Due to the lack of competitive football due to frozen pitches. Albion have arranged a friendly with Newcastle Blue Star at Scotswood on Tuesday evening with a 7:30pm kick off. The weather is expected to get significantly milder from Sunday so we’re hopeful this game will go ahead. Admission for this game is £1
Unfortunately tomorrow’s game against Yarm & Eaglescliffe has fallen foul of the freezing weather. Details of the date of the re-arranged game will be given as soon as known but we do have a new date for the twice postponed home game v Sunderland RCA which is Wednesday 29th January with a 7:30 kick off
RACA are scheduled to play fellow promotion hopefuls Yarm & Eaglescliffe on Saturday but obviously the game at Bedford Terrace is far from certain to go ahead with freezing conditions forecast over the weekend. If it does beat the weather it would be a second consecutive game on Teesside following our trip to Redcar Town in our final game of 2024. The Eagles are having a fine season, currently in second place in the table in only their second season at this level, and have scored 80 goals (72 in the league) with Tom Atkinson netting an impressive 30 times. Yarm have gone six games unbeaten but like us haven’t played since 28th December when they were held 1-1 by Newcastle University while the two sides met at Kingsley Park in the opening fixture of the season where we ran out 1-0 winners thanks to a Joe Groves-Forbes goal.
If the game’s on & you plan to head down, the post code for Bedford Terrace is TS23 4AE. Howay the RACA!
Unfortunately due to a frozen pitch, tonight’s game against Sunderland RCA has been postponed. Details to follow on the re-arranged game
The club have been busy bolstering the injury ridden squad by signing Luke Page from Sunderland West End, Thomas White as goalkeeper cover from Haltwhistle Jubilee, Luke McCabe from Seaham Red Star and former Bedlington Terrier Joe Thompson. More details on these lads later
After a free Saturday, our next scheduled game weather permitting is on Wednesday evening when we welcome Sunderland RCA for a re-arranged game at NE40 after a gap of 14 years since they were last up. The clubs did meet at Meadow Park earlier this season where RACA edged out the Wearsiders 3-2 with goals from Calvert, Skivington and Salim earning the three points. Following relegation last season RCA have had a disappointing season this time round too, sitting down in 20th place in the table but have at least seen an upturn in fortunes on the road, having just lost one of their last four away games. Sunderland will go into the game relatively fresh having seen their derby game against Sunderland West End on Saturday postponed due to a frozen pitch.
The weather forecast isn’t great for Wednesday with sub-zero temperatures expected but if it does go ahead, then the kick off is at the usual 7:30pm. Keep up to date with developments of Wednesday via our Twitter feed, the Northern League website & on here. Here’s hoping for a go-ahead & Howay the RACA.
This month’s lucky winners are-
1st prize No 1 D Cartner who wins £100
2nd Prize No 56 D Willis who wins £75
3rd Prize No 70 C Thompson who wins £25
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 have signed midfielder Roman Sparks from neighbours Prudhoe YC Seniors, the 21 year old having also played for Gateshead Rutherford in the Northern Alliance Premier League. Welcome aboard Roman.
Ryton threw two points away as they let a 1-0 lead slip in stoppage time at the Mo Mowlem today. Having led for most of the game thanks to Matty Todd’s 9th minute goal, they drifted from total dominance to hanging on to the lead as the game progressed, but Sam Barnard’s 93rd minute leveller for Town ensured the points were shared.
MATCH SUMMARY
Albion finished 2024 with a trip to 17th placed Redcar Town, hoping to make it two away wins in three days & took little time in taking control of the game. In the fourth minute, RACA had three goal attempts in quick succession, Joe Groves Forbes raced forward & laid the ball to Matty Todd whose shot was saved by Town keeper Will Cowey, the loose ball was gathered up by Rhys McLeod whose shot was also blocked by Cowey, the loose ball falling to Morgan Dart who didn’t hit his first time strike cleanly & Redcar defender Jake Williams-Muthana was able to get himself in the way of the shot and this time the ball was hoofed to safety. However the visitors were ahead just two minutes later when Scott Oldfield found Louis Calvert in the Redcar box, his acrobatic volley crashing off the bar, landing on the head of Todd who nodded home for his second goal of the season. At that point it looked like RACA could go on and win the game comfortably as Redcar were offering next to nothing up front, but as the half wore on Albion posed less and less of a threat and Redcar steadied themselves and finally got a foothold in the game although the visitors were still creating more chances without ever seriously threatening Cowey’s goal, the nearest being a Calvert shot on 39 minutes the wasn’t too far wide of the Town goal. Redcar’s best chance came just before half time when Jos Storr broke down the left wing & crossed to the onrushing Mustapha Abdullahi who just couldn’t quite make contact with the ball as if he had, he had half an empty net to aim at.
HT Redcar Town 0 RACA 1
The hosts continued to grow into the game after the interval & a move in the 56th minute saw Connor Smith set up Liam Williams who got his shot on target but it lacked power & was a comfortable gather for Colquhoun. Calvert put an effort a yard over Redcar’s bar on 63 minutes & Rhys McLeod & Morgan Dart both brought out easy saves out of Cowey but in truth there were few real chances to excite the 107 spectators. There was a bit of a scare for Ryton on 83 minutes when Abdullahi jinked his way into the box & while his progress was checked by both defender & keeper there was a significant appeal for a penalty but referee Daniel Forbes wasn’t interested although he did have a brief consultation with linesman Andrew Tyrell. The Teessiders however, were to have the last laugh in stoppage time when a punt upfield from Cowey was flicked on by Abdullahi to substitute Sam Barnard who slotted home with his first ever Northern League goal to rescue a point amid scenes of jubilation on the home bench. Such a late leveller makes it feel like two points dropped & there was the added blow for Ryton of Dale Burrell looking to have picked up a nasty looking knee injury. On the positive side with Thornaby losing, Albion sneak back into the play-off places with the point.
FT REDCAR TOWN 1 RACA 1 Attendance 107
RACA- Colquhoun, Groves-Forbes, Oldfield, Grieveson, Burrell (Cairns 87), Caygill, Dart, Lynch, Calvert (Hoggins 79), McLeod (Ledger 76), Todd (Adotey 62)
Little time for Albion to bask in derby glory as we head to the Mo Mowlem Memorial Ground to face Redcar Town tomorrow (Saturday). Redcar sit in 17th place in the table but don’t look to be in any relegation danger & beat strugglers Grangetown BC on Boxing Day to put a healthy gap between them and the second bottom placed side. This is Town’s fourth season in the Northern League & out of our seven games against them, all league games, the Teessiders have won 5 to our 2 with no draws to date, though we beat Redcar 2-1 at home in September with Fergus Lynch & Jack Errington on the scoresheet for us. If you’re planning heading down the A19 to cheer on the lads, the full address of Redcar’s home is Mo Mowlem Memorial Park- 19 Trunk Rd, Redcar TS10 5BW. Howay the RACA!!
