A LEARNING CURVE
But Redcar Athletic are learning fast
This was Redcar’s fifth league game. They started their campaign with three loses and then got their first win on Saturday.
And last night’s game showed that they’re getting to grips with life in the Ebac Northern League, but they’ve still got a bit of learning to take on board.
They were 2-1 ahead going into the final quarter of an hour but couldn’t hang on to the lead, unable to close the game out. In part that was down to their laudable attitude of continuing to attack; in part it was down to a spirited fightback by Crook.
The opening 20 minutes saw the two sides exchange chances: Crook’s Nathan Stephenson forcing a diving save out of Redcar keeper Will Lawrence; Crook defender Joe Peel curling a shot just round the outside of the post; a Jordan Rivis shot for Redcar kicked away from the home side’s goal-line by Peel.
Crook should have taken the lead in the 20th minute when Stephenson knocked the ball over the Redcar defence, setting Christian Holliday up but the No. 11volleyed it well over the bar within a clear sight of goal. The next best chance went Crook’s way too: loose defending by the visitors presented the ball to Stephenson, he passed to Phil Caley and his shot crashed against the post.
A minute later Athletic winger Lee Farrington beat the offside trap and tried to bend a shot round Crook keeper Phil Pentony but his diving save to his right meant they only conceded a corner.
The first half rather petered out after that. It had been a half of plenty of chances, but no goals. That was soon remedied in the opening eight minutes of the second half.
A mistake by Crook centre back Jordan Fielding let Sam Webster in and he struck a volley to make it 0-1. Two minutes later they’d doubled their lead with the best move of the game – a simple, quick, neat attack. Webster found Farrington on the wing with a pass that allowed the winger to motor down the left before he put over a low cross that Stuart Browne buried into the net after cantering past the Crook defenders and into the Crook box.
Things got even worse for Crook when Phil Caley was sent off for a tackle on Redcar No. 3 Jordan Kirk. It made a difficult task even more of a struggle for the home team. They should have been punished further when Redcar’s Anthony Jones blasted the ball over from a few yards out in the 63rd minute.
Two minutes later Pentony pulled off the best save of the night when he raced off his line to deny a Jones shot. The dynamics of the game then started to change. Crook started to get a grip of the match and push forward. They were given a lifeline in the 73rd minute when they were awarded a penalty for a foul – with the spot kick converted by Morgan Claydon.
At the other end Pentony pulled off another good save when he managed to dive low down to his right and push the ball away after Rivis placed a well-directed header towards the corner of the goal.
Crook then started pressing for the equaliser. Substitute Liam Jarvie came close to getting on the end of a through ball to have a clear shot at goal, only just beaten to the ball by Lawrence.
Then Chris Dunwell came up with a blast of a shot from more than 25 yards out which hit the post and spun across the box. Team mate Andrew Lonsdale got to the ball first and his turn and shot was well blocked by Lawrence who managed to sprint across the six-yard box to cover his angles.
Their spirited play produced an equaliser just seconds into time added on. They won a corner and the ball sailed over to the back post where Dunwell was on hand to plant a header back to goal. It seemed to get a touch off another player before going into the net, but the No. 8 took all the plaudits from the rest of his team.
Over the 90 minutes Redcar had played the better football, their passing and attacking moves a notch above their hosts. For their part Crook showed grit and determination. Their 10-man never-say-die attitude in the last 15 minutes gave them the draw they deserved.
Crook Town 2 Redcar Athletic 2 – Ebac Northern League Division Two
Mike Snowdon