Sunderland RCA 0 - 0 Jarrow FC (06/04/2021) Friendly

April 06, 2021

Northern League Friendly

06/04/2021 – 7pm Kick Off

Sunderland RCA 0 - 0 Jarrow FC

Tuesday night saw the resumption of Northern League football post national lockdown part 2 as Jarrow featuring 2 trialists and new face Andy Bowie visited Division 1 outfit Sunderland RCA in a behind closed doors friendly.
In a game of very few clear cut chances it was the away side who started the brighter by trying to take advantage of both sides obvious lockdown hangover as Channon North latched on to the ball before firing wide.
Almost instantly after that chance the game settled into the pattern that would see out the remainder of the first half. Jarrow sat deep and pressed hard and quickly when the opportunity arose as RCA began trying to get their passing game going through lots of possession.
Indeed within a few minutes RCA had created two chances. The first of those being a snap shot that ended up going wide and the second was where they managed to force a sharp save from Keeper Jak Wells who palmed a downward header away before advancing and collecting the ball after the RCA man had connected with a free kick.
While Sunderland had more possession the well organised Jarrow defence were able to deal with the forward running threats well and even managing to launch well timed attacks of their own, on a few occasions it was the final ball that let them down. So, it proved that the visitors had the next best chance of the game with the lively Liam Murray smashing a low right foot shot toward goal, but Murray whose last Jarrow outing produced a magnificent ‘Michael Owen vs Argentina’ solo effort against Gateshead in the cup could only fire wide on this occasion.
At times during the first half both sides struggled to keep the ball. It was understandable however, after such a long layoff and thankfully it was evident that they were also both trying to keep the ball on the floor and play football.
This was even more apparent on 43 minutes as Sunderland played the ball through midfield and into the strikers’ feet who with one touch set his strike partner in behind only to be knocked to the ground as he played the ball. a lovely one touch passing move was finished with free kick that was passed narrowly wide of the Jarrow goal.
On the stroke of half-time left winger Scott Wallace found himself in some space on the left-hand side and his lofted cross shot almost found its way into the far corner but fell agonisingly wide of the post.
The half ended on fantastic challenge from Sunderland's number 7 who slid perfectly across to dispossess Phil Gray proving that proper tackles can still be part of the game.
Into the second half now and it was Jarrow again who started the brighter with some neat interplay resulting in Davey Smith taking a tumble in the box, the referee waved away any thoughts that there may have been a foul as it appeared that he had just fell and no penalty was given.
The introduction of Andy Bowie helped the creativity in the midfield but a few times the final ball eluded Jarrow despite the build-up play deserving better.
The game for the most part now was becoming a stalemate largely due to the outstanding second half performance from the back 4 of the Marchers who were keeping Sunderland at bay despite their quick thinking forward play. Ross Toward and Phil Gray were dealing with anything that was played out wide while also protecting the space between their centre halves. Darryll Donnelly putting his body on the line as usual and Nick Little reading almost every situation and being first to the ball.
There were also signs of positive link up play between Bowie, Murray & North who playing together for the first time looked to get in behind wherever possible.
Then on 53 minutes a cracking cross from the Sunderland left was met on the volley only for the formidable Darryll Donnelly to block the ball with his head and clear it all at the same time. Sunderland were playing almost exclusively with the ball on the edge of the Jarrow 18 yard box for chunks of the second half but were unable to break through thanks to blocks such as that one.
On the hour mark Simon 'Cat' Parkin replaced Jak Wells and soon after watched a snap shot bend wide of his left hand side post before saving his first shot well low down.
The sustained pressure from the home side was still being matched by the well organised Jarrow defence who were limiting their higher division opposition to exactly zero clear cut chances as had been the theme throughout the game.
Then almost inexplicably in the dying embers of the game the three forwards Bowie, North & Trialist number 7 broke free, they were a constant second half threat and as Bowie tried to find the trialist with a left foot pass the defender managed to stick out his foot and prod the ball that then fell kindly to North but he could only side foot the ball off yet another defenders outstretched leg. The goal would've been harsh on Sunderland who tried to play good football throughout and in the end a well fought, battling 0-0 draw was a good and fair result. Man of the match for a great performance in the middle of the park was Davey Smith who was literally everywhere.