Newton Aycliffe 9 Sunderland RCA 0

Three difficult away games in a week, against Bishop Auckland, Whitley Bay and today table topping Newton Aycliffe, was always going to be tall order for a depleted Sunderland RCA side missing a raft of experienced players.

Newton Aycliffe has remained undefeated at home this season and where looking to maintain that record and keep their lead at the top of the table.

The early morning drizzle persisted which made the pitch very heavy, especially in the goalmouth areas.

With only a few senior players available Martin Swales, assisted by John Burnicle and Dom Jones selected a largely young inexperienced team and named Ryan Leonard as captain for the first time.

The teams lined up as follows:

Sunderland RCA: Herdman, Langley, Turns, Lennox, Bowmaker, Younis, Leonard ©, Johnson, Pinder, Hubbard, Ene:                                 Subs:  Fenton, Chappell, Evans, Purvis.

Newton Aycliffe: McHugh, Munro, Myers, Costello, Brown ©, Petitjean, Dawson, Ferguson, Thomas, Jarvie, Smith:                                        Subs: Davis, Greenwood, Adamson, Clarkson, Mallinson.

The relentless drizzle continued as the teams took to the field. RCA kicked off and went straight on the attack, winning a freekick 25 yards out on the left, Ene took the freekick and his dipping shot clipped the top of the crossbar with McHugh scrambling to cover the shot.

Aycliffe were quickly into their stride after this early warning, Smith making a forward run out paced the RCA defence to pick up a pass from Petitjohn before hitting a low shot which Herdman, making his RCA debut, was forced into an excellent save, turning the ball round the post for a corner.

Ferguson took the corner and Petitjohn rose unchallenged to head home from inside the 6 yard area.

It could have been worse two minutes later when Costello picked up a loose pass on the halfway line and was allowed to move forward unchallenged before striking a terrific effort towards to the top corner but Herdman pulled off a fantastic save to turn the ball round the post.

RCA were making too many unforced errors and were almost punished in the 13 minute when Dawson picked up a loose pass before hooking his effort wide of the far post with only Herdman to beat.

RCA should have equalised in the 15 minute when a great ball forward from Turns fell into the path of Pinder who shrugged off his marked before sliding the ball past the advancing McHugh but the ball drifted agonisingly wide of the post.

The home team began to play some good possession football and RCA were forced to defend which they did very well.

Aycliffe increased their lead in the 21 minute when a long ball over the top fell to Jarvie who looked suspiciously offside, however Herdman managed to save his initial shot only for the rebound to go straight back to him and he fired the rebound into the net.

With the RCA defence under constant pressure it was only another fine fingertip save from Herdman that denied Aycliffe a further goal in the 23 minute.

RCA pushed forward in an effort to relieve the pressure at the back and Ene, closing down Munro, forced him into a loose crossfield ball which was intercepted by Leonard who broke quickly into the box before smashing a shot against the legs of Brown and the ball bounced kindly for McHugh.

Aycliffe forced a corner on the right which was taken by Ferguson, Herdman managed to punch the cross away to Ene who played it back to Turns and his forward ball was picked up by Pinder who, under pressure from two defenders managed to get a shot away but once again he dragged it beyond the far post.

A poor pass out of defence gifted the home side their third goal with the loose ball being picked up by Myers who played the ball straight to Jarvie who outpaced the RCA defence before squaring the ball to Thomas who had the simple task of side-footing the ball into the net.

Whilst it could have been worse RCA were able to keep in the game until that 41 minute 3^rd goal.

The second half started slowly with neither side getting into any sort of rhythm and there were a number of fouls being committed which had the effect of slowing down play.

Newton Aycliffe made a number of quick substitutions which had an almost immediate effect as the pace of the game changed dramatically with the introduction of three pacy youngsters.

With an hour of the match gone a long range effort by Ferguson was palmed out by Herdman and Thomas was quickest to react stabbing the loose ball into the net.

Two minutes later and a darting run by Adamson was halted by Ene who was adjudged to have fouled the Aycliffe player in the box and a penalty was awarded. Petitjohn stepped up to take the penalty but Herdman was able to pull off a great save diving to his left and collecting the ball at the second attempt.

 RCA broke up the other end through Ene who was unceremoniously dumped on the floor, Turns took the freekick which was met by Johnson but the header went straight into the arms of Mc Hugh.

A minute later at the other end and a good move down the left saw the ball slipped past Herdman and heading for the net but Turns managed to hook the ball onto the crossbar and a certain goal was averted.

The pressure was mounting once again on an already strained RCA defence and when Davis burst into the box and cut the ball back to Dawson the writing seemed to be on the wall but his low driven shot was blocked by Lennox, however the clearance by Bowmaker fell straight to Adamson who turned quickly on the edge of the box before slipping the ball through to Clarkson who guided the ball past the advancing Herdman.

Leonard had a half chance when he picked up a long ball forward but his first time effort was well saved by McHugh.

The relief was short lived as RCA crumbled under the mounting pressure in the final 15 minutes as Aycliffe went into overdrive, a ball over the top by Brown drew Herdman off his line and the ball fell to Adamson who had the simple task of placing the ball into an empty net to make it 6-0.

Six became 7 when Adamson was given time to control the ball on the edge of the box, get the ball out of his feet and curl a sublime 20 yard shot into the roof of the net.

In the dying minutes of the game Ferguson picked up a through ball from Brown and waltzed his way into the penalty area before evading a number of tackles before neatly slotting the ball home.

Deep into stoppage time the home team was awarded a corner which was whipped into the box by Ferguson and tapped into the net by Munro to complete the rout.

I guess this was an expected defeat by a team who have found a way of winning and made their home ground a fortress we never got to grips with them in the second half and the introduction of their youngsters in the last 15 minutes destroyed us with their fitness.

Our youngsters did alright for 60 minutes but then the tiredness kicked in and their fitness and experience started to tell.

Unfortunately this has been a steep learning curve for these lads but hopefully it will have shown them the levels that they need to get to before they can compete in the Northern League first division.

Next up we play Thornaby away on Wednesday, 5 April 2023 kick off 7.30pm.