A week after the 3-0 win over Billingham Town, RACA are back at Bedford Terrace to face Town’s tenants Yarm & Eaglescliffe in the second semi final of the Ernest Armstrong Cup with a final tie against Darlington Town awaiting the winners. Yarm have had a cracking season, finishing runners up to Redcar Town in & are in pole position for the play-offs. They have also made it to the final of the North Riding Senior Cup where they’ll meet Boro Rangers & have despatched both York City and Scarborough to get there, so that’s an exceptional achievement. Added to that, the Eagles have beaten us twice this season in the league without us scoring, so at first glance we look up against it. However with Y&E still battling on three fronts, they’ll be having to prioritise each tournament so hopefully the EA Cup final will be their least important target of the three! It’s all or nothing for Albion, losing this game ends our season but a win will put us in our third such final. Hope a few of you can make it down, if you can, the address for Billingham Town’s ground is 67 Surrey Terrace, Billingham TS23 4AG. HOWAY THE RACA!!!!

Congratulations to Seaton Carew who have won the Wearside League & will be one of our opponents next season, our 66th different opposition in the Northern League.

FT GRANGETOWN BC 4 RACA 1

Albion fell to a shock heavy defeat at Grangetown in the final league game ending the six game unbeaten run & succumbing to the Teesside outfit for the first time. A Jake Williams-Muthana hattrick in the opening half hour set the hosts on their way before Paul Young gave some Love to the Common People of TS6 with a fourth goal on 64 minutes. Louis Calvert got a sole consolation 2 minutes later but Ryton will need a much better performance on Tuesday night.

MATCH REPORT

Albion brought down the curtain on the league campaign at Grangetown and on current form must have fancied extending the unbeaten sequence to seven games against a side in the lower reaches of the table but safe from the drop. Those hopes were given a massive jolt within a minute when Grangetown’s Ben Urwin floated in a cross to the far post in the Ryton box where Jake Williams-Muthana was on hand to slide in & poke the ball home. Urwin himself had half a chance to double his side’s advantage in the 11^th minute when the ball from a corner landed at his feet but he scuffed his shot wide. Urwin was in the thick of the action again on 14 minutes when he took advantage of an ‘after you Claude’ moment between Albion keeper Callum Corkhill and defender Danny Diver, nipping in and shooting towards goal, but fortunately for RACA, the shot trundled just wide of the post. Ryton’s defensive disarray proved more costly in the 17^th minute when Boysie captain Oscar Mahoney bustled between two Albion players and poked a hopeful ball into the box. Stand-in defender Morgan Dart’s attempt to put the ball out to safety only succeeded in setting up Williams–Muthana who slotted home past the advancing Corkhill to make it 2-0. While Sam Pinnegar was having a comfortable afternoon in the Grangetown goal, Corkhill found himself exposed again in the 27^th minute when a break from the home side saw Williams-Muthana bursting forwards but his attempted lob to Alex Carr who was in acres of space near the far post ready for a tap in, was deflected by Dart for a corner. The half hour mark saw the hosts make it 3-0 when Fam Jatta played the ball to Urwin who in turn found Williams-Muthata & in a carbon copy of his second goal, completed his first half hattrick by slotting past Corkhill leaving defenders trailing in his wake. There was to be no further scoring in the first half, but Ryton went into the interval with much to ponder.

HT Grangetown BC 3 RACA 0

The second half started quieter than the first, though Williams-Muthana might have scored a fourth from a 53^rd minute drop ball, his cross taking an awkward bounce in front of Corkhill then clipping the crossbar before being booted to safety. But it was to get worse for Albion on 64 minutes when Corkhill punched a ball from a corner to the edge of the box where it was knocked back into the danger area, where Mahoney found Paul Young after some leg bagatelle & Young laid his hat on the ball & made it 4-0. RACA did finally raise a response three minutes later when a ball was launched up to Callum Johnston who laid to to Louis Calvert who elected to shoot from distance, his fine strike beating substitute keeper Joseph Hood, extending his sequence of scoring in six of the last seven games. The four goal cushion was almost restored straight from the kick off, Mahoney spotting Corkhill off his line & trying an audacious lob from a few yards in the Ryton half. While the effort was on target, Corkhill was able to scramble back and push the ball out for a corner. For all RACA were better after the interval, winning several corners, they didn’t look like scoring until Dart’s 90^th minute strike that Hood pushed over the bar. So RACA suffered their second heaviest defeat of the season on Teesside, but the big one is on Tuesday where surely there will be a better performance then.

FT GRANGETOWN BC 4 RACA 1

RACA- Corkhill, Beesley, Dart, Skivington (Lynch 76), Hayton (Ord 81), Driver, Lawson (Hyde 61), Bewley (Adotey 74), Calvert, Johnston, Groves-Forbes. Substitute Not Used Bailey

Saturday’s Other Division 2 Final Day Results

AFC Newbiggin 4 (Lizinde, Nelson, Smith 2) Boldon CA 1 (Whitfield)

Chester-le-Street Town 0 Alnwick 1 (Bright)

Darlington Town 0 Redcar Town 3 (McMichael, Thornton, Robinson-Coley)

FC Hartlepool 3 (Appleby, Bayes, Smith) Sunderland RCA 0

Jarrow 3 (Hardie, Barber, Karim) Esh Winning 0

Newcastle University 2 (Iverson, Kelly) Billingham Synthonia 4 (Healey, Evans, Marsay, Raby)

Tow Law Town 0 Seaham Red Star 0

Yarm & Eaglescliffe 2 (Atkinson, Marshall) Billingham Town 1 (Mitchell)

Albion make another trip to Teesside on Saturday to wrap up the league campaign at Grangetown Boys Club, hoping to extend the unbeaten run of games to seven in league and cup. ‘Boysie’ are in 18th place but safe from the drop, and Nathan’s men will be aiming to maintain our 100% record against the Teessiders having won all three games since their promotion into the Northern League in 2024. The reverse fixture this season saw us win 2-1 in the Tyne Valley, Louis Anderson and Louis Calvert on target for Ryton while James O’Brien got the goal for Grangetown, with all the goals in this game coming in the first half. Grangetown’s home form isn’t too bad having enjoyed seven of their ten league victories in TS6, their best result arguably being a 3-0 win over Park View in January.

Of course this isn’t our final game of the season as we’ve the E Armstrong Cup semi final game away to Yarm and Eaglescliffe to look forward to on Tuesday, and we now know the winners will play Darlington Town in the final following their surprise 6-0 thumping of Jarrow in the other semi final.

If you’re heading down to the B & W Lifting Stadium, the address is 19 Grange Farm Rd, Middlesbrough TS6 7HP. HOWAY THE RACA!

Everyone at Ryton & Crawcrook Albion extends their deepest condolences to Louis Anderson and his family following the sad passing of his mother, Helen.
Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with all the Anderson family at this difficult time.

Rest in peace.

FT BILLINGHAM TOWN 0 RACA 3 Attendance 137

RACA’S late season flourish continued with a 3-0 win at Billingham Town, their best ever result at Bedford Terrace. A first half that had that end of season feel to it sprung into life two minutes before the interval when Ethan Bewley netted his second goal of the season. Morgan Dart made it 2-0 two minutes after half time & a Louis Calvert penalty on 86 minutes wrapped up the points after Town’s Reece Bickerton was red carded. Albion remain in 9th place but can still overtake Alnwick if results go to plan on Saturday in our final league games

MATCH SUMMARY

There wasn’t much hanging on this penultimate league game for both sides & the opening 12 minutes suggested a real end of season mid-table encounter with nothing created until Ryton’s Ethan Bewley received the ball & he swung round and fired it towards the Town goal, bringing a fine save out of George Briggs. Town responded three minutes later when Nzang Ken’s Julian laid a ball to Joel White who ended up in a 1 on 1 with RACA keeper Callum Corkhill, but the visiting goalie just beat him to the loose ball, picking up an injury for his troubles. Albion thought they should be awarded a penalty on 29 minutes when Blues defender Reece Bickerton clumsily clattered into Bewley on the edge of the box but referee Barry Tones awarded only a free kick which came to naught. Bickerton found himself the centre of attention five minutes later when he brought down Louis Calvert with Ryton players claiming he was the last man, but Mr Tones probably correctly, only brandished a yellow card. Albion almost took the lead on 40 minutes when a dink forward from Albe Fletcher landed in the flight path of Morgan Dart & with Billingham defenders looking for the offside flag, Dart hit the post with Briggs beaten. Ryton did take the lead on 41 minutes fron a Callum Johnston corner with Glenn Caygill headed towards goal, eventually Bewley scored from close range despite not hitting the ball cleanly, and with claims that Briggs had been impeded in the build up from both Town players & the home dugout ringing round the ground. Mr Tones was having none of it and the goal stood, Albion taking the 1-0 lead into the interval.

HT Billingham Town 0 RACA 1

Albion came out of the blocks quickly, doubling the advantage on 47 minutes, good work from Calvert out wide saw him float a cross over to the unmarked Dart whose first strike had the sting taken out of it by Briggs, but he slid in to force the ball over the line. Billingham created a chance on 52 minutes when Josh Stiff found Gary Mitchell on the right side of the pitch. Mitchell cut in, beat his marker then played the ball to Kingston Butler but his shot from close range was well wide.

Town came closer on 68 minutes when Butler teed up Storr & his shot just cleared the Ryton bar. Again the Blues created the next chance in the 78^th minute, Mitchell finding Marley Casey who brought out a routine save from Corkhill from a difficult shooting angle. Town chances of an unlikely comeback were scuppered on 86 minutes when Bickerton was in trouble again for another clatter into Calvert in the box. This time a penalty was awarded & Bickerton got his marching orders. Calvert slotted the spot lick home for his third penalty success in two games & wrapped up the points for Albion.

FT BILLINGHAM TOWN 0 RACA 3

RACA- Corkhill, Beesley, Oldfield, Bewley (Lawson 48), Caygill (Borley 63), Driver, Fletcher (Skivington 57), Hyde (Bailey 56), Calvert, Johnston (Adotey 68), Dart

Tuesday’s Other Division 2 Results

Boldon CA 4 (Gatehill, Robertson, Cowburn 2) Prudhoe YC 0

Redcar Town 2 (Stares, Carmichael) Yarm & Eaglescliffe 4 (Atkinson 3, Dalton)

Tuesday’s Brooks Mileson League Cup Quarter Final Result

Grangetown BC 0 North Shields 2

Wednesday’s E Armstrong Cup Semi Final Result

Darlington Town 6 (McMahon 2, Coles, Wilson, Brown 2) Jarrow 0

Northumberland Senior Cup Semi Final Result

Heaton Stannington 5 Newcastle University 1 (Morris)

Thursday’s Division 2 Result

Redcar Town 2 (Carmichael 2) Seaham Red Star 1(Appleby)

Albion travel to Billingham Town tonight for their penultimate league game before Saturday’s visit to Grangetown & next Tuesday’s revisit to Bedford Terrace for the E Armstrong Cup semi final. RACA will be hoping to extend the unbeaten run to six games against a Blues side who ended a run of four straight defeats with a 1-0 win over Park View on Saturday. Town sit two places behind us in 11th & like us this is their second last league game. This will be our 30th game against Billingham & while we’ve had some heavy defeats off them over the years, our best result was the 5-0 at home to them in September when Louis Anderson and Callum Johnston scored a brace each with an own goal making up the nap hand. Something similar tonight would do nicely at a ground we’ve not won at since the 2016/17 season. If you’re heading down the A19 the postcode for your sat-nav is TS23 4AG. Howay the RACA!

FT RACA 8 Durham United 1 Attendance 420

Four goals from Louis Calvert, including two from the spot, ensured Albion finished the home campaign in style as they brushed Durham United aside 8-1. Morgan Dart, Callum Johnston & a late brace from substitute Joe Groves-Forbes completed the rout for the hosts with Tomas Boothroyd getting United’s goal which at the time was an early equaliser. Albion move up a place in the Division 2 table ahead of Newcastle University into 9th.

MATCH SUMMARY

Albion finished off the home campaign against Durham United in front of a crowd swelled by numerous junior sides & their parents invited for the season’s final curtain at The Oldhaulage.

This was Durham’s first visit to RACA and while there was little at stake for both sides, Ryton clearly weren’t at the beach just yet. It took only 4 minutes for Albion to open the scoring, a ball forward was flicked on by Ethan Bewley to Morgan Dart, & with United defenders William Rees and Zach Gamster leaving the ball for each other to deal with,Dart took full advantage to fire the ball past Sam Allen in the Durham goal. Bewley had half a chance to make it 2-0 on 8 minutes when he outmuscled his marker & advanced into the Durham box, but his shot was blocked by Allen’s legs. But it was the visitors who would score next when their two top scorers combined in the 10^th minute, Phil Kay charging up the centre of the pitch & laying the ball to Tomas Boothroyd who kept the forward momentum going & slotted past the advancing Ryton keeper Callum Corkhill to make it 1-1. Albion were given a golden opportunity to restore the lead on 17 minutes when during a Ryton attack, referee Mr Higgott decided Rees had chopped down Dart just inside the United box & awarded a penalty. Louis Calvert stepped up to take & score the spot kick but only after his initial kick was saved by Allen who pushed the ball on to the post & as it rolled along the goal-line Calvert was able to prod it over the line to make it 2-1. RACA extended the lead on 35 minutes when following some head tennis in the Durham box, saw a poor clearance result in the ball landing at the feet of Callum Johnston who volleyed first time straight in the back of the net. As Albion began to turn the screw, Josh Skivington came close to getting on the scoresheet himself when he saw his 38^th minute strike from distance tipped over the bar by Allen. Albion were awarded another penalty in the 40^th minute when Calvert controlled a crossed ball well & while advancing inside the box,was brought down by Noah Melville who appeared to lose his footing while chasing down Calvert. This time Calvert fired home without incident to make it 4-1. Durham should have reduced the deficit in stoppage time when a United attack saw Zuhair Abdullah lob Corkhill, but his shot hit the bar, the ball bouncing to the unmarked Finlay Ferguson who with only Corkhill to beat could only tamely head it straight at the keeper.

HT RACA 4 Durham United 1

RACA started the second half in full swing & Calvert got his hattrick on 51 minutes after Scott Oldfield found him in space in the middle of the United half. With defenders backing off,Calvert took his chance from 30 yards, the ball swerving a little in the air and sailing past Allen to make it 5-1. 5-1 became 6-1 on 71 minutes when another Oldfield ball forward ended up at the feet of Calvert via a poor header from defender Rees. The Albion no9 hit the post with his initial effort but nodded the rebound home for his fourth of the match. Rees’ forgettable day at the office got even worse when he looked to be harshly given a second yellow card for a challenge on Ryton substitute Joe Groves-Forbes on 80 minutes and Durham’s task became even harder. From the resulting free kick a Nathan Beesley cross reached Groves-Forbes & with half the goal gaping in front of him managed to put his effort over the bar. However Groves-Forbes made amends on 84 minutes when he latched on to an Oldfield cross and slid the ball into the net from close range- 7-1. Ryton and Groves-Forbes hadn’t yet finished with Durham as a move involving Albe Fletcher saw Groves-Forbes net his second goal in 5 minutes to complete the rout & record a second time this season RACA scored eight at home.

Durham United finish their season on a low but will be pleased with their season overall & will be gracing the Northern League for a second season. RACA still have two more league games to play, the next being another trip down the A19 to face Billingham Town on Tuesday evening

FT RACA 8 DURHAM UNITED 1

RACA– Corkhill, Beesley, Oldfield, Bewley (Groves-Forbes 58), Hayton, Caygill, (Driver 58) Lawson (Hyde 46), Skivington (Fletcher 46), Calvert, Dart, Johnston (Bailey 65).

Saturday’s Other Division 2 Results

Alnwick Town 3 (Smith 2, Anderson) Darlington Town 1 (Coles)

Billingham Town 1 (Close) Park View 0

Boldon CA 0 Chester-le-Street Town 1 (Robson)

Esh Winning 0 AFC Newbiggin 1 (Lizinde)

Newcastle University 1 (Murphy) Yarm & Eaglescliffe 2 (Williams, Atkinson)

Redcar Town 2 (Gott 2) Jarrow 1 (Armstrong)

Seaham Red Star 2 (Charlton, Stanley) Grangetown BC 1 (Urwin)

Sunderland RCA 0 Tow Law Town 0

Sunderland West End 1 (Robinson) FC Hartlepool 3 (Newall, Scott, McGee)

RACA play their last home game on Saturday & welcome new opponents to The Oldhaulage in the form of Durham United. The University side won the Wearside League last season & after a sticky start to their Northern League maiden season, they have comfortably moved clear of the relegation scrap. We lost our game at Maiden Castle 1-2 on a bitterly cold November evening, Louis Anderson scoring our goal that night, but that game was the second game we played there after the original fixture was abandoned following that horrible injury to Jack Salkeld. United finished their home campaign on Easter Sunday with a 4-2 win over Esh Winning as part of the Easter Groundhop which ended a run of five successive defeats. With both sides with only league position to play for, hopefully we’ll see an entertaining match with the pressure off. RACA will be striving to make it five unbeaten & would settle for the scoreline of the last two home games which we won 4-2.

Kick off is 3pm, hope you can make it…Howay the RACA!!

Wednesday’s Division 2 Results

Redcar Town 4 (Smith, Robinson-Coley 3) Chester-le-Street 1 (Huddleston)

Tow Law Town 2 (Walsh 2) Billingham Town 1 (Butler)

Thursday’s Division 2 Result

Newcastle University 1 (Murphy) FC Hartlepool 2 (Daley 2)

Friday’s Division 2 Result

Billingham Synthonia 2 (Irvine, Evans) Prudhoe YC 1 (Symington)

STOKESLEY BACK IN DIVISION 2

Congratulations to Stokesley Sports Club who will be back in Division 2 next season after an 11 year absence, having won the North Riding League at the weekend having beaten second placed Lealholm 2-0. They will be playing their first games away from the North Riding FA headquarters however as they are laying a 4G pitch.

1st prize No 81 A Wood who wins £100

2nd Prize No 57 I Innes who wins £75

3rd Prize No 72 Sam Moore who wins £25

Next month’s draw is on 03/05/2026

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 on 07720 413390. Thank-you

Easter Monday Division 2 Results

Jarrow 2 (Barber, Hardie) Boldon CA 2 (Laidler, Grant)

Redcar Town 2 (Stares, Gott) Newcastle University 1 (Rogozinski)

Sunderland West End 2 (Benali 2) Sunderland RCA 4 (o.g. Knight 2, Domba)

Tuesday Division 2 Results

Prudhoe YC 1 (Baty) Grangetown BC 2 (Urwin, Doddy)

Yarm & Eaglescliffe 6 (Jones, Atkinson 4, Williams) Esh Winning 1 (Ellis)

FT TOW LAW TOWN 1 RACA 1 Attendance 509

Albion & Tow Law shared the spoils again at a windy Ironworks Road, Louis Anderson’s 34th minute strike cancelling out Joe Bates’ opening goal four minutes earlier in front of a bumper Easter groundhop crowd of 509. Both games between the sides this season finished all square.

MATCH SUMMARY

Albion travelled to Tow Law as part of the Easter Groundhop a probably facing their first ever 6:30pm kick off on a Saturday. While RACA now only had a highest league position to play for, the Lawyers still weren’t clear of relegation worries. In blustery conditions courtesy of Storm Dave it was the visitors who created the first chance in the 5th minute when a ball forward from Scott Oldfield was flicked on by Louis Anderson to Louis Calvert who ran between two defenders but launched his shot over Tom Orton’s goal. The next chance again fell to Calvert on 21 minutes following good work from Callum Johnston out wide who crossed to Calvert only for him to sky his effort again. The Ryton no11 came closer to scoring on 26 minutes when Danny Driver launched his trademark long throw into the Tow Law box, Calvert got his head on the ball but Orton dived low to save it. For all those chances it was The Lawyers who opened the scoring on the half hour mark when Joe Bates was the recipient of a throw in & he spun on a sixpence in the box and blasted his shot home. It didn’t take long for RACA to restore parity, as on 34 minutes a headed flick on by Calvert found Anderson who cut in & despite the attentions of several defenders slotted home to make it 1-1.

HT Tow Law Town 1 RACA 1

In a second half short of scoring opportunities, Albion had the first chance on 58 minutes when a ball that looked to be going out of play was kept in by a Calvert overhead kick, Johnston being first to react, but he could only direct his powerful header over Orton’s bar. Anderson came close to scoring his second of the evening on 67 minutes following some good solo work in the Tow Law box, jinking past defenders then drilling in a low shot that went just the wrong side of the post with Orton flat footed in the middle of his goal. The 70^th minute saw Ryton come even closer to scoring when a Johnston free kick into the home box ricocheted about until Glenn Caygill headed against the post and then the ball was scrambled clear to safety. Tow Law did bring a save out of Callum Corkhill on 74 minutes but Ryton came closer to scoring 2 minutes later, again from a Driver throw in. This time Caygill flicked it on & Orton intercepted the ball, palming it out but only to Anderson whose shot hit the bar via the turf on the six yard line. Tow Law came within a whisker of winning the game themselves when in the 89^th minute a neat move ended with a shot that clipped the post with Corkhill beaten, but the game ended in a draw as it did in reverse fixture at The Oldhaulage Stadium earlier in the season.

FT TOW LAW TOWN 1 RACA 1

RACA- Corkhill, Beesley (Dart 84), Oldfield, Driver,Hayton, Caygill, Fletcher, Lawson, Anderson, Johnston (Bewley 76), Calvert. Substitutes not used- Skivington, Bailey, Hyde

Saturday’s Other Division 2 Results

AFC Newbiggin 1 (Turnbull) Alnwick Town 1 (Shell)

Darlington Town 1 (Beauchamp) Yarm & Eaglescliffe 4 (Atkinson 4)

Park View 0 Chester-le-Street Town 1 (Stephenson)

Prudhoe YC 0 Newcastle University 3 (Foster 2, Manning)

Brooks Mileson League Cup 3rd Round Result

Thornaby 7 Boldon CA 1 (Barker)

Sunday’s Division 2 Results

Billingham Town 0 Billingham Synthonia 2 (Healey, Irvine)

Durham United 4 (Kay 3, Boothroyd) Esh Winning 2 (Jowett, Cherrie)