THE RCA GOAL MACHINE ROLLS ON
Fresh from the insanity of their 12-goal thriller on Saturday, Sunderland RCA kept the goals coming against local rivals Seaham Red Star. But things were a bit more orderly on the defensive front than a few days beforehand for the men from Sunderland.
As for Red Star, they started brightly, knocking the ball around well, with quick passing moves. They fell behind in the ninth minute and the game then started to slip away from them. By the end they looked as though the final whistle couldn’t come soon enough.
RCA made an untidy start. The goal settled them down and they pushed on, turning better play into superiority and then dominance.
0-1: A long ball into the Red Star box saw Nathan O’Neill get the better of home keeper Jordan Harkess in a 50-50 aerial contest, with the RCA No. 10’s touch sending it in.
0-2: O’Neill’s power in the air produced the visitors’ second too, getting on the end of a long cross by James Armstrong to send the ball back across the goal and over Harkess.
0-3: The ball was pushed through a bunch of players, giving RCA forward Dominic Moan a clear run at goal and the No. 9 slipped it under Harkess.
By then, Red Star’s fluent start had ebbed away. Going into the break, RCA had made the most of their scoring opportunities.
0-4: In the 54th minute, O’Neill turned provider and Armstrong the scorer – the No. 10 returning the favour for the second goal. O’Neill produced a subtle pass over the home defence and, in turn, Armstrong produced a subtle lob over Harkess and into the net.
Red Star had a number of shots, but they were all stopped and blocked – they couldn’t breach the RCA back four who’d set their defensive line at the 18-yard line, coping with everything Seaham tried to throw at them.
Liam Haley had their best effort in the second half, with substitute keeper Andrew Kokoska up to the task of saving it.
0-5: The last goal of the match was scored from the penalty spot by Jon Davis after Liam Hodgson pulled Armstrong down in the box.
For the last 10 minutes of the game, RCA looked as though they were going to score with just about every attack. They were only held at bay by a series of impressive saves by Harkess – three in particular in a six-minute spell.
The first in the 82nd minute when he produced an instinctive save to tip a header by Jordan Watson over. Three minutes later he denied Watson a second time with a save just as good as the first. And then Harkess managed to get his feet to a shot by O’Neill to prevent the RCA striker getting his hat-trick.
Sadly, a nasty incident before kick-off not connected to the game meant kick-off was delayed 15 minutes. The police were on hand promptly to investigate.
Seaham Red Star 0 Sunderland RCA 5 – Ebac Northern League Division One
Mike Snowdon