An impressive display saw Morpeth Town win 2-0 at Newton Aycliffe in their final pre-season contest before the new season starts.
Travelling to County Durham for a Friday night clash, the Highwaymen were in control of possession for long spells and showed a measured approach to a high press as they scored decisively in each half.
The game started with Morpeth pressing and probing, looking for a way through the hosting defence. But for a couple of sporadic shots from Andrew Johnson, both bending wide of the target, they couldn’t find that crack.
It would be Aycliffe’s number eight who would have the best chance of the half by the 21st minute, and he should have nodded in at the back post but instead glanced a header wide of the target.
Then came the goal of pre-season for the visitors, a superb strike that rightly drew applause from all sides of the ground.
Josh King was the man to deliver it, striding forward on 26 minutes before unleashing a rocket of a strike that whistled into the top corner from distance.
A fine effort, it was just reward for the performance so far as Morpeth were efficient on the ball and well organised off it.
Jack Foalle used his pace on 37 minutes to dart in behind the hosting defence, but clever and direct running saw his shot deflected into the side netting from a tight angle. The striker would have another chance on the stroke of half-time but, following Liam Miller’s cut-back, he sent a shot well over the top on the turn.
Aycliffe were more combative in the second half, pressing higher and hunting down the ball frequently.
Their first chance would arrive five minutes after the interval when their number nine fired over when he perhaps should have hit the target.
Then Morpeth struck again on 63 minutes with a very different kind of goal to the first. Whereas King’s was more thunderous, Foalle’s was a goal based on speed and incisive play.
A long ball forward got substitute Matty Boyd on his bike and he showed composure belying his younger years to cut it back for Foalle to roll into an empty net.
The impressive Vinnie Steels continued to cut through a congested midfield area and played Foalle in behind once more. But his shot was wildly over the top and he injured himself in the process meaning he left the game on crutches.
Goalkeeper James Anderson had to be alert to smother a bobbled Aycliffe effort late on but Morpeth would get the cleansheet and victory their performance deserved.
