The only Northern League game of the night being this proved very handy for me. I visit both of the Ryhope clubs quite regularly, and with this being the Ryhope derby and the only game of the night in the Northern League, a decent crowd will have been anticipated. I haven’t visited Ryhope CW as much as I normally would have this season, and I don’t really know why that is. Tonight was only my second visit of the season having watched them host Newton Aycliffe at the end of August. I’ve only been to RCA once this season too – when they hosted Seaham Red Star in an 11am kick off on the Monday bank holiday in August.
Over the weekend, when I was at Warrington Rylands, I was sent the club statement that Durham City had published. Well, I say published, they only sent it to other Northern League clubs and made nothing totally public! I know there are a lot of people who haven’t seen it, so I’ve attached the club statement here for you to look at. There are a few interesting points in it, but I just think it’s all a bit strange. Why would a company based in Dubai (with seemingly very few links to the UK) take control of running a struggling Northern League Division Two club. The below link will download the statement as a PDF for you.
The other ‘letter’ which was sent to all clubs was definitely something I think shouldn’t have been distributed like it was. It makes a lot of claims about the old committee at Durham, especially the old secretary, and for me (with a Public Relations degree!) it’s just not the sort of thing they should be publishing. The new hierarchy at the club shouldn’t be doing that unless it is 10000% confirmed. I won’t publish the full letter on here as to be honest, it’s a bit disrespectful to the old committee, and it’s making a tonne of claims which may not be true.
Anyway, back to the football tonight. Tonight marked the halfway point of my hopes of doing a game on 10 consecutive days, and it was my 130th game of the season. I’m definitely on track for a very good season in regards to numbers of games attended!
Match report:
RCA win scrappy Ryhope derby
Sunderland RCA claimed a 0-2 win in a scrappy Ryhope derby at Ryhope CW on Tuesday night.
Goals from Mark Davison and Chris Winn helped RCA to the three points over their local rivals, and it’s win which takes them to within four points of CW.
A larger than average crowd assembled around Ryhope Recreation Park to watch the two village sides do battle, but in windy conditions, quality football was lacking.
Upon kick-off, the majority of the opening 10 minutes was played in the Ryhope CW half with RCA having more of the ball, but they didn’t create anything with it.
The first chance led to the first goal in the 17th minute. A deep corner bypassed everyone to find Davison at the back post, and he struck a powerful first time effort into the net. The goal wasn’t without confusion though. The shot hit the net at quite a high point, and it seemed to bounce off the net and through the side netting to come back onto the pitch! How it happened I’ve no idea, but it was definitely a goal!
The visitors had another chance just a minute later, but Matty Weirs’ drilled effort from long range was just over.
Ryhope CW only had one real chance in the first half, and it came through a corner in the 27th minute. James Ellis’ corner from the north west side was whipped towards the back post, and it picked out the unmarked Danni Lay, but he couldn’t steer his header on target.
Kieran Charlton had an opportunity for RCA in the 38th minute. He came away with the ball after a couple of 50/50s on the edge of the Ryhope CW penalty area, but his eventual poked shot was harmlessly wide.
That was it for a very poor first half.
Ryhope CW had a series of corners early in the second half, with the first of them leading to a chance fired over.
Some thought it could be the start of a good second half. In truth, the second half was a better than the first, but not by a great deal and it was still poor.
The pitch didn’t help with bobbles everywhere, but there just seemed to be a lack of quality throughout.
In the 62nd minute, RCA’s Callum Guy tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area, but his shot was far too high.
Three minutes later, Kyle Davis drilled a low ball across the face of goal for Ryhope CW, and it just needed the slightest of touches, but it wasn’t to be for the hosts.
Lay headed over for CW in the 71st minute, and then CW’s Karl Southern saw his long range effort tipped over by Keaton Marrs.
There were more chances now than in the first half, but it wasn’t exactly thrilling.
The resulting corner from Southern’s chance caused a scramble in the RCA penalty area, and a couple of efforts were crucially blocked before an even more crucial block hooked a shot off the line.
Ryhope CW were now having a decent spell, and a header from Chris Trewick’s cross bounced wide in the 75th minute, before Ellis tried his luck from 20 yards, but it proved an easy save for Marrs.
In the 85th minute, Sunderland RCA wrapped up the win with a second goal. A high ball dropped to Winn on the edge of the penalty area, and he chested it down before firing an effort into the near bottom corner.
In the second minute of injury time, it could have been nil-three. Substitute Taylor Richardson was released through on goal for RCA, but James Winter did well to save.
Six minutes of added time was played, and it led to one more chance. It went the way of Ryhope CW as Ellis curled a lovely long range free-kick towards the top corner, but Marrs’ save preserved his clean sheet.
The final whistle soon followed, and it was Sunderland RCA who claimed the bragging rights from this edition of the Ryhope derby.
Full-time: Ryhope CW 0-2 Sunderland RCA
Next up for me is Hartlepool Pools Youth Seniors vs Billingham Town Reserves tomorrow.
Ryhope CW: Winter, Morris, Gordon, Trewick (c), Garside, Lay, Braithwaite, Jon Weirs (Wade, 83′), Taylor (Wallace, 67′), Davis (Southern, 67′), Ellis
Unused subs: Bird, Harkess
Sunderland RCA: Marrs, Allen, Charlton, Swansbury (c), Errington, Jakab, Hennis, Guy (Lawrence, 72′), Davison, Annang-Colquhoun (Richardson, 84′), Matty Weirs (Winn, 77′)
Unused subs: Herdman, Lennox
Admission: £6 adults, £4 concessions
Programme: No
Attendance: 234
Referee: Helen Conley
Connor's Football Travels 