Match Report: Redcar Athletic 3-3 Dunston UTS

If you're going to end the year on a high, then there's only 2 ways to do it. Win, or get a last second equaliser!

Another hiatus after the Heaton Stannington postponement meant we played just three games in all of December

A vastly stark contrast to the past couple months, and a slightly more frustrating time as well with the month ending with 2 draws and a win

Still unbeaten, but not the way we would want it to be.

The match against Dunston began, in all honesty, incredibly dull.

Our attempts on goal were blocked and cleared by Dunston’s defence, and it seemed like we were in for a frustrating affair

The first real chance for either side came in the 25th minute, when Mazfari made a solid save to stop an attack, but the ball managed to then loop to another Dunston attacker.

With a near open goal, he had an attempt on goal, but at the last moment that chance was cleared off the line by Rio May, who since returning to the squad, has had a massive hand in some resilient defensive performances

That moment was followed by another lull, that saw almost the reset of the first half have minimal shots from either side

We, however, weren’t going to enter the break goalless, and it was Oscar Fletcher who bagged our opener.

A rare assist from Rio May as he received the ball on the edge of the box, turned and played a pass through to Fletcher, who teed up a smooth strike into the bottom corner

A lead at last, and we nearly doubled it just before the break as another shot from Oscar pinged off the post and Adam Boyes was agonisingly unable to capitalise on the rebound.

We could have had a much stronger lead, but at half-time we still led!

The following 45 minutes were a complete opposite of the first, with Dunston getting back on level terms within 5 minutes as a blend of Burgess and Guru forcing the ref into pointing to the spot

The resulting spot kick was drilled low, and despite getting a hand on it, Mazfari couldn’t keep it out of the goal.

We instantly bounced back though, as Louis Johnson won us a free kick, and we took it as quickly as we could allowing Oscar to double his, and our tally, as he entered the box, sat a defender down and slammed the ball past the keeper.

Dunston’s players quickly crowded the ref, apoplectic about the decision, but the goal stood, and we led again.

Well…we did lead again. Within 5 minutes of the restart it was back to 2-2, as Mazfari took down an onrushing Dunston attacker, meaning they had another penalty, and once again they made no mistake, putting it higher into the net.

All square once again, we wouldn’t be letting this slip

…right?

61st minute, Dunston took the lead. Some pinball in the box following a long ball resulted in the visitors putting the ball low past Mazfari, getting their 3rd goal of the afternoon.

Taking the lead caused Dunston to go full “park the bus” mode, and it meant a suddenly energetic first half dulled right back down again.

Dunston players would go down over any touch, we would do the same thing (ironically to the Dunston players/fans dismay), and it was turning into a frustrating affair

Josh Mazfari was on hand to make some solid stops to prevent Dunston from getting a 4th, and as the minutes ticked on it seemed like we were destined for defeat, with Carl Jarrett bringing on Mark Anderson, Dane Burlace, Bryan Taylor and Bradley Fewster.

Some more great chances were spurred, with a strike from Bartliff being saved and turned onto the post, and an Adam Boyes attempt also being palmed out of play

But it was the Steelmen subs who saved the day, with a stunning ball played from the halfway line by Mark Anderson found Fewster on the left wing.

Fewster’s first touch in this play was his shot that he slipped past the keeper and into the net.

Players in blue dropped to the ground, but importantly, the players in red erupted into cheers and celebrations as we nabbed a deserved point from a gritty affair

That ended up being the last action, as less than a minute later the full-time whistle was blown, and we could come away smiling.

As I said at the beginning, the best ways to end a year is either by winning, or by getting a last minute goal to leave with something, and boy, did we do the latter.

Anyway, our next match is in 2026, as we travel to Bridlington for a New Year’s game

Hope to see you there, but if you’re unable to make it, then there will, as expected, be updates on our X page

Up the Steelmen!