Jamie Hill on target in slender derby victory for Under-23s

Match Report: Redcar CF 0-1 Redcar Athletic Under-23s

Picture of Mark Hathaway

Mark Hathaway

Redcar Athletic Under-23s coach

Redcar Athletic cemented second place in the league with a hard fought 1-0 win against nearest rivals Redcar CF at Redcar Redcar Rugby club.

It was a second vs third game, with Athletic down to the bare bones with only one substitute available.

Athletic created the first chance on 14 minutes when Jack Williams – recently promoted to the first team squad – sent Ste Sullivan clear, and the striker did well to create a shooting opportunity, but the CF keeper saved well.

At the other end, CF had a great chance to take the lead when the striker was one-on-one with Athletic ‘keeper Emrah Isik, but put the ball the wrong side of the post.

The Under-23s suffered a blow on 18 minutes when centre back Marshall Blackburn had to go off injured, and was replaced by Cam Thomson. Normally a striker, Athletic only had two defensive players on the pitch.

The remainder of the half was tight, with neither team creating anything clear cut.

The second half started in a similar manner, but it was Athletic who broke the deadlock on 61 minutes.

Jamie Hill was fouled 25 yards out, and the striker dusted himself down to curl the resulting free kick low into the corner of the goal.

The goal really sparked Athletic into action, and they dominated much of the rest of the game.

On 63 minutes, an instinctive effort from Cam Thomson was cleared off the line by the CF number 2.

With 15 minutes left, Adil Hanif showed tremendous skill on the left to create a chance for David Bradley, who fired just wide.

On 84 minutes, Cam Thomson drew a magnificent save from the CF keeper, who tipped his goalbound effort round the post.

With a minute left, it was Cam Thomson again who tried his luck, but the shot went just wide.

Athletic saw the game out with relative ease to remain in second place in the league.

Player(s) of the Match: Charlie Longster (sponsored by Brendon Garage) and Sam Barnard

Our Under-23s are back on home soil next weekend, hosting an Easter Sunday bout with Connexsys FC.

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