The Highwaymen were made to work hard for their victory on Saturday over a resolute Shildon side writes Sam Donovan.

Goals from Liam Henderson and Jack Foalle secured victory for the Highwaymen over a Shildon side that had chances of their own but were denied. 

The home side started the game well and created the first opportunity of the game on 7 minutes; the trialist goalkeeper made a fantastic stop to tip the ball over the bar after a deflected strike.

Morpeth steadily grew into the game thereafter but failed to test the Shildon ‘keeper. Chris Reid strode forward on 24 minutes but lashed an effort over the bar.

A couple of minutes later and Sam Hodgson had a pop at goal but he got under the ball and he also lifted his strike over the bar. 

As the game neared halftime, the trialist in goal was forced into a routine save and then watched as the Shildon centre half headed over the bar from a corner. 

At the other end, Joe Walton slipped in the act of shooting and saw his shot clear the bar. 

The second half began with Morpeth in the ascendancy and they won a freekick in the opening minutes of the half but the strike from Liam Noble was blocked by the wall. 

A change in goal saw another trialist appear for Town and he was forced into a low save on 53 minutes before punching away the resultant corner. 

Just after the hour mark, Reid was unlucky to see his header from a corner tipped over the bar by the Shildon custodian who did well to get across to make the save. 

It wasn’t long before Morpeth took the lead though as Liam Henderson, introduced as a half time substitute, got on the end of a long ball and arrowed a low effort across goal into the bottom corner. 

Morpeth started to dominate after their opening goal with further chances falling the way of Henderson who headed over a free kick. Carl Finnigan saw a snapshot tipped over the bar as the Highwaymen pushed for a second goal. 

It duly arrived with the last kick of the game as a ball forward to Jack Foalle saw the striker find the top corner. 

The referee ended the game and Morpeth got their pre-season campaign off to a winning start. The attention now turns to Tuesday evening and a trip to face Consett.