Ste Sullivan strikes LATE in dramatic win for Under-23s

Match Report: Lingfield AFC 2-3 Redcar Athletic Under-23s

Mark Hathaway

Redcar Athletic Under-23s coach

Redcar Athletic Under-23s retained second place in the table with a last gasp victory against mid-table Lingfield.

Short of a number of players due to injury, work commitments, and a couple of no shows, a few players were forced to play out of position, with only one substitute.

In truth, the opening exchanges were poor, with both teams struggling to get to grips with the bobbly surface.

Just after the half hour mark, a change in position for Tyler Atkinson – moving from right wingback to forward alongside Ste Sullivan – gave Athletic a boost, making them look more threatening going forward.

Indeed, it was Tyler Atkinson who was hacked down in the box on 41 minutes, giving the referee the simple decision to point to the spot.

Up stepped centre-back Jack Marshall, who sent the keeper the wrong way.

As the half came to a close, Athletic could have doubled their lead. First, Tyler Atkinson had a shot well saved by the Lingfield ‘keeper, before Sam Barnard saw a goal-bound shot superbly blocked.

The opening exchanges of the second half saw little in the way of goalmouth action, with only long range efforts from Kian Brodie and Ste Sullivan, both of which went over the bar.

The home side drew level on 77 minutes when the referee had another simple decision to award a penalty, following a foul by Lewis Barwick.

Up stepped the Lingfield number nine, who sent Emrah Isik the wrong way with an expertly taken penalty.

However, Athletic hit back four minutes later when Ste Sullivan set up Tyler Atkinson, who finished well from 12 yards.

With just a minute left on the clock, it was nearly 3-1 when Matty Bage went on a 70 yard run, raced into the box, but the ‘keeper made a great save at his near post.

As the game entered injury time, there was a moment of controversy.

With Kian Brodie down injured, the ball was put out of play by Athletic. As the game restarted, Lingfield opted against giving the ball back to Athletic, and launched a long throw into the box, where it was glanced past Emrah Isik by an Athletic defender.

With the game entering the fifth minute of injury time, Redcar won a throw on the right about 10 yards from the corner flag. Lewis Barwick launched a long throw into the box, which Lingfield didn’t deal with, and Ste Sullivan hooked a superb volley into the net from eight yards out to win the game for Athletic.