Prudhoe YC Seniors 3-3 Ryton & Crawcrook Albion: Report

Lucky to be only trailing 2-0 after 34 minutes, Albion took full advantage of some poor defending to get back on level terms before the break. Against the run of play, the hosts regained the lead on 57 minutes before Michael Baxter's corner was deflected in to earn Albion a draw.

Despite losing the last three local derbies against Prudhoe, Albion went into the match as favourites having won five in a row in Ebac Northern League Division Two, scoring 22 goals in the process, while the hosts had won only one of their last 16 games.

Prudhoe YC Seniors started on the front foot and the Dibb-Fuller brothers combined well to set up the first clear-cut chance in the third minute. Ben's angled crossfield pass from the right put Sam through on goal but he didn't make a clean contact and Brogan Colquhoun got down low to his left to save.

Albion then broke at pace from half-way with the ball moved left to Michael Baxter and his cut-back from the byline was fired over the bar by centre forward Aaron Costello under pressure from a defender.

Play continued to switch from end to end and it was the hosts who made the crucial early breakthrough in the 10th minute at the end of a move started inside his own half by full back Darren Graham. Breaking forward at speed down the right, he fed Ben Dibb-Fuller and the striker's low cross was steered into the bottom corner by younger brother Sam (1-0).

From the re-start, the Dibb-Fuller brothers linked up again down the left flank with the final ball turned behind for a corner.

At the other end, Rhys McLeod's through ball released Baxter and it needed a well-timed last ditch tackle in the box from Brad Rogers to deny the pacy winger just as he was about to pull the trigger.

Sam Dibb-Fuller's pace continued to cause problems for the Albion defence and he got the better of Kristian Sands down the left-hand side of the box before the ball was worked across to Graham who fired narrowly wide of Colquhoun's near post.

After failing to make the most of two corners in quick succession, the hosts went close to a second when a wayward back-pass found Sam Dibb-Fuller unmarked in the box but his angled effort drifted well wide of the far post when he should have hit the target from that range.

They kept pressing and Ben Dibb-Fuller's strike from the edge of the box was saved by Colquhoun diving low to his left at the near post.

It was one-way traffic at this stage and came as no surprise when the second goal duly arrived in the 34th minute. The initial attack was launched by Roman Sparks who slipped a perfectly timed pass in behind for striker Josh Scott. He drove into the box and rounded the advancing Colquhoun before seeing a goalbound effort cleared off the line by Sands. The resulting corner on the left was played short to Sparks who drifted inside to his right before unleashing a screamer from 25 yards that flew past Colquhoun into the top corner (2-0).

Out of nothing, Albion pulled a goal back in the 38th minute through Sands. A free-kick mid-way inside the Prudhoe half was launched towards the back post and dropped kindly at the feet of Sands who was able to prod it home past a static Matty Cassap on his line (2-1).

After being second best for most of the half, things got even better for Albion when they equalised in the 40th minute following a defensive howler. An attempted back-pass was nowhere near Cassap and, with the keeper isolated to the right of his goal, Baxter picked it up before coolly chipping it across for Costello to slot home from close range at the back post (2-2).

Just before half-time, Costello's persistence won a corner from which Baxter's curling delivery was punched clear by Cassap, and, at the other end, Graham's overlapping run and cut-back produced a good save from Colquhoun.

Both teams were initially unable to build up any momentum after the interval after repeatedly giving the ball away before Albion eventually got into their stride.

A ball over the top released Baxter who unleashed a rising drive that just cleared Cassap's bar, Costello's chipped pass was whisked off Baxter's toes by Cassap who was quick off his line, and great play from Costello set up Fergus Lynch who saw his 20 yard effort cleared off the line.

Against the run of play, Prudhoe YC Seniors got their noses back in front in the 57th minute. Sparks threaded an inch-perfect pass in behind the defence to Matt Law who rounded the keeper on the corner of the six-yard box before calmly rolling the ball into an empty net (3-2).

Clear-cut chances were at a premium at both ends for a ten minute spell after the goal until the game suddenly burst into life again. 

Baxter skilfully flicked the ball over his head and brought it under control  before rifling a shot that crashed against the base of Cassap's right-hand post and rebounded out of the box. However, the respite for the hosts was only temporary as Baxter equalised direct from a corner in the 73rd minute. His curling delivery from the left took a deflection in the six-yard box and found its way past a wrong-footed Cassap (3-3).

Although both sides pressed for a winner in the closing stages, neither keeper was tested with anything more than routine. 

Baxter sent another rising drive over the bar, Colquhoun palmed away a corner, and full back Joseph Groves-Forbes's lung-bursting run down the right created an opening for Baxter who fired one low on the angle that was only inches away from being turned in at the back post by substitute Connor Shaw's lunge.

The last action in the 93rd minute saw Scott's free-kick glance off an Albion defender's head on its way beyond the back post but the referee mistakenly awarded a goal kick instead of a corner before blowing for full-time.