When Highwaymen manager Nick Gray reflects on the season just gone, he does so with pride and pragmatic reflection in equal measure.
In the first of a series of articles, Morpeth Town boss Gray will cover a number of topics, starting with the events of a campaign which will forever go down in the history books (or not!) as the season that never was.
Heading towards the final straight, Morpeth were superbly placed, just outside the play-offs with a number of games in hand. Following postponements due to the weather, the Highwaymen could have climbed up to second had they won those games in hand. With the vast majority on home soil, the suggestion was that Town could have achieved that feat.
Needing to take on some of their promotion rivals in the form of South Shields, FC United of Manchester, Whitby Town and Nantwich Town, it was promising to be a spectacular run-in.
Then Covid-19 decimated social norms as we previously knew them, bringing everything to a halt and ending the campaign before it could reach a conclusion.
“Last season was a great league to be involved in,” Gray told the club website when reflecting upon last term, which ended with Town on a 10-game unbeaten run in league and cup, while climbing the table at a rapid rate.
“Undoubtedly, it was the toughest division Morpeth have been in in their history; it was a league that we had to learn and adapt quickly to if we wanted to be a force and challenge at the top end.
“I thought, as the season went on, we got the squad together we needed to challenge for promotion and we were hitting form at just the right time. We were heading towards the end of what could have been Morpeth’s best ever season; in the County Cup final, the quarter-finals of the League Cup and five points off the play-offs with seven games in hand.
“I honestly believe a play-off position would have been the minimum expectation based on what we had going for us – form, the right squad and players in form – which would have been an outstanding achievement for the club. This would have continued the on and off-field progress we have enjoyed every year for nine years, which is no easy task.”
Morpeth enjoyed a superb FA Cup run which took them to within a whisker of the fourth qualifying round, only to succumb to a stoppage-time goal in a 1-0 loss at Nantwich Town.
“It was nice to have a run in the FA Cup,” continued Gray.
“This is my own self-criticism, but in this competition, over the years, we could have done better. This year was pleasing but, with a bit better luck, we could have gone further. However, the luck you need in cup games, we were on the wrong end of at a crucial moment, most notably in the last minute at Nantwich.
“Morpeth must set a goal of reaching the first round, which I think will happen one day.”
