Sunderland RCA put in a display of tremendous character and resilience to earn a point from both a goal and a man behind against Boldon CA on Saturday.
The game was evenly matched until the 37th minute, when Boldon were awarded a penalty for a Jamie Harwood foul.
Kevin Humble scored from the spot, and a case of mistaken identity saw RCA reduced to ten less than a minute later as Jake Fowler was initially sin-binned, but then shown a red card immediately afterwards.
You wouldn’t be able to notice the deficit in the second half, however, as Ryhope dug deep to put the visitors under pressure and find an equaliser midway through the half from Callum Guy.
Both sides looked for a winner with RCA looking the most likely, but it ended all square at Meadow Park.
Mark Forrest and his management team made two changes from the midweek outing against Park View, as Callum Guy returned in place of Ben Clark while Logan Herron was awarded a first start.
Boldon thought they’d found an early opener after just three minutes when Sam Watts fired a half-volley across goal that was turned in by Adam McGuinness from six yards, but the offside flag was up against the forward.
The hosts looked to respond to the early warning shot promptly as Callum Guy lifted the ball over his defender before taking aim. Lewis Charlton in the Boldon goal saved comfortably.
An injury to Callum Hughes meant former RCA winger Nathan Simpson came on for the visitors after 18 minutes, and he nearly had an instant impact.
Charlton’s long kick found Simpson running in-behind and Dom Moan did just enough to put the former-Middlesbrough man off before the ball reached Karl Dryden.
RCA’s best chance of the first half came nine minutes later when a poor Boldon free-kick provided an opportunity to break.
Guy sent Herron away and the winger turned his man inside and out before forcing a good low save from Charlton.
It was Boldon’s turn to try to make the most of poor play moments later as Dryden’s lacklustre kick was picked up and fed to Watts whose fierce effort struck the underside of the bar.
The half’s two minutes of madness were just around the corner as Humble’s initial effort was blocked and he then looked to win a 50/50 with Harwood just outside the area.
The referee deemed that Humble had gotten to the ball first and was caught by the centre-half. Harwood was adamant he got a foot on the ball, but a penalty was awarded.
Humble took the penalty himself and found the bottom corner despite Dryden diving the right way to give Boldon the lead.
A truly bizarre few moments followed. The referee immediately stopped play after the kick-off after hearing comments of dissent from an RCA player.
Jake Fowler received a yellow card and a 10-minute sin-bin. As Fowler walked off the pitch, he expressed frustration towards his own bench, not the officials, that the referee had punished the wrong player.
Overhearing these comments, referee Christopher Shield brandished a second yellow to Fowler and gave him his marching orders.
The game had gone from competitive and end-to-end to completely lop-sided in the space of three quickfire decisions.
RCA kept the gap to one goal until half-time, but had to weather an early Boldon storm after the break.
The best chance in the early flurry came after good interplay between Watts and Simpson in the area. Watts’ initial shot was blocked before Simpson somehow missed the target from six yards.
Less than a minute later Dryden was forced into a good save low to his right following a header from McGuinness.
Boldon couldn’t believe they hadn’t put the game to bed just before the hour when Watts was slipped in beautifully by Simpson, beating the offside trap, only to fire across goal and give the hosts a let off.
In fact, that chance seemed to spur RCA on as the ball stayed in play and sparked a counter.
Kieran Charlton fired up the line and a returning Dennis Knight helped it on to Herron whose shot was blocked after a strong burst forwards.
RCA’s confidence was clearly growing and it resulted in an equaliser on 65 minutes.
Guy did brilliantly to control a bouncing ball and see off the attention of opposition defenders before striking firmly from 25 yards. It was too hot to handle for Charlton as the ball went through him and into the bottom corner despite the keeper making significant contact.
The lads in red and white were a man down, but they were clearly the most likely winners from the leveller onwards.
Knight went close with a number of efforts and was denied late on by a last ditch tackle when it seemed he was through on goal.
The closest RCA came to a winner was from a short corner on 90 minutes. Archie Dodds passed to Herron who sent in a wicked delivery that needed to be palmed away by Charlton before it dropped into the top corner.
It was an odd feeling for RCA at full time. They’d come back against the odds to claim a well-deserved point, but it felt like the game was there for the taking and on another day they would’ve been celebrating a monumental victory.
Still, it was an incredibly valiant display given the circumstances. Manager Mark Forrest will hope to see more of the same midweek as RCA prepare to travel back to Esh Winning on Wednesday 17th December for a 7:30pm kick-off.
Sunderland RCA: Dryden, Richards, Charlton, Moan, Fowler, Harwood, Lukeman, Dodds, Guy (Nicholas 84), Thompson (Knight 46), Herron.
Boldon CA: Charlton, Gardiner (Robertson 84), Bell, Burlison, Williams, Whitfield (Gateshill 88), Watts, Young, Humble (Judson 86), McGuinness, Hughes (Simpson 18).
Attendance: 100