, Marshall) Seaham Red Star 2 (Weirs 2)

Albion make the trip to Chester-le-Street to face Park View AFC, formerly Chester-le-Street United on Saturday. The Stags sit in 4th place and grabbed a fine 0-0 draw in midweek at Seaham Red Star three days after winning their Vase tie 2-0 against Steeton who are in the same division as Holker Old Boys. The clubs have met six times before, RACA winning twice, with three drawn games & Park View winning our last meeting at the Oldhaulage Stadium 3-0 in March. Hopefully we’ve seen the worst of the injuries with Morgan Dart and Callum Johnston making comebacks in midweek & in addition, Nathan has the option of fielding new signing from Jarrow, Danny Driver.

If you’re planning on heading down to cheer on the RACA, Park View are back at the Riverside unlike last season when we played them at Ford Hub, & the address is Riverside, Chester-le-Street DH3 3SH

Albion put in a workmanlike performance to see off Alnwick Town, Louis Calvert scoring a goal in each half to clinch the points. Town had their chances but couldn’t find the net, & as a result RACA kept a third consecutive clean sheet in the league & move into the top half of the table for the first time this season.

MATCH SUMMARY

Both sides came into this game on the back of away defeats in the the FA Vase & with the exception of the Esh Winning game, with RACA struggling to find the net of late, while Alnwick’s early season goalscoring fairy dust looked to have worn off. On a pleasant evening at the Oldhaulage Stadium, Ryton boss Nathan Beckham was able to field new signing Charlie Whittaker and returnees from injury, Morgan Dart and Callum Johnson on the bench.

A quiet start to the game saw headers by Albion’s Jack Salkeld & Alnwick’s Euan Potts go narrowly wide without giving either keeper too much concern, but on 9 minutes Albion’s Louis Calvert opened the scoring following a fine solo run after receiving the ball from Davy Luke beating four defenders before slotting home past former RACA keeper Aaron Carr from not the easiest of angles. Wick came close to levelling on 24 minutes when another former Ryton player Ryan Smith received the ball from a Joe Egglestone throw in. He spun and lobbed the ball over the approaching defenders & keeper Callum Corkhill the ball hitting the bar although Corkhill might just have got his fingertips to it. And that was it for meaningful efforts in the first 45 minutes with Calvert’s goal lighting up an otherwise fairly uneventful half.

HT RACA 1 Alnwick Town 0

Albion created the first decent chance of the second period when in the 47^th minute the ball spun to Fergus Lynch following a coming together of Calvert & Alnwick’s Yannick Aziakonou. The captain for the night sweetly struck a first time volley that whistled over Carr’s bar though the keeper looked to have it covered had the ball dipped further. The visitors had a fine opportunity to equalise from a 58^th minute Egglestone corner that somehow evaded everyone in the Ryton box, eventually coming to the unmarked Aziakounou on the far post, but he too was unable to make any contact with his head on the ball which continued to safety, leaving the Alnwick number 8 with his head in his hands instead of being on the end of a cross. Two minutes later and Wick were on the offensive again as Egglestone went on one of his runs, firing in a shot that took a slight deflection causing Corkhill to spill the ball which was picked up by Jaymie Shell, but with two Alnwick teammates on the RACA goalline waiting for a tap in, Corkhill was able to block then smother Shell’s shot and the danger was averted. The 67^th minute gave Alnwick the best chance yet to restore parity when an up and under from Jamie Clark caught the Albion defence flat footed & Potts raced through with just the keeper to beat and the unmarked Max Anderson also goal side of the defenders, but Town’s top scorer went for goal but managed to put his effort wide. RACA looked to have wrapped up the points on 79 minutes following a punt upfield. Wick defender Evan Wilkinson aware of the presence of Louis Calvert, tried to head the bouncing ball back to Carr but got nowhere near enough power on it, and Calvert nipped in and dinked the ball past the advancing goalie to make it 2-0. Wick weren’t quite done with yet and when an 88^th minute RACA attack broke down Daniel Cherry raced forward with the ball and found Anderson on a run with a fine pass, but in keeping with his side’s profligacy in front of goal on the evening, Anderson fired his shot over the bar & with that went any change of a comeback. Three very satisfying points for Albion considering the number of unavailable players, and no doubt pleasing for the management team that both Dart & Johnson were able to make second half appearances & the side kept another clean sheet.

FT RACA 2 ALNWICK TOWN 0

RACA– Corkhill, Blakey, Skivington, Lynch (Cairns 86), Scott, Dodds, Salkeld (Whittaker 75), Luke, Calvert (Adotey 89), Bisset (Dart 65), Groves-Forbes (Johnston 72)

Wednesday’s Other Division 2 Results

Darlington Town 2 (Wilson, England) Grangetown BC 1 (Dixon)

FC Hartlepool 1 (Bayes) Newcastle University 1 (o.g.)

Prudhoe YC 1 (Symington) Esh Winning 0