BEMUSED

Redcar Town 4 Chester-le-Street Town 2 – Ebac Northern League Division Two

Half-time:  0-0.  To put it diplomatically, I was bemused.  Bemused as to how Redcar didn’t manage to get at least the one goal that their play merited.

Full time:  4-2.  A scoreline I could definitely get my head round.

Redcar set their stall out from the off, playing positive, brisk football with energy.  What was particularly encouraging was that they always tried to play the ball forward, giving them the momentum and putting Chester-le-Street on the back foot.

The mystery was how they didn’t test Cestrian keeper Jack Wilson as much as they should have done with their approach play.  The visitors’ back line just about held Redcar at bay for 45 minutes.

Wilson and defenders were able to get a foot in at the last second to thwart several attacks.  It took Chester-le-Street 15 minutes to start to put Redcar under a bit of pressure, but it was fleeting.

Meanwhile, Redcar came within a foot or two of scoring in the 27th minute when Ryan Bennions took advantage of a defender slipping to hit the ball across the goal mouth, with Carl Williams sliding in but he just missed connecting with it.  In midfield they were winning most of the 50/50 contests and picking up the majority of loose balls.  No. 11 James Swann was particularly influential.

But at 0-0 there was always the threat of Chester-le-Street converting one of their counter attacks.

Home team nerves should have been settled seven minutes after the re-start when Bennions split open the Chester-le-Street defence, slotting the ball into the path of Williams who slid it past Wilson and into the net.  The visitors found an unlikely equaliser just four minutes later when a dreadful back pass was picked up by Cestrian No. 10 Matthew Ward who rounded the keeper to slip the ball past a couple of defenders as they tried to block it on the line.

The half-time team talk had some effect – Chester-le-Street started the second half with a bit more gusto, but they couldn’t build on their equaliser.  They conceded a second in the 59th minute.  It didn’t help that they gifted Redcar with their second goal with the second terrible back pass of the game, with Sam Wheatley intercepting the ball back to Wilson and scoring.

Soon after that, Chester-le-Street No. 4 Jake Mitchell had a header cleared off the line, but after that they didn’t look like being able to get back into the game.

Redcar kept on attacking and their pressure was rewarded with two more goals.  James Swann hit a shot on the run that Wilson managed to get a hand to.  In the follow-up attack the ball was sent into the heart of the Cestrian defence and Bennions was allowed to turn and hit it first time to put the hosts 3-1 up.

The win was sealed in the 72nd minute when captain Joe Bennett rose unchallenged to meet a corner with a header that he planted in the top right hand corner.  They could have made it five with 10 minutes to go when a reverse ball by Matty Jenkinson prised open the visitors’ defence, setting up fellow sub Lewis Henry with a clear sight of goal, but the No. 16 couldn’t convert the chance.

The scoring was wrapped up with only a couple of minutes to go when Chester-le-Street’s Danny Hailes put the ball across the Redcar goal mouth and in between a couple of defenders, with Michael Gray running in to score.

It’s the first time I’ve seen Redcar Town and watching their positive, attacking play was a treat.  Chester-le-Street have several players unavailable or injured.   They have to try to forget about this match pronto.

Mike Snowdon