FT NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY 1 RACA 1 Attendance 55

It was a case of after the Lord Mayor’s show as the Uni & RACA played out a fairly dull 1-1 draw following the excitement of Tuesday night’s cup tie. Adam Redford put the hosts ahead on 25 minutes but Louis Calvert levelled for RACA soon before half time. The draw effectively ends the University play off hopes while Albion found out they’d be playing Yarm & Eaglescliffe at Bedford Terrace in the semi finals of the E Armstrong Cup, the tie to be played on Tuesday 21st April.

MATCH SUMMARY

This was Albion’s third game in six days, fortunately this away game was only a short drive to Essity Park for this second encounter with the Uni in three days. With both sides fielding several changes to the line ups to Tuesday, the game almost got off to a horror start for RACA when seconds from the kick off the ball rolled to keeper Callum Corkhill who made a total Horlicks of an attempted clearance upfield, the ball landing at the feet of Jos Storr, who with just Corkhill to beat put the ball past him, but his touch was too heavy and it trundled out of play; an early let off for the visitors! There was arguably another let off after 5 minutes when Storr had the ball in the net from a Lucas Aldcroft pass, but the linesman had flagged for offside. After a quiet spell, the game stuttered into life on 23 minutes when from a Uni corner, Adam Redford headed home from close range, despite Corkhill getting a hand to the ball. The Students might well have extended their lead on 31 minutes when a neat move culminated in Aldcroft firing a shot low across the Albion box but it went narrowly wide. As it was RACA levelled on 42 minutes from a long Danny Driver throw which was flicked on by Louis Anderson to Louis Calvert who headed past Ross Logan to draw the sides level.

HT Newcastle University 1 RACA 1

The second half was mainly bereft of goalmouth action as both sides struggled to threaten the opposition keepers despite all the huff and puff & the defences were firmly on top in this game. In the 84^th minute a tame shot by University substitute Julian Hayles was fumbled by Corkhill but he recovered the situation despite Joel Manning bearing down on him. The Ryton keeper was more decisive a minute into stoppage time when Uni substitute Jack McClarin’s powerful shot was tipped over the bar for a corner, & in the dying embers of the game Corkhill had to block a driving shot from Jacob Milner to ensure RACA took a point home.

FT NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY 1 RACA 1

RACA- Corkhill, Beesley, Skivington (Horley 68), Hyde, Dodds, Driver, Groves-Forbes (Adotey 79), Fletcher (Bewley 38), Anderson, Dart, Calvert. Substitutes not used- Ord, Oldfield

Thursday’s Other Division 2 Result

Durham United 0 Redcar Town 5 (Burton, Abdullah, Stares, Carmichael, Medcalf)

Just two days after our E Armstrong Cup tie, RACA face the University again, this time in the league at Essity Park in the league on Thursday night. While our own play-off hopes have evaporated, Newcastle University still have a slim chance of making the play-offs but that’s dependent firstly on winning all their games in hand, so they’ll be up for revenge after Tuesday night. There’s still local pride at stake for Albion plus the carrot of beating the Students three times this season. Kick off is at 7:30pm, Howay The RACA!!!

Jarrow join ourselves, Darlington Town and Yarm & Eaglescliffe in the semi finals of the Ernest Armstrong Cup following a 1-0 win over FC Hartlepool in the last quarter final tie.

Wednesday’s E Armstrong Cup Result

FC Hartlepool 0 Jarrow 1 (Barber)

Wednesday’s Division 2 Results

Darlington Town 2 (Maddison, McCowie) Park View 3 (Armstrong 2, Loveday)

Esh Winning 0 Billingham Synthonia 0

Tow Law Town 1 (Burns) Chester-le-Street Town 1 (Robson)

FT RACA 4 NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY 2 Attendance 57

Albion booked their place in the Ernest Armstrong Memorial Cup with a 4-2 win over the University at The Oldhaulage Stadium, the second time this season they put four goals past The Students. The hosts were 3-0 up after 20 minutes with goals from Louis Calvert, Callum Johnston and Louis Anderson and seemingly cruising, but Kane Morris pulled a goal back on 22 minutes. Ryton restored the three goal cushion from a 73rd minute Anderson penalty only for Tom Iverson to throw the University a lifeline with a goal on 84 minutes, but despite late pressure from the visitors Albion held out.

MATCH SUMMARY

This cup tie looked to be in some doubt with standing water on the pitch following intensive afternoon rain, but referee Zak Logue was satisfied the pitch was playable when testing the bounce of a match ball, a decision that proved correct as the water slowly drained and the forecast evening rain failed to materialise. That left the sparse crowd of 57 with an E Armstrong quarter final cup tie with RACA hoping to replicate the league outcome at the Oldhaulage Stadium in September when they comfortably beat their neighbours 4-0.

It didn’t take long for Ryton to get the ball rolling on that quest, after just two minutes into the match, a Nathan Beesley cross found the head of Louis Calvert & he outjumped his marker to nod home past University keeper Ross Logan. The Students had to wait until the 11^th minute for their first real effort, Jos Storr bringing a trademark block with the legs from Callum Corkhill, from which RACA broke away, Louis Anderson finding Calvert with a fine pass & his shot was blocked well by the outstretched Logan. Storr was on the warpath again on the quarter hour mark when after some neat footwork in the Albion box, he drilled a low shot that Corkhill parried before pouncing on the loose ball with three defenders shepherding the ball and keeper before a University player could react. The visiting defence were caught cold on 18 minutes & three Albion forwards were against a sole defender & Calvert’s cross fell between Anderson & Callum Johnston the former tapping home to make it 2-0. The Uni appealed for offside but Calvert was clearly in his own half when he received the ball from his defence. It got from bad to worse for the Students just two minutes later when Albe Fletcher found Johnston who had the freedom of Crawcrook, cutting towards the University goal and slotting past the exposed Logan to make it 3-0. To the University’s credit they struck back on 22 minutes, Jack McClaren finding Kane Morris who waltzed through the Ryton box and tapped into an empty net to put his side back in the game. The visitors pressed on, McClaren brought a good save from Corkhill in the 27^th minute before defences began to get the upper hand & while the game still flowed from end to end, the forwards weren’t having it all their own way & there was no more scoring in the first half.

HT RACA 3 Newcastle University 1

The visitors came out the sharper after the interval & Jacob Milner forced Corkhill into a save when he headed Finlay Allen’s cross on target on 51 minutes, while another Uni substitute Matty Foster ought to have done better from a Morris cross when he headed the ball into the ground with just the keeper to beat & it ended up as an easy gather for Corkhill. Nevertheless the warning signs against complacency were there for Albion to react to. As it was Albion who were given an opportunity to extend the lead on 73 minutes when Anderson was tripped in the box & Mr Logue awarded a penalty which Anderson took himself, cheekily chipping it into one side of the goal as Logan guessed the other way. Still the Students plugged on, Tom Iverson brought another low save out of Corkhill on 82 minutes, but Iverson beat the keeper two minutes later when Milner found him unmarked & he drilled home to make it 4-2. The Scholars pressed on for another consolation, Stephen Pennington saw his headed from a Foster corner cleared off the line on 88 minutes, and after a series of University corners, Corkhill had to claw away a shot from Allen that looked like it would end up in the top corner, but RACA held on to the two goal advantage and progress to the semi finals

FT RACA 4 NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY 2

RACA- Corkhill, Beesley, Oldfield (Skivington 76), Fletcher, Hayton, Driver, Dart, Lawson (Hyde 55), Anderson, Johnston (Bewley 68), Calvert (Groves-Forbes 58). Substitute Not Used- Caygill

Tuesday Night’s Division 2 Result

Grangetown BC 2 (Williams-Muthana, Young) Durham United 1 (Kitching)

It’s quarter final action at The Oldhaulage Stadium on Tuesday night as Albion face local rivals Newcastle University in the Ernest Armstrong Cup . This is only the second time the sides have met in a cup game, the previous one being the E Armstrong Cup final of 2022 where we won on penalties. With the play offs all but a mathematical dream , this game becomes the most important game in Albion’s run in and with the University still harbouring play off hopes, their priority might well be our league clash at Essity Park on Thursday night. RACA beat Prudhoe 4-1 then Chester-le-Street Town 2-0 at home to reach the quarters, while the Uni beat Boldon 4-1 at Essity Park having received a bye in the 1st round.

The winners of the tie could face Darlington Town or Yarm & Eaglescliffe in the semi finals as they’ve both won their quarter final games, the other tie between FC Hartlepool and Jarrow is being played on Wednesday evening. Kick off is at 7:30pm, hope you can make this one. Howay the RACA!

FT JARROW 1 RACA 0 (Attendance 150)

Jarrow inflicted Albion’s sixth straight defeat against the South Tyneside outfit, the last four without scoring a goal as Ryton went down 0-1 at Perth Green, a Luke Watson penalty on 31 minutes the difference in the sides. Albion hit the post in the second half but couldn’t get the equaliser.

MATCH SUMMARY

Albion began their intensive stint of four matches in eight days with this trip to Jarrow who fielded former Ryton player Declan Bissett in their starting line up while Dylan Lawson returned to Albion’s starting XI after missing two games through injury.

In what was a slow burner it took until the 22^nd minute before a shot from either side was anywhere near troubling the respective goals, & it was an effort from RACA’s Albe Fletcher, following two shots in quick succession from Louis Anderson that were blocked by teammate Ethan Bewley, then by Jarrow defender Max Nelson, that sailed narrowly beyond the crossbar. The game swung into life on the half hour mark with the award of a penalty to Jarrow following a cross by Ryan Hardie that was handled in the Ryton box. Luke Hudson stepped up and despatched the spot kick to net his tenth goal of the season. Ryton almost responded immediately when George Hayton flicked a ball to Louis Calvert, the bounce deceiving his marker but also bobbling just too far in front of Calvert for him to get a true contact & the ball went wide of Lewis Baker’s goal. Jarrow might have increased their advantage on 38 minutes when, from a Ryton clearance, Nelson fired in a shot from 30 yards which Lewis Rutherford just couldn’t quite reach to divert into the Albion net, so they had to be content with the single goal lead at the interval.

HT Jarrow 1 RACA 0

Within the first minute of the restart, Bissett reminded his former teammates how effective he could be from free kicks when he forced a good save from Callum Corkhill who had to dive low to defect Bissett’s drive away from his goal. Albion responded on 54 minutes when they broke smartly, Joe Groves-Forbes on the left wing finding Anderson in space, but his poor control meant his shot was taken from a wider position & Baker was able to block the ball with his feet. Baker was called into action again on 64 minutes when sub Callum Johnston struck a low shot that the Jarrow keeper blocked before being booted to safety. It was Corkhill’s turn to be called into action on 67 minutes, smothering a Hardie header from a Bissett free kick, but it was RACA who almost levelled on 72 minutes when Calvert struck a beauty from 25 yards that rattled the post with the outstretched Baker beaten. Ryton pressed on for the deserved equaliser & on 86 minutes Morgan Dart was denied by Jack Armstrong when the Jarrow defender slid in to block Dart’s goal-bound contact from a cross. Still the visitors pressed on & there was a scramble in the Jarrow box when Calvert & Dart were denied by Baker & Nelson respectively with the RACA players claiming for a hand ball by Nelson in his efforts to prevent a goal. As it was Jarrow held on for their sixth consecutive win over Albion to keep their play-off hopes alive. Another defeat for RACA but for all the reverses, they’ve not lost a league game by more than a single goal since October, that too against Jarrow.

FT JARROW 1 RACA 0

RACA– Corkhill, Beesley, Oldfield, Bewley (Johnston 46), Hayton, Caygill, Fletcher, Lawson (Hyde 74), Anderson, Groves-Forbes (Dart 62), Calvert. Unused Substitutes Borley, Driver

Saturday’s Other Division 2 Results

AFC Newbiggin 1 (Lizinde) Redcar Town 6 (Abdullahi, Taylor, Carmichael, Porritt, Duffield, Thornton)

Alnwick Town 2 (Anderson, Hoggins) Billingham Town 0

Chester-le-Street Town 0 Esh Winning 2 (Zamor, Harland)

Darlington Town 6 (Beauchamp 3, Woodford 3) Boldon CA 1 (Reade)

Durham United 1 (Hopkins) Seaham Red Star 3 (o.g. O’ Connor, Leonard)

Grangetown BC 0 Sunderland West End 2 (Knight 2)

Park View 2 (Boddy, Armstrong) Newcastle University 0

Prudhoe YC 2 (Plunkett, Wilson) FC Hartlepool 2 (Bayes, Close)

Tow Law Town 4 (Bates 2, Wymer, o.g.) Sunderland West End 0

Yarm & Eaglescliffe 2 (Roberts, Conway) Billingham Synthonia 0

Albion make the trip to play-off hopefuls Jarrow on Saturday, the first of four games we face in eight days. The South Tyneside outfit are now in 3rd place following Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over FC Hartlepool and recent form against RACA has them well on top, having won the last five meetings between the sides, the latest of which was a 2-0 defeat for Ryton in the reverse fixture in October when Lutfur Karim (who netted the only goal midweek) scored both the Jarrow goals at the Oldhaulage. This game is followed by a Tuesday home fixture in the E Armstrong Cup, not our usual home night of Wednesday, against the University. Then on Thursday it’s a league fixture at Essity Park against the University, then we’re back at home on Saturday to face Boldon CA, before what will be a welcome week long break before the Easter Groundhop game at Tow Law.

If you’re planning to head to Jarrow the address is Perth Green CA, Inverness Road, Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, NE32 4AQ……….Howay the RACA!

Thursday’s Division 2 Result

Newcastle University 2 (Iversen, McLaren) Sunderland RCA 1 (Moan)

Albion have a mad sequence of games with a break of 10 days, including a free Saturday, from our win over Chester-le-Street Town last Wednesday to Saturday coming when we face a tough trip to Jarrow, followed by games on the Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The 3rd Round of the E Armstrong Cup against the University will be played on Tuesday 24th March instead of us travelling to Billingham Town that evening. So the sequence of games is now-

Sat 21/03 A Jarrow, Tue 24/03 H Ncle Uni (Cup), 26/03 A Ncle Uni, 28/03 H Boldon CA

Friday Night’s Division 2 Result

Sunderland RCA 2 (Harwood, Knight) Durham United 1 (Boothroyd)

Saturday’s Division 2 Results

Billingham Synthonia 0 Park View 1 (Young)

Boldon CA 0 Billingham Town 4 (Southall, Bickerton 2, o.g.)

Esh Winning 1 (Curl) Darlington Town 0

FC Hartlepool 2 (McGee, Bayes) Tow Law Town 3 (Walsh, Laviolette, Bates)

Newcastle University 0 Alnwick Town 1 (o.g.)

Seaham Red Star 2 (Gray, McGeorge) Jarrow 0

Sunderland West End 4 (Appleby, Clarke, Benali 2) Grangetown BC 1 (Urwin)

Yarm & Eaglescliffe 5 ( Williams, Jones 3, Dalton) Prudhoe YC 0

Tuesday Night’s Division 2 Result

Alnwick Town 2 (Fairburn, Laws) Prudhoe YC 1 (Dalton)

Tuesday’s Brookes Mileson League Cup Result

Redcar Town 0 North Shields 2

Tuesday’s Ernest Armstrong Cup Quarter Final Result

Yarm & Eaglescliffe 0 Billingham Town 0 (Yarm win 4-2 on aggregate)

Wednesday’s Division 2 Results

Jarrow 1 (Karim) Boldon CA 0

Park View 0 FC Hartlepool 0

Wednesday’s Ernest Armstrong Cup Quarter Final Latest

Darlington Town 3 (McMahon, o.g. Beauchamp) Tow Law Town 2 (Small, Benjamin)

FT RACA 2 CHESTER LE STREET TOWN 0 Attendance 75

Albion produced an impressive performance to get some revenge over the Cestrians for the league defeat on Saturday by winning this E Armstrong Cup 2nd Round tie courtesy of goals from Morgan Dart and Callum Johnston that pairs Albion up with Newcastle University at home in the quarter finals.

MATCH SUMMARY

Just four days after meeting in the league, Albion & Chester met in the Ernest Armstrong Cup on a breezy evening in the Tyne Valley, the hosts having failed to score against the Cestrians in the two league encounters this season. The 75 spectators were hoping for a more exciting game than that at Moor Park on Saturday & they were not to be disappointed. As early as the first minute, the visitors carved out a chance from a Ryton attack when Nathan Greenwood played a defence splitting ball to Scott Robson who outpaced his marker then drilled in a low shot only to see Albion keeper Callum Corkhill get a slight touch on the ball to deflect it out for a corner. RACA;s first chance came only two minutes later when Morgan Dart was the recipient of a headed clearance & he looped a shot that just went over the bar. But Dart was to be more accurate in the 10^th minute following a move started by Ethan Bewley followed by a cross from Joe Groves-Forbes leading to some head tennis involving Louis Anderson & the Town defence before the ball fell to Dart who struck it first time past Nicholas Liversedge in the Chester goal. After a lull in clear chances, Anderson led a Ryton charge forward on 38 minutes, deciding to try his luck from distance, but his effort ended up narrowly over the bar. Another Albion break on 41 minutes saw Liversedge pull off the first of several fine saves when denying Dart who had drilled in a low shot from the left flank. Chester did have half a chance to level before the interval when Robson fired in a low cross into the Albion box which passed Corkhill but was just too far ahead of Nathan Conroy who if he’d made any contact would have surely scored.

HT RACA 1 Chester le Street Town 0

It wasn’t long into the half when Liversedge was called into action when his save from a Groves-Forbes shot let to a goalmouth scramble which saw Tyler Brownsword and Keallan Huddleston block shots from Dart & Callum Johnston respectively. On 50 minutes, Liversedge was to deny Groves-Forbes again this time with a block with his feet. Following a succession of woeful Ryton shots that cleared the stand, never mind the goal, Ethan Bewley came close to opening his account with a shot following a botched clearance on 71 minutes that only just went over the woodwork with Liversedge for once beaten. The Cestrians had a chance to level on 77 minutes when Huddleston and Greenwood combined with the latter’s shot being well saved by Corkhill with his feet.Louis Anderson was the next RACA forward to bring a good save out of Liversedge on 78 minutes, but the stopper was finally beaten again on 83 minutes when Albe Fletcher took advantage of a Chester attack breaking down, & he spotted Johnston on the right wing, flighting an accurate ball to him. Johnston sped forward, cut in & fired home and although Liversedge did make contact with the shot, he couldn’t prevent it from going in the back of the net, nor prevent RACA from progressing to the quarter finals of the E Armstrong Cup where we face Newcastle University at home (date to be decided).

FT RACA 2 CHESTER LE STREET TOWN 0

RACA- Corkhill, Beesley, Oldfield, Bewley, Hayton, Caygill, Fletcher, Groves-Forbes (Adotey 88), Anderson, Johnston, Dart. Substitutes Not Used- Calvert, Driver, Ord

Wednesday’s Division 2 Result

Esh Winning 0 Park View 0

Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup 2nd Round Results
Jarrow 1 (Beattie) West Allotment Celtic 1 (Davies) – West Allotment won 4-3 on pens

Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup 3rd Round
Whickham FC 0 Grangetown Boys Club 2 (Martin, Irwin)

RACA cross swords again with Chester-le-Street Town in the Ernest Armstrong Cup 2nd Round at the Oldhaulage on Wednesday evening, four days after the narrow defeat at Moor Park. With the play-offs looking unlikely for Albion, this game propels itself into arguably our most important game of the season with the last chance of silverware this season being in the competition we won in 2022. We’ve met the Cestrians four times in cup competitions, twice in the Second Division Cup, losing the final 0-2 in 2018 & winning 3-2 at home in the 2021-22 season in the 2nd round, en-route to winning the trophy. Chester also played in the 1st round, beating Grangetown BC 3-0 on Teesside, while Ryton of course knocked out neighbours Prudhoe 4-1 in our 1st round tie. Josh Skivington is still suspended for this game, the winners of which are at home the Newcastle University in the quarter finals. Kick off is 7:30pm, hope you can make it. Howay the RACA!!

Tuesday’s Division 2 Result

AFC Newbiggin 2 (Anderson, Elliott) Sunderland West End 0

Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup 2nd RoundResult

Boldon CA 2 (Bell, Whitehead) Billingham Town 0

This month’s lucky winners are-

1st prize No 88 F Iredale who wins £100

2nd Prize No 105 C Johnston who wins £75

3rd Prize No 66 L Welch who wins £25

Next month’s draw is on 05/04/2026

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