Ashton Dick nets winner as Under23s scrape past Connexsys

Match Report: Redcar Athletic Under-23s 2-1 Connexsys

Redcar Athletic Under23s cemented their place in the top two with a hard fought win against Connexsys.

Written By:

Mark Hathaway

Redcar Athletic Under-23s coach

Despite some early pressure from the away side, Redcar Athletic were gifted a fifth minute lead when a Connexsys defender – under no pressure – got his backpass all wrong and ended up beating his own ‘keeper from 20 yards.

Athletic tested the ‘keeper on 14 minutes when a shot from David Bradley was saved at the second attempt. On 20 minutes, Matthew Bage saw a 20 yard effort deflected over for a corner.

Matty Rutland came close to his first goal of the season, but saw his shot deflected onto the outside of the post for a corner.

It should have been 2-0 on 36 minutes when Adil Hanif chased down a long ball and with the ‘keeper stranded, saw his lob go just wide.

The second half got off to the worst possible start for Redcar. A corner was lifted into the six yard box where – under pressure from the Connexsys attackers – Emrah Isak could only punch the ball onto the bar. It dropped at the feet of a Connexsys player who couldn’t miss from a yard out.

Parity lasted only eight minutes and it was due to the tremendous work of Adil Hanif. The midfielder rode a number of tackles before crossing from the byline to Ashton Dick, who lifted the ball into the roof of the net.

The goal prompted the away side to put some pressure on the Athletic defence with a number of corners, but the defence held firm.

Redcar had late chances to extend their lead but found the Connexsys ‘keeper in good form. Firstly he palmed away a long range effort from David Bradley, and then saved well with his feet, but the home side held on for a vital win.