Match Report brought to you by Northumbria Print.
Morpeth suffered defeat on Bank Holiday Monday at Whitby Town as a brace from Jacob Hazel secured the points for the Seasiders with Connor Oliver netting his first for the Highwaymen writes Sam Donovan.
Hazel put the hosts ahead on 6 minutes firing home from range before Ryan Donaldson struck the bar from a penalty in the first half. Hazel grabbed his second with a little under five minutes remaining before Connor Oliver scored in added time.
Liam Noble had the first chance of note but his free kick after Jack Foalle had been fouled on the touchline but it bounced wide of the far post on 2 minutes.
Noble was the key figure in the opening stages of the game and he had another opportunity on 4 mintues but his strike from a central position went over the bar.
Whitby came forward and took the lead with their first opportunity. Daniel Rowe won possession high up the pitch and the ball was fed to Jacob Hazel and the striker fired a low strike into the bottom corner from 25yds.
Morpeth looked to hit back and on 8 minutes, Ryan Donaldson fired a free kick over the bar. Liam Noble was brought down as he played the ball wide and despite Wayne Phillips having a good advantage to play on, the referee stopped the game.
The Seasiders looked to double their lead on 12 minutes with Josh MacDonald shooting from a tight angle which forced Lowson to push it behind for a corner.
Shane Bland was forced into action after 16 minutes as he had to dive low to his right to deny Carl Finnigan who had tried to find the bottom corner with a header.
Whitby countered at pace on 21 minutes and Giles cut inside his marker before firing a deflected shot that was gathered at the second attempt by Lowson.
Morpeth once again came forward and Adam Gell had to be alert to turn away Noble’s free kick with Chris Reid lurking. From the free kick, Carl Finnigan was wrestled to the floor by Hazel and the referee pointed to the spot. Ryan Donaldson stepped to the spot but fired his effort off the underside of the bar and Finnigan headed the rebound over the bar.
Whitby wanted to add a second before the break with Hazel sliding a low ball into the area but Giles couldn’t quite reach the ball. Moments later and the ball was recycled with Hazel forcing Lowson into a low save at the near post.
Five minutes before the interval, the home struck the inside of the post through Liam Cooke. The winder danced through a couple of challenges before hitting the inside of the post. The ball spun to safety before reaching MacDonald and he forced Lowson into tipping the ball over the bar.
In first half stoppage time, Daniel Rowe headed straight at Lowson from a corner as the home side failed to extend their lead.
The second half began with Morpeth in the ascendancy and they had the ball in the back of the net after only 90 seconds into the half. Sam Hodgson clipped a ball to the far post which was helped on by Jeff Henderson to Finnigan who smashed the ball into the bottom corner but he was flagged offside.
The Highwaymen continued their dominance in the half after a sustained spell of possession with Wayne Phillips crashing a shot off the post and bouncing away to safety.
Just after the hour mark, tempers flared as Rowe and Finnigan coming together just in front of the away dugout. Rowe struck out and caught Finnigan in the face but the officials deemed it only a yellow card for the hosts’ captain.
This seemed to galvanise the home side and they gradually came back into the game. On 73 minutes, Hazel got away from a couple of challenges and teed up Giles who saw it strike blocked by the legs of Micky Turner.
The home side got their second goal on 86 minutes, a long ball from Lewis Ritson over the top freed Hazel and the striker muscled his way through the defence before the lashing the ball past Lowson.
Morpeth managed to grab a consolation goal in the last minute of stoppage time as Connor Oliver squeezed the ball inside the far post from a tight angle.
Morpeth turn their attention to the FA Cup on Saturday when they face league rivals Hyde United at Craik Park with a traditional 3pm kick off.
Whitby Town: Bland, Ible (Dyer, 46’), Sukar, Gell, Ritson, Rowe (c) (Burn, 71’), MacDonald, Hawkins, Hazel, Giles, Cooke (Hackett, 61’).
Subs not Used: Fewster, Griffiths.
Goals: Hazel 6’, 86’
Morpeth Town: Lowson, Donaldson, Turner, Sayer (Taylor, 60’), J. Henderson (c), Reid (Oliver, 32’), Foalle, Hodgson, Finnigan, Noble, Phillips (c).
Subs not Used: Johnson, Ramsey, Walker.
Goals: Oliver 90’
