Match Preview - Ebac Northern League Division 2 - Saturday 5th September 2026 - Sunderland RCA (H) - Kick-Off 15:00pm

September dawns and the first of six home games in the month for Park View AFC who entertain Sunderland RCA on Saturday afternoon in another crucial NL Division 2 clash.

It could be said that RCA need the points more as they currently sit in 16th place in the table with 7 points from 9 games. That tally made up from 2 wins 1 draw and 6 losses. Not the start they were hoping for.

Pre-season many were predicting that RCA would be one of the favourites to be in the mix for promotion and the play-off places. A poor start to the season has though left them struggling at the opposite end of the table.

Manager Mark Forrest decided to step down after the way the side started and he has been replaced by Lewis Dodds who seems to have stablised the ship a little but there's still plenty of work to do to get where they would like to be.

In their 9 league games RCA have scored 11 times with their top marksman being Owen Imeson who has netted 3 times. Defensively they have conceded 18 which is an average of two per game.

Last time out RCA went down to a very disappointing 4 - 0 home defeat last Saturday against AFC Newbiggin. They'll be looking to bounce back from that result this Saturday.

For Park View it's been an upward trend after they finally snapped a 7-game run without a win with two inside four days. A 3 - 2 midweek home win over Durham United was followed up by a 3 - 0 away win at Tow Law Town.

Both games showed PV's resilience and character. Against Durham they were 2 - 0 down and fought back superbly. At Tow Law they were under pressure for the majority of the game but defended superbly and finished clinically.

Those wins lifted Park View to 10th in the table with 15 points from 10 games made up of 4 wins 3 draws and 3 defeats. They have scored 17 times with Charlie Loveday on 5 goals and Niall Armstrong on 4 and have conceded 15.

Park View looking to win three games in a row for the first time this season will be hoping that home pitch advantage and support gives them the extra boost they will need to keep their winning run going.

Last season it was most definitely Park View that had the upper hand in the League. At The Riverside they took a 2 - 0 win with goals from Loveday and Sam Beattie and then repeated that score line in the return fixture.

Zac Boddy and Shay Pye on target for Park View in that game. RCA did however knock Park View out of the Ernest Armstrong Cup last season. The tie at Meadow Park Ryhope finishing 2 - 2 with RCA winning 4 - 1 on penalties.

No penalties tomorrow though unless the Referee has other ideas! But what is on offer is another intruiging clash that both sides want to win and that will kick-off at the traditional time of 3:00pm on a Saturday afternoon.