Match Report: Redcar Athletic 6-2 Newton Aycliffe

Finally back at the Hollou, and a perfect month ended in a perfect way with a 6-2 win for the Steelmen

Still in Winter, it was definitely not a summer day, though it did look like it. Bright skies and no wind were the perfect setting for this match

Though there was a real chance it wouldn’t even have happened, with some great volunteers coming down earlier in the morning to help remove the water from the pitch, and they do deserve a special thanks.

With the match on, we could look forward to what has normally been a successful 90 minutes for us

Success came quickly for us, with Louis Johnson putting us ahead after just 3 minutes, as he got the ball, worked his way into the box and slammed a strike past the Newton Aycliffe keeper

We didn’t let up after that early lead, as we kept pushing for more, though it was our opponents who got the next goal, as a shot seemed to take a deflection that flat-footed Josh Mazfari, giving Newto Aycliffe an equaliser

The level playing field was quickly wiped, though, as we took the lead through Louis Johnson again, with his strike being similar to his first, with the only difference now being the inclusion of a bit of footwork that sat a defender down

We then made it 3-1 in the 23rd minute, as Socar Fletcher got the ball on the right and whipped a ball into the 6-yard box, where Adam Boyes was able to nudge the ball into the net

Bosh continued to have more attempts, with our next best attempt seeing him, whilst being dragged to the ground, lay off a pass to Louis, but his eventual shot went along the byline and was ultimately cleared

N.A. pulled a goal back as a great save from Mazfari wasn’t enough to stop them scoring from the rebound, but we had the last laugh of the half, asLouis Johnson whipped in a beauty of a cross that found Adam Boyes in the box, and our league top scorer added his second of the game as he nodded the ball past the keeper

That was the final bit of real action, with the whistle coming shortly after Bosh’s goal, and it meant we were 4-2 up in the first 45 minutes

It took us less than 10 minutes to get another following the start of the second half, as Adam Boyes got the ball off a scrambling defender and slipped a pass through to Oscar, who went around the onrushing keeper and was able to put the ball into an empty net

5-2 up in 58 minutes… 6-2 up within 61′

Three subs made in the 60th minute saw Mark Anderson, Owen Burns and Nathan Gur all come onto the pitch, and it was the former who had the instant impact as he played a truly stunning ball from inside our own half that was latched on to by Louis Johnson, and he was able to do what he did twice this game already, meaning we had 6, and Louis had 3.

That goal seemed to cause the game to dull down a fair bit though, with Louis being brought off for Bryan Taylor as we looked to see this match out.

The 414 in attendance did get to see a great Redcar display, with our final chance coming in the closing minutes, as Bryan Taylor whipped a ball into the box that found Owen Burns, with the midfielder laying another pass onto Dane Burlace, though his attempt was smothered by the Newton Aycliffe keeper.

That was the last real action, too, but it was followed by celebrations from fans, player and the management team, as we put another stamp on that position at the top of the table

Up next, we host Grangetown on Wednesday in the cup, with our next league game being an away trip to Grimsby Borough on Saturday

As for home fixtures, we host Blyth Spartans on the 11th.

Hopefully, we will see you at all of those, but if not, then there will be live updates on our X page.

And as always, take care, and up the Steelmen.