St Mary’s Inn Cup – A Look at the Teams

The tournament sees NPL Premier Division Morpeth Town welcome three attacking sides in NPL East side Dunston UTS, Northern League Division Two winners and Northumberland Senior Cup finalists Blyth Town, and Northern League new boys Alnwick Town, who were promoted from the Northern Alliance in second place last season.

Friday night sees Morpeth vs Alnwick (6:30pm KO) before Dunston vs Blyth Town (8pm). These games are 30 minutes each way. Then, on Saturday, the Third vs Fourth place play-off kicks off at 12:30pm, before the final gets underway at 3pm.

Let’s take a look at the teams taking part…

The Highwaymen are coming into the competition off the back of a respectable 13th place finish in the NPL Premier Division, a season marred by injuries that saw the Highwaymen fall away from the play-off places over the final few months of the campaign.

The summer window at Morpeth has already seen plenty of change, with long serving players Michael Turner, Chris Reid and Dan Lowson (amassing well over 500 appearances between them) departing, as well as Ryan Donaldson, Liam Noble and Connor Thomson.

You may spot a certain goalkeeper at the tournament, with Lowson returning in Dunston colours after joining them recently.

There have been several incomings too at Craik Park though, with Craig Lynch making a statement of intent bringing in no less than five impressive signings already, as Dan Langley, Rhys Evans, Nathan Buddle, Jordan Hickey and Luke James join.

Highwaymen boss Craig Lynch, looking ahead to the new campaign, said: “This season will be a new era for the club and it’s all about being sustainable and laying foundations to build upon.

“We know how tough this league is but we’re preparing strongly for the challenge and are looking to improve week-on-week and surprise a few.”

The second highest ranked team in the pyramid, Dunston UTS are coming into the two-day tournament off the back of a crazy season that saw them miss out on promotion to the seventh tier on a penalty shootout, finishing 3rd in the NPL East.

The Fed had a very imbalanced season and performed remarkably due to the circumstances. Dunston played only 11 of the 38 league games at their own ground (The UTS Stadium), due to bizarre weather and other factors preventing them from playing at home.

They have been busy in the transfer window in preparation for the new campaign, with manager, and former Morpeth assistant boss, Jon McDonald having made six signings already, with Harvey Neary, Scott Robson, Jon Gilchrist, Scott Lowery, Dan Turner and Dan Lowson joining the ranks.

There have been a few departures too, with Jack Camarda, Luke Carr, Jordan Lamb, Dan Staples and top scorer Jack Maskell leaving the club.

McDonald, on Dunston’s aspirations, said: “Last season was a successful one for us; we missed out on promotion in a penalty shootout in the play-off final but our performances were very good all season.

“Promotion is our goal this year, we have strengthened in the summer and last season’s experience will be a valuable one for us.”

Blyth Town come into pre-season preparations in high spirits off the back of a remarkable season, after winning the Northern League Second Division by 16 points, losing five times all season in the league.

Blyth were also losing finalists in the Northumberland Senior Cup, where they were defeated 2-1 by Newcastle United U21s at St James’ Park in May.

Michael Connor has made six signings thus far ahead of the Northern League Division One campaign, with Ben Franklin, Tom Potter (ex-Morpeth), Stephen Forster (long-serving Morpeth full-back), George Hayton, Liam Wotherspoon, and Marcus Giles (formerly of Town) joining the squad at Gateway Park. Three players have left the club, in Lewis Baker and Kyle Hayes, alongside Blyth Spartans legend Robbie Dale retiring.

Blyth Town chairman Scott Douglas, on the club’s ambitions, said: “Last year was in summary a great season. It’s no secret to be successful, you need a lot of hard work behind the scenes to make things work commercially and thanks to many at the club, we are doing that and will continue to do so to drive the team forward for the Northern League Division One season.

“Moving up the leagues, as we hope to through time, we have to make sure Gateway Park is developed to meet the criteria of the league, and this is something that we are constantly working on and changes will be getting made soon.”

Alnwick Town are riding the crest of a wave currently. Fresh off the back of promotion as runners up in the Northern Alliance Premier Division, the Magpies are ready for their first season back in the Northern League since 2017/18.

As well as their first promotion since 2010/11, Alnwick Town retained the Northern Alliance League Cup, defeating Burradon and New Fordley 5-2 in 22/23 and Portland United 1-0 last season.