Newton Aycliffe 9, Sunderland RCA 0
By Bob Wood
Newton Aycliffe maintained their lead at the top of the Ebac Northern League with a stunning 9-0 win over Sunderland RCA at the SecuriCorp Stadium on Saturday.
The victory saw Brian Atkinson’s side move to 76 points, three points ahead of Ashington who also won at the weekend.
Aycliffe were forced into a change following Ethan Wood’s sending off at Ashington.
Charlie Dawson took on the number seven shirt, and the 16-year-old put in a fantastic performance in midfield, earning him plaudits from the 240 strong crowd and the man-of-the-match award.
The home side opened the scoring after seven minutes with Jake Petitjean heading home a Joe Ferguson corner.
It was 2-0 on 21 minutes with Liam Jarvie scoring from a rebound after his initial shot was saved.
Just before half-time Jarvie was again causing problems for the RCA defence, passing to Eddie Thomas who turned the ball past the keeper.
Thomas got his second just before the hour mark winning a loose ball after another save from the keeper.
RCA goalkeeper Josef Herdman had an excellent game despite the scoreline and saved a penalty from Petitjean just after the hour.
Despite heading for a comfortable win, and with no real threat from the visitors, Aycliffe didn’t let up and continued to press.
Another of the Under 18 squad, Jack Clarkson, made it 5-0 on 70 minutes scoring the team’s 100th goal of the season.
Substitute Liam Adamson contributed two goals in two minutes with Ferguson scoring the eighth with a jinking run through the defence with two minutes remaining.
The final goal was similar to the first, coming from a Ferguson corner, but with Callum Munro this time applying the finishing touch.
It was an amazing performance from Aycliffe who now have only four games left this season.
The last home game is on Tuesday April 4, 7.30pm kick-off) against West Allotment Celtic.
The season ends with three away games at Carlisle City, Northallerton Town and Penrith.
The team finishing top of the Ebac Northern League will be promoted to the Northern Premier League (East Division), while second place will play off against a team from the higher league.
The above picture, by Yvonne Wood, shows man-of-the-match Charlie Dawson in action on Saturday.