Morpeth Town showed class and composure to earn a place in the third round of the Integro Cup, beating Brighouse Town 2-0 at a bitterly cold Craik Park.
Wayne Phillips got the hosts off to an ideal start in the 18th minute, with Jack Foalle sealing the win with nine minutes to go.
Both sides got off to a lively start, clearly looking to grab the early initiative. Whereas Brighouse threatened sporadically, Morpeth had the first real chance of the contest, Jordan Fry drilling low from inside the area but only finding the legs of keeper Matt Smith in the Brighouse goal.
But the Highwaymen wouldn’t have to wait long to open the scoring, Phillips chipping a ball into the area only to see his cross float in at the far post just before the 20-minute mark.
The hosts began turning up the heat on a decidedly cool evening in Northumberland, Iulian Petrache seeing one header deflected off the line by a Brighouse defender in the 26th minute, before the central defender had another effort scrambled to safety two minutes later.
Holding on to a deserved lead at the break, Morpeth knew they would need to maintain their dominant position and duly set about their task in the second half. Phillips was next to go close just after the break but his rising drive from the edge of the box flew over the top.
Morpeth were probing but Brighouse were by no means out of it, and they went as close as they had come in the 56th minute when a blistering close-range effort was pushed over the top by Morpeth’s debutant keeper Dimitris Tsapolos.
As the game’s rhythm began to break up with a raft of subs, only a fierce Phillips drive straight at Smith got the pulses racing in the 66th minute. Gabriel Johnson threatened for the visitors moments later, but his deflected drive dribbled just past the post.
But the home side would score the decisive second through Foalle, as the striker strode on to a Phillips through ball to slot past Smith in the 81st minute.
Morpeth Town are next in action when they travel to Frickley Athletic (3pm) on Saturday in Evo-Stik East. A bus will be available for supporters; keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook for more details.
MORPETH TOWN: Tsapolos; Danny Carson, J.Henderson, Petrache, Reid; Potter (Walton 77), Phillips (capt) (Sayer 82), Hodgson, David Carson; Fry (Graydon 89); Foalle.
SUBS NOT USED:
GOALS: Wayne Phillips (18), Jack Foalle (81)
BRIGHOUSE TOWN: Smith; Busfield (Normanton 54), Wright, Ibrahimi, Nicholls, Harris, Grant, Heeley (capt), Johnson, Thomas, Robinson (Donovan 60).
SUBS NOT USED: Gardiner, Porter, Seth.
GOALS:
ATT: 140
SPONSORS MAN OF THE MATCH: David Carson and Jordan Fry