Northern League
Division 2
Friday 26th July 2024
Kick Off 19.45 Actual 19.47
Washington 1 Redcar Town 7, attendance 196
13’ 0-1
45’ 0-2 (pen)
46’ 0-3
62’ 0-4
74’ 0-5
84’ 1-5
86’ 1-6
90’ + 1, 1-7
@ Northern Area Playing Fields
off Stephenson Road
Washington
NE37 3HR
£5 Admission
Programme produced (but never saw them on sale)
So, at the second attempt, I finally got to see a game here at Washington. I came here on October 23rd last year, when the game was called off just 45 minutes before kick off due to a waterlogged pitch, despite it not having rained for two days! There was no hint of there being a problem, at least as far as their social media information (or lack of) was concerned. They never bothered replying to me on Twitter that night, so I wasn’t the least bit surprised to get no reply to my question of whether tonight’s game would go ahead without problems either. Thankfully it did…..it was a gruelling seven hour drive north, but at least I was rewarded with seeing a game this time!
Washington had finished second bottom in the league table last season, winning just six of their 42 matches, but avoided relegation, as there were no applicants looking to make the jump up to Step 6. It looks like being another battle for them again this time round. Redcar Town had only finished four places above them, but the gulf between the two teams tonight was huge. An early free kick saw Redcar go ahead, in a first half of very few chances, with a penalty doubling their lead in the final minute of the half. A minute into the second half it was 0-3 and over as a contest. Number four came just after the hour mark and when Washington then had a man sent off, it was a case of just how many more Redcar would get. Another free kick saw them make it 0-5 and although Washington got a consolation goal with six minutes left, when a diagonal ball into the box evaded everyone on it’s way into the far corner, Redcar restored their five goal margin a couple of minutes later and rounded off the scoring in stoppage time. There was still time for a melee, consisting of much pushing and shoving, resulting in a yellow card being shown to a player on each side, with proceedings brought to an end seconds after the restart.
Home to Washington is Northern Area Playing Field. The clubhouse/changing room building is behind the entrance end goal, with the pitch enclosed with a double railed plastic barrier. Along the left hand side is a small seated kit stand, as well as a covered standing area about half the size of the former. Both offer poor viewing though, as there are a pair of dugouts plonked in front of them. Both clubhouse and tea bar, which served hot food, were doing steady trade throughout. Switching the game to a Friday evening certainly paid off, with the crowd just short of 200, which is impressive for such a struggling team.
