Shildon – Ryhope CW Football Club

Northern League round-up: Dunston smash Whitley Bay and FA Cup replays

We round-up the midweek Northern League action, less league fixtures going ahead than scheduled due to FA Cup replays.

Eight teams remain unbeaten in Northern League Division One, following the midweek action.

The pick of the action was at the UTS Stadium, where Dunston smashed Whitley Bay 8-0. Mark Fitzpatrick could have had a hat-trick, scoring two and missing a penalty. Jack Elliott and Liam Brooks also hit doubles for the Gateshead club.

Dunston remain unbeaten, as well as Shildon who beat us 2-0 at Recreation Park.

In the FA Cup game featuring Northern League clubs on Tuesday, Guisborough beat Newton Aycliffe 2-0 away.

Wednesday’s action saw an added time winner at the Daren Persson stadium, Gerard Richardson converting for Ashington to give them a 1-0 win away at North Shields.

Another one came at Blyth AFC, David Robinson scoring in the 93rd minute to down West Auckland.

The other Newly-promoted teams Whickham and Hebburn faced off, Hebburn getting a 3-0 away win.

Consett smashed Penrith 6-1 away, Daniel Craggs scoring a hat-trick

Wednesday’s FA Cup replay action saw Heaton Stannington and Seaham Red Star go to extra-time following a 3-3 draw. The scores were level at 4-4 after extra-time and it took penalties to decide the tie, Seaham winning 4-2 on penalties.

Newcastle Benfield beat Stockton Town at Bishopton Road 3-0 to progress to the preliminary round.

Higher up the leagues, the North-East derby in the National League North between Darlington and Blyth Spartans ended in a 1-1 draw.

Meanwhile, Spennymoor lost away from home to Bradford Park Avenue 1-0.

Gateshead remain unbeaten in the National League, earning a 1-1 away draw at Boreham Wood. Hartlepool also drew 1-1 away at Braintree.

Ryhope CW complete triple swoop

Ryhope CW today announced a triple signing.

Joining the club are midfielder Nicky Kane, and defenders Carl Jones and Corey Barnes.

Nicky Kane joins following a spell at Seaham Red Star. Unfortunately he had an injury hit 2017/18 season, but is looking to bounce back from that with Ryhope.

The midfielder, whose former clubs include Dunston UTS and Newcastle Benfield, is known for his energy and covers a lot of ground.

A hard-working midfielder, his skills come in attack and he has been deployed as a winger in the past.

The 29-year-old, who also represented neighbours Sunderland RCA, is also described as having great ball skills and an eye for goal.

Also joining is defender Carl Jones from Shildon.

Carl is a versatile defender, mostly deployed at centre-back but capable of playing across the back four. He won the Northern League with Shildon in 2015-16.

Jones during his spell at Blyth Spartans

Among the 31-year-old’s former clubs are Hartlepool United, York City, Gateshead, Blyth Spartans, West Auckland and Dunston UTS.

The final signing of the triple swoop is Corey Barnes.

Corey is a right-back, who broke through the ranks at Darlington and was once nominated for League Two apprentice of the year.

He dropped into non-league initially with Spennymoor, before joining Crook Town in 2011.

The 26-year-old spent a number of years at Jarrow Roofing and was at Washington last season.

The full-back is said to have some attacking flair to go with his defensive prowess, and loves to get down the right to support the attack.

Corey is unavailable for selection for another two weeks.

Match Preview: Ryhope CW vs Shildon AFC

Colliery Welfare face Shildon AFC in the Ebac Northern League tonight, in their second home match of the season.

Looking to put the disappointment of the weekend’s FA Cup exit behind them, Ryhope will hope for better luck against Shildon than they had in their games last season.

Last season’s games against Shildon came within two days of each other due to postponements. The home tie was a 3-1 loss for RCW. James Ellis put Colliery Welfare in the lead after 16 minutes, but Shildon responded with three before the break and the sides played out a goalless second-half.

The away tie was another Shildon win, Stephen Ramsey scoring two for Ryhope as we slipped to a 3-2 defeat. It was an entertaining late season encounter that saw Jonny Ball have a cameo appearance up front. He put himself about a bit to be fair.

We currently sit on three points in Division One of the Northern League, an opening day victory over Newton Aycliffe followed up by a 1-3 home loss to West Auckland.

Our opponents have had an unbeaten start, drawing 1-1 at home to Stockton on opening day before beating Guisborough 4-1 away in midweek.

Northern League Division One

Venue: Ryhope Recreation Park, Ryhope, Sunderland, SR2 0AB

Date: Tuesday, August 14

Kick-Off: 7:30PM

The opposition

Daniel Moore’s men finished 3rd in Division One last season, the closest challengers to the rampant Marske and Morpeth. They finished on 80 points, 17 back on Morpeth Town in 2nd.

Our opponents boast a young squad, the average age of registered players coming in at around 26 years-old.

Among them is former Hartlepool and Carlisle man Matty Robson, who scored in the fixture at Dean Street last season, young defender Dominic Curl who won the club’s player of the season award and Billy Greulich-Smith, a hard-working forward who caused us problems in both fixtures last season and is a former Northern League player of the year.

They also strengthened a fair bit in the summer, including the signing of Marske United’s Danny Earl who scored over 30 goals last season.