el Queso Grande's Northern League Experience

Bedlington Terriers v Spennymoor Town

2009-11-14T07:43:00.002Z

FA Vase 2nd. Round Proper
Dr. Pit Welfare Pit Welfare Park
Bedlington
Northumberland.

Following very heavy rain last evening, there is to be a pitch inspection at 9:00am.

Brandon United 1-2 Guisborough Town

2009-11-11T23:36:00.001Z

Northern League Division 2
Welfare Park
Brandon
Co.Durham

Whickham 0-1 Northallerton Town

2009-11-07T23:03:00.001Z

Northern League Division 2
The Glebe Sports Ground
Rectory Lane
Whickham
Co. Durham.

Chester le Street Town 2-0 Dunston UTS

2009-11-03T23:38:00.001Z

Durham County FA Challenge Cup 2nd Round
Moor Park
Chester Moor
Chester le Street
Co. Durha.

Esh Winning 2-4 South Shields

2009-10-31T23:58:00.003Z

Northern League Division 1
West Terrace
Waterhouses
Co. Durham.

Spennymoor Town 1-0 Whitley Bay

2009-10-24T08:16:00.002+01:00

Northern League Division 1
The Brewery Field
Spennymoor
Co. Durham.

Esh Winning 3-4 Consett

2009-10-20T23:03:00.000+01:00

Durham Challenge Cup 1st Round
West Terrace
Waterhouses
Co. Durham.

Saturday 17th October 2009 Sunderland Ryhope CA 0-2 Newton Aycliffe

2009-10-20T23:01:00.001+01:00

Northern League Division 2
Meadow Park
Ryhope
Sunderland
Co. Durham.

Seaham Red Star 0-1 Jarrow Roofing Boldon CA

2009-10-13T23:03:00.001+01:00

Northern League Division 2
Seaham Town Park,
Seaham
Co. Durham.

Horden CW 0-5 Whitley Bay

2009-10-10T07:48:00.002+01:00

Northern League Division 1
Welfare Park
Park Road
Hoden
Co. Durham.

Consett 0-2 Bedlington Terriers

2009-10-03T06:23:00.003+01:00

FA Vase First Round Proper
Belle Vue
Ashdale Road
Consett
Co. Durham.

This has the potential to be the tie of the round; Consett, who could have won the league last season, have had an inconsistent time of it so far this season and have yet to field their strongest side, while Terriers are on a run of five wins on the bounce and looked very organised when they progressed at the expense of Esh Winning in the 1st qualifying round. There again, it could be a damp squib........ time will tell.

Saturday 26/09/09 Sunderland Ryhope CA 3-0 Whickham

2009-09-27T15:16:00.003+01:00

Northern League Division 2
Meadow Park
Ryhope
Sunderland
Co. Durham.

This has been described elsewhere as "men against boys" and I could not agree more. RCA, top of the division having won 8 and drawn 1 of their 9 fixtures to date, fielded a possibly weaker side than usual due to injuries, but still had more than enough to cope with Whickham's depleted young side. Special mention goes to young Scott Cresswell in the Whickham goal, who did his best to keep his side in the game.
RCA took the lead after 15 minutes when a surging run by Scott Richards left the Whickham defence in disarray, his cross found Liam McBryde at the far post and he headed goalwards, Steve Stewart made sure nipping in to head home from close range. RCA had the ball in the net when McBryde rose high above Gary Andison and headed home only for the linesman to flag for an infringement.
Late in the half a lovely cross from Stewart found Harrison Davies inside the six yard box, but he could only guide the ball onto the bar and into the waiting arms of Cresswell and a minute later the same player shot across the face of goal. McBryde had another goal disallowed when he ghosted in at the back post to score from a well taken corner. The referee awarded a freekick for a foul on the keeper. However, on the hour mark McBryde got the goal that his efforts deserved when he latched onto a pass from Stewart and although Cresswell saved the first shot he followed up and slide the ball home. Within a minute RCA were 3 - 0 up when Richards hit an unstoppable 25 yard screamer which the goalkeeper never saw.
Only some brilliant saves from Cresswell kept the score at 3 - 0, firstly a point blank save from Shields and then he saved with his feet from Stewart.

Easington Colliery 0-1 Shildon

2009-09-19T20:17:00.002+01:00

FA Vase
Second Round Qualifying
Easington Welfare Park
Memorial Road
Easington
Co. Durham.

My first visit to Easington in nearly 44 years and I really enjoyed it. Wearside League outfit Easington battled well to keep a strong Shildon side at bay, to the point of causing a few problems for the Shildon defence towards the end of the game. A well-taken free kick from the edge of the penalty area by Andrew Johnson, well into time added on at the end, was the deciding factor. A Shildon shot which went out for a goal-kick after hitting a post after 28 seconds, could have signalled a rout.

Sunderland Ryhope CA 0-0 Crook Town

2009-09-16T23:41:00.002+01:00

Northern League Division 2
Meadow Park
Ryhope
Sunderland
Co. Durham.

Sunderland RCA lost their 100% league record to a very good Crook Town team who more than matched them in a very competitive 0-0 draw at Meadow Park.
How often have you heard it said that 0-0 draws were predictable? Well when these two teams met they had scored 45 goals between them so a no score draw was probably the most unpredictable score line imaginable.
The game started with Crook forcing the pace and a shot from Kokes going wide. It didn’t take long for RCA to respond and it was Davison who produced a cracking shot which was well saved by Lanning.
In the 18th minute Crook looked to have taken the lead when a cross into the box was met by Olusoga who scrambled it home, but he was adjudged to be offside. Crook were piling on the pressure and gained two corners in quick succession; however they were well dealt with by RCA defence.
In the 37th minute RCA were awarded a freekick on the edge of the box and Coghlan passed the ball to Davies who crossed into the box only for Lanning to get to the ball just before the head of Davison.Two minutes later and another Coghlan freekick went inches wide with the keeper beaten.
In the 42nd minute Taylor tried an audacious shot from 25 yards which rattled off the crossbar and was cleared by Hall.
The second half saw Crook well on top in the opening 10 minutes with Kokes going close with a snap shot and Hall heading against the crossbar. The two forwards were causing all sorts of problems and only some superb defending by Wardle and Anderson kept them at bay.
In the 70th minute a corner was awarded to Crook and when the ball was delivered into the box Hall powered a header downward into the bottom corner. Somehow Mclean got a hand to the ball and turned it over the bar. A great save to keep RCA in the game.
The introduction of Richards to the midfield added something to RCA as an attacking force and they came into the game a little more. Coghlan sent another freekick inches wide and when Davis crossed to the far post Taylor was on hand to volley the ball home only to be flagged for offside.
Both teams continued to attack and to try to win the game and as the match reached its conclusion a flare up between a number of players resulted in the dismissal of Davis.
RCA will probably not face a sterner test than this one and they came through with their unbeaten league form intact. Crook will be disappointed that they did not convert at least one of their chances.

Report by Rob Jones at http://www.sunderlandrca.co.uk

Behind

2009-09-12T07:58:00.001+01:00

I must get down to adding the match reports which are missing from the last few weeks. Just not had a lot of time recently.

Billingham Town 1-5 Consett

2009-09-12T07:56:00.002+01:00

Northern League Division 1
Rowney Ltd. Arena
Bedford Terrace
Billingham
Cleveland.

Esh Winning 2-4 Bedlington Terriers

2009-09-05T02:09:00.003+01:00

FA Vase First Round Qualifying
West Terrace
Waterhouses
Co. Durham.

Report By Dave Anderson at http://www.bedlingtonterriersfc.co.uk

Bedlington Terriers advanced to the next qualifying round of the FA Vase at Esh Winning on Saturday, with a 4-2 victory orchestrated by debutant David Southern, who was involved in all the Terriers goals. Signed a week earlier from local rivals Morpeth Town, but unavailable due to injury until this tie, Southern showed exactly the type of qualities that made Bedlington so keen to secure his signature. Top League scorer in the season Gateshead won promotion from the Unibond Premier Division; he is a player of undoubted qualities and is sure to have a major impact in the coming months.Looking to bounce back from the disappointments of their FA Cup exit the previous Saturday, and failure to secure the points at Ashington in the Bank Holiday derby, co-managers Lowery and Perry named a very strong starting eleven for this encounter at Esh’s picturesque Waterhouses location. This meant a debut for the other signing made by Bedlington, in vastly experienced midfielder Stuart Elliott. On the books of Arsenal as a schoolboy, Elliott spent five years at Newcastle, including time captaining the Reserve team and loan moves to seven other Football League clubs. Spells at Darlington, Plymouth and Carlisle followed before he dropped down into non-league, where he has significant experience in the high-echelons of the semi-professional game. Still only 32 years of age, the signing of Elliott is a real coup for Bedlington, and a signal of their intent to be challenging for honours again. Bedlington attacked from the whistle, with Poole’s 25 yard drive forcing Esh keeper Molyneux into a save within 3 minutes. And the concerted pressure paid dividends for the visitors as they took the lead after just ten minutes of play. Poole again was involved, playing Shaw through and the midfielder knocked the ball past his marker only for Molyneux to advance quickly from his goal. Although the keeper blocked Shaw’s toe poke, Southern was first to react to the loose ball to slot home into an empty net from 12 yards. The Terriers should have doubled their advantage within a minute. Good work from Christensen down the right saw the wing back hit a low cross to the near post which Graham contrived to miss completely and spurn an easy tap in from 3 yards. The visitors paid for this miss as the home side equalised on the quarter hour mark, with Coates latching on to a cross from Smith and then rounding Newton in the Bedlington goal before firing home. Bedlington continued to attack, as Shandran made progress along the edge of the Esh area before feeding Southern. He turned his man quickly and fired a low shot which Molyneux collected at the second attempt. The lead was restored just after the midway point in the half, and it was the goal of the season so far by anyone in a Bedlington shirt. The ball was fed into Southern, back to goal, and his simple lay off to Graham saw the skilful midfielder unleash a shot from 30 yards which was still rising as it flew into the top left corner. Even the home fans were forced to appreciate the quality of the strike.
The only black mark in the remainder of the opening period was a yellow card for new boy Elliott, after a couple of unsightly lunges. Another referee may not have been so lenient, and so a caution was gratefully accepted by the Bedlington contingent. Bedlington made a change for the start of the second half, with skipper Snowden struggling with injury, and having to be replaced by Ludlow as Lowery and Perry changed things around.
Bedlington extended their lead within 9 minutes of the restart, and again Southern had a hand in the goal. Picking up the ball in his own half, Southern made 30 yards progress before spreading the ball left to Shandran. He cut into the area, working it on to his right foot before curling his effort into the bottom right hand corner of the goal.
If Bedlington thought it was game over, then the home side had other ideas as they pushed to get back into the game. They were soon rewarded when they reduced the deficit on the hour mark, albeit in a slightly fortunate manner. When Martin was fed possession by Fort, the Esh striker saw his low shot from 20 yards take wicked deflection of the leg of Hedley, as a result squeezing inside the post past the wrong-footed Newton.The Terriers should have restored their two goal cushion within a minute, but Graham’s header from Ludlow’s brilliantly dug out cross pounded the pitch before bouncing high against the bar and away to safety. Although the hosts were putting the Bedlington defence under increasing pressure, they rarely actually fashioned a genuine goal scoring opportunity. Bedlington, however, looked dangerous every time they mounted an attack.
Banks almost fired into his own goal from a Ludlow cross, then Shandran saw his headed from Southern’s cross defected just wide, even though a goal kick was subsequently awarded. Into the final ten minutes, the Terriers made their remaining substitutions, with Shandran and Graham being replaced by McRoberts and McAlindon respectively.
The visitors finally put the game beyond reach with four minutes left, and appropriately it was Southern who capped off a man of the match performance with the goal. Christensen made progress down the right, and his cross from the goal line evaded all in the middle, allowing Southern to work on to his right foot and curl his effort into the bottom right corner in a finish very similar to his striker partner’s goal earlier in the half. So a satisfying result for the Terriers, and one which booked them a home tie against Jarrow Roofing in the next round of the competition on Saturday 19th September.

Guisborough Town 1-0 Wakefield

2009-09-02T23:48:00.001+01:00

FA Cup Preliminary Round Replay
King George V Stadium
Howlbeck Road
Guisborough
N. Yorks.

Chester le Street Town 0-5 Norton & Stockton Ancients

2009-08-29T20:37:00.001+01:00

FA Cup Preliminary Round
Chester Moor Park
Chester le Street
C. Durham.

Saturday 22nd August 2009 Washington 3-2 Darlington Railway Athletic

2009-08-23T18:39:00.001+01:00

Northern League Division 2
Albany Park
Spout Lane
Washington
Co. Durham

Birtley Town 1-3 Billingham Synthonia

2009-08-18T08:06:00.004+01:00

FA Cup Extra-Preliminary Round Replay
Birtley Sports Complex
Durham Road
Birtley
Co. Durham.

Northern League First Division Billingham Synthonia survived a late scare against battling Birtley to qualify for the next round of the Cup. With a decent crowd, with many followers heading up the A1 from Teesside, cheering the sides on, both teams were desperate for some FA Cup success.

Buoyed on by Saturday’s draw, Birtley started on the offensive as they looked to cause an upset and the first real opportunity of the game fell to Birtley skipper Steven Burns, who beat Liam McPhillips before striking a near post effort which Christopher Porter did well to save.
This woke Synners up, and they sprung into life almost immediately. They almost opened the scoring when Danny Earl beat a defender and struck a fine strike past keeper Andrew Mallinson, only to see his effort cleared off the line.

Synthonia did not have to wait long to open the scoring though. After winning a corner on the left, Colin Iley and David Yale played a quick one-two before Iley fired a cross into the area and captain Darren Hollingsworth rose highest to power a header home into the back of the net.

The visitors were now starting to settle, and they had chances to extend their lead through Andrew Harbron and the influential Yale. They did eventually double their lead on 39 minutes. when Iley used some great trickery to beat the full-back and fire a dangerous cross into the area. The ball fell to McPhillips, who knocked it to James Magowan to smash the ball past the keeper and give Synners a two goal lead at the break.

With 45 minutes to keep their Cup dreams alive, Birtley came into the second half like a different team. As they pushed forward in search of a comeback, they left themselves exposed at the back and Synners had several break away chances which they failed to convert.
Synners were punished on 67 minutes as Birtley grabbed a lifeline. After a great build-up, Kris Hughes struck a powerful volley past the despairing Porter to get his team back into the game.
The home team and their followers could sense the chance of a comeback as the small ground started to buzz with excitement. Game on.
With time ticking away, Birtley were throwing more and more men forward as they looked for an equaliser, but found the Synners backline, particularly Man of the Match Hollingsworth, hard to break down.
After 87 minutes, Birtley had two corners but failed to convert any of them into scoring chances and they were soon to be punished. As Synthonia held the ball upfield in the corner, Earl collected the ball and jinked past one defender before squaring to Michael Jameson who fired past the keeper.
Birtley did themselves proud on this warm summers night in the North-East, but must be left rueing the late equaliser they conceded on Saturday at Billingham. Next up for Synners is an away tie at Morpeth Town.

Sunderland RCA 1-3 Ryton

2009-08-15T08:02:00.005+01:00

FA Cup Extra-Preliminary Round.
Meadow Park,
Ryhope,
Sunderland,
Co. Durham.

My second consecutive Saturday watching RCA, by virtue of the fact that I promised my mate Maz, Ryton midfielder Craig Marron, that I would be watching him early on in the season, to allow him the opportunity to buy me a pint!

Playing down-bank with the wind behind them, RCA caused Ryton a lot of problems in the first half, although the Ryton defence coped well with the aerial threat posed by Mark Davison. 15 minutes into the game, RCA's Harrison Davies skied a ball into the goal area, watched all the way down by Ryton keeper TonyDavison, who caught the ball then fell into goal 1-0.

With the change-round at half time Ryton soon took advantage and Craig Marron converted a penalty following a push in the back on Dean Patton by David Anderson 1-1 55 minutes.

A long range effort from Andy Inness brought a good save

from RCA keeper Gary Hoggeth.
RCA held on until the 69 minute when Andrew Barclay volleyed home a cross from Dale Burrell to make it 2 - 1 to the visitors.
RCA rallied for a spell as Ryton defended their lead and Stephen "Buddy" Halliday was unlucky to see a glancing header go wide. They then forced a succession of corners and only some superb defending by Ross Preston kept the score at 2 - 1.

Dale Burrell finished off any hopes RCA had of a replay when he went on a solo run, beating two defenders before rounding the keeper to score from close range with eight minutes left 3-1.

Sunderland RCA 5-2 Gillford Park

2009-08-08T11:41:00.005+01:00

Northern League Division 2.
Meadow Park,
Ryhope,
Sunderland,
Co. Durham.

The opening day of the new season saw Sunderland RCA FC matched against skillstrainingltd Northern League newcomers Gillford Park FC. A Silver Salver was presented by RCA's captain Gary Shields, to the Gillford captain Mark Butler, to mark the occasion.

The game started in glorious sunshine with RCA taking advantage of the slope and it was they who had the first opportunity after 7 minutes when a cross from Harrison Davies was tipped away for a corner. Steve Stewart sent in the corner for Mark Davison to powerfully head home.
Michael Dickinson had the chance to level 2 minutes later but his shot went well wide. RCA took control of the game in a scintillating period of play which saw Michael Coghlan burst into the box and although his shot was blocked Davies was there to volley home from 10 yards out. Within a minute it was 3-0 when a crossfield ball from Davies found the unmarked Gary Shields who cracked the ball home from 15 yards out.
The crowd were being well entertained with fast attacking football and it was no surprise when Gillford pulled a goal back in the 18th minute when a corner was swung into the box by Mark Butler and the ball was stabbed home from close range by Ian Johnstone.
Davison restored the 3 goal difference after 24 minutes when Shields sent in an inch perfect cross for him to head home his second of the match.
Gillford to their credit continued to battle and were rewarded with a breakaway goal when Matt Read sent the ball clear of his defence to Dickinson whose crossfield pass found Darren Addison free and he finished superbly past the advancing Gary Hoggeth.
At half time Andy Reay replaced RCA's Paul Wardle who was struggling with a hamstring problem.
The second half could never match up to the pace of the first and although both teams had chances to score, notably, Steve Skinner and Dickinson, for Gillford Park, in the opening 3 minutes of the second half and Davison, for RCA, after 50 minutes it was Stewart who sealed the victory with a well taken shot from an immaculate through ball from Scott Richards.
As the game progressed both teams started to cancel each other out and although both teams had half chances to score neither keeper was really tested until the last 5 minutes when Hoggeth had to punch clear a wicked curling cross from Addison and then a shot from Davison from 40 yards caught Shane Williams off his line but went narrowly wide.

Match report and picture from the Sunderand RCA web site at http://www.sunderlandrca.co.uk

The New Season Beckons!!!!!

2009-08-07T23:02:00.002+01:00

The skilltraining Northern League's new season begins tomorrow and I am like a cat on hot bricks! There has been so much activity regarding players changing clubs and new money becoming available to certain "lucky" clubs that I think this season is going to be very exciting! I intend to begin my season at the club which has recently become my local side: Sunderland Ryhope Community Association's Meadow Park is only one mile from my new home and they are up against "new boys" Gillford Park, of Carlisle, who have been promoted from the Northern Football Alliance. RCA's corned beef 'n' tatie pie is famous throughout the league and if I am still hungry afterwards, their giant hot dogs come in the biggest finger rolls I have ever seen!
Ooooh! I can't wait!

Newcastle Benfield 5-0 Consett

2009-08-01T09:12:00.003+01:00

J.R. Cleator Cup
Sam Smith's Sports Grounds
Benfield Road
Newcastle upon Tyne.

This cup perpetuates the memory of the late Jim R. Cleator who died in December 1980. He had given sixty years continuous and active association with the League as a player and official with South Bank, League Management Member, Chairman and finally President of the League.
The match is played between the League Champions and the League Cup winners, or if both trophies have been won by the same club, between the League Champions and the League Runners-up (in this case Consett play by virtue of being runners-up), on the ground of the League Champions.

Crikey, talk about OUCH! Consett just couldn't handle Benfield's tactics - defend high up and attack on the break with high balls dropping in the area between the Consett keeper and his back line. Benfield keeper Andrew Grainger only had one shot to deal with in the whole of the game. Stephen Young netted twice and could have had a third had his shot not rebounded from the underside of the bar, Adam Scope converted the penalty after Dan Staples brought down Dean Nicholson, Mark Atkinson got the fourth but the best goal of the game was the last, scored by substitute Andrew Mackintosh.