Northern League

Division 1

Tuesday 9th November 2021

Kick Off 19.30 Actual 19.31

West Allotment Celtic 1 Sunderland Ryhope Community Association 0, attendance 137 (official 125)

70’ 1-0

@ East Palmersville Sports Pavilion

Palm Court

off Great Lime Road

Palmersville

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE12 9HW

£6 Admission

£1 Programme, 20 pages.

I first visited West Allotment Celtic back on 30th October 2002, when I saw them lose 1-2 to Blyth Spartans in a Northumberland F.A. Senior Cup 1st Round match, which was played at the Blue Flames Sports Ground at Whitley Park in Benton. This is now the Northumberland F.A. ground. They left here and played at The Wheatsheaf Sports Ground in Woolsington, which I had already visited for Newcastle Blue Star 2 Chester-le-Street-Town 4, in a Northern League Division 1 match on 25th September 2001. This ground is now known as Druid Park and has had a 3G pitch installed. They have now moved here to East Palmersville Sports Pavilion, where they share the ground with Forest Hall Celtic of the Northern Alliance League.

West Allotment Celtic had been rooted to the bottom of the league table, but having won three of their last four games, they have climbed above Penrith and Bishop Auckland to now sit third bottom and tonight they were looking to win a third consecutive match. Sunderland R.C.A. came into this in tenth place.

The best way to describe this is that it was a tight affair. Neither side really got on top and it had 0-0 written all over it. The only goal of the game came twenty minutes from time, when a shot across the ‘keeper was blocked, but was followed in to finish from close range. A minute later, Celtic had a shot that came back off the inside of the post, with the ‘keeper well beaten, but that was as close as we came to getting another goal.

The win now sees Celtic move up another place in the table and having played fewer games than everyone else, a climb to mid table is well within their reach.