PRUDHOE YC 3 RACA 3

Misfiring Albion’s winning run came to an end at Essity Park as Prudhoe and RACA shared the points in a 3-3 draw in front of a record attendance of 410. Ryton’s poorest performance for several games still yielded them a point as they twice came back from being behind with Kristian Sands, Aaron Costello and Michael Baxter getting on the scoresheet to also end the losing run against the Seniors.

In this much awaited local derby it was Albion who came into the game bang in form & playing some eyecatching football to boot, but the stardust was missing at Essity Park as RACA’s passing in particular wasn’t up to recent standards. Prudhoe took advantage of RACA’s sluggish start by taking the lead on 11 minutes, Sam Dibb-Fuller poking home a cross from Darren Graham. It was to get worse for Albion on 34 minutes when Roman Sparks scored his first goal of the season for the Seniors causing some disgruntlement among the Albion fans making up a good proportion of the 410 spectators. Fortunately & a bit out of nowhere, the deficit was halved when Kristian Sands fired home from inside the Prudhoe box in the 38th minute and those of a black and blue persuasion were even more jubilant two minutes later when Aaron Costello equalised, the sides going into the break at 2-2

If the travelling fans were hoping their side would continue the momentum in the second half, they were to be disappointed as again the fluency associated with recent performances just wasn’t there. Prudhoe took advantage of Ryton’s off day on 55 minutes, Sparks finding Matty Law who rounded Albion keeper Brogan Colquhoun to make it 3-2. Ryton had to fight back again & Michael Baxter saw his powerful shot crash against the woodwork in the 70th minute. He had more success three minutes later when his in-swinging corner ended up in the back of the Prudhoe net, possibly taking a deflection on the way in, but the equaliser is credited to Baxter. That was the end of the scoring as the sides shared the points in what was entertaining fayre for the neutral.

FT PRUDHOE YC SENIORS 3 RACA 3 Attendance 410

Friday night is derby night as RACA make the short trip to Essity Park to play Prudhoe YC Seniors in the latest instalment of the eagerly awaited Tyne Valley Derby.

Albion are hoping to make it six wins on the spin in the league against a Prudhoe side with just one win in seventeen league and cup games.

Surely an away banker? Not so straightforward as that, as Prudhoe have the Indian sign over us, and turned us over 3-1 at Kingsley Park in the reverse fixture back in September.

Fergus Lynch got our goal for us that night and we had Aaron Costello dismissed. Prudhoe’s scorers were Ben Dibb-Fuller and former players Bradley Lowes and Kyle Cockburn.

The only positive for us that night was the bumper crowd of 422, still our highest attendance this season.

The Seniors also did the double over us last season winning 2-0 at RACA and 3-1 at Prudhoe in their first season in the Northern League.

If you want your Friday night football fix get down to Essity Park, Prudhoe, NE42 5EH, and get behind RACA’s push for the play offs! Kick off is scheduled for 7:30pm.

Don’t forget, you can follow our X/Twitter and Instagram feeds (@RACAFC1970) for live updates and build up; with the match report, reaction, photos and highlights to follow on the website and Facebook after the match.

Tonight’s game at Brandon’s Welfare Ground has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. We’ll update the site with the revised date once it has been arranged.

Albion have signed attacking midfield squad player Connor Shaw from Chester-le-Street Town. Connor has scored eight goals for the Cestrians this season, all in the league.

RACA’s next scheduled game is a trip to bottom side Brandon United on Wednesday evening. United have had a well documented torrid season, sit rock bottom of Division Two with just seven points & are on a run of fifteen defeats in league & cup. Although Brandon’s future is looking brighter under their new administration, Albion will be hopeful of extending the winning run to six at the Welfare Ground. In the reverse fixture at Kingsley Park, we won 7-1 with Aaron Costello scoring a hattrick, the remaining goals being scored by Richie Hoggins, Fergus Lynch, Ryan Smith & Joe Groves-Forbes. Lennox Magalhaes got the goal for United. For any RACA fans wanting to head down to Brandon, the address is Welfare Ground, Rear Commercial Street, Brandon, County Durham, DH7 8PL. Kick off is 7:45pm

The new date for our away game at Boldon CA has been set for Wednesday 3rd April with a 7:30pm kick off.

Albion made it five wins from five with a 3-0 win over in form Thornaby at Kingsley Park. Ryton edged the first half & deservedly took the lead on 41 minutes when Glenn Caygill headed home his third goal of the season. The second half saw the ball spend much of its time in the Albion half as the Teessiders piled on the pressure without really looking like restoring parity. Almost inevitably, Aaron Costello got on the scoresheet on 80 minutes to make it 2-0. As Thornaby pressed forward in numbers, RACA broke quickly and Fergus Lynch made absolutely certain of the points deep into stoppage time to make it 3-0. While a three goal win maybe flattered Albion a little, Michael Baxter and Costello both hit the post in the first & second halves respectively. As well as the 21 goals scored in this run, only one goal has been conceded in the same timespan, so a great thumbs up to the defence & keeper too.

RACA move up to ninth place in the table, leapfrogging Thornaby who drop to tenth.

Despite the fixture clashing with a Newcastle United home game, this was the biggest attendance in the second division today, though in part that was due to a good following of Thornaby fans who travelled up from Teesside.

FT RACA 3 THORNABY 0 Attendance 145

Albion welcome fellow in-form opponents Thornaby to Kingsley Park tomorrow, kick off as usual at 3pm. Thornaby are in fine form with seven wins and a draw from their last eight games although their last competitive game was back on January 27th, a 5-0 win over Washington, a game in which their top scorer Dale Milburn didn’t score but Charlie Hindson, Phil Caley, Ewan Foster and Connor Gant (2) did.

The reverse fixture at Teesdale Park saw us comfortably win 4-1 with Abu Salim, Aaron Costello (2) and Daniel Craggs netting for RACA, and Billy Clark opening the scoring for Thornaby. Albion will be facing a different beast tomorrow to that in our September fixture as the Blues got off to an indifferent start to the season. What will break tomorrow, RACA’s four match winning streak or Thornaby’s long unbeaten run?

We are pleased to announce the signing of midfield squad player Callum Carney from Bedlington Terriers.

‪Tonight’s Ebac Northern League Division Two game away to Boldon CA has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. The Welfare Ground pitch has been struggling to cope following last week’s heavy rain.‬ A rearranged date will be announced in due course.

Albion are next due to host Thornaby at Kingsley Park on Saturday.‬