Recap
Bishops were made to work hard for a narrow win against the Division’s basement side Sunderland RCA on a very ‘sticky’ and uneven pitch.
The early exchanges of the match indicated it could well be a long and tough afternoon for the home side as a succession of attacks and corners put ‘RCA’ under pressure. Ben Errington rose above his marker to nod in a 14th-minute goal, coming from another left-sided corner.
Giles tested Mills in the home goal and Burlace regularly had the beating of his full back as Bishops’ looked to boost their goal difference. Bartliff had to be replaced by Parnaby, providing the only real concern of the half, as Catterick was rarely called into meaningful action.
Watt had an excellent chance to extend the lead early into the second half but he lacked composure with just the keeper to beat. ‘RCA’ did cause several nervous moments in the Bishops’ backline as the scoreline remained too close for comfort, but they were let down by some wild attempts at finishing.
Errington struck the bar with a late effort as he found space to get on the end of a dangerous cross into the box. When the final whistle came Bishops’ could look back on a disappointing performance but one in which another three points were racked up ahead of a local derby at West Auckland on Tuesday evening.
Match report by Gavin Hadden.
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