Hungry Highwaymen show ruthless streak
MORPETH Town manager Craig Lynch wants his side to display the same ruthlessness as on Saturday to draw more supporters through the turnstiles after hammering Worksop Town 4-0 at Craik Park.
A Pitching In NPL Premier Division encounter that had a tame start sprung into life in the second half, as four Highwaymen goals – including three in 11 minutes – saw the home side stroll to victory against a side pushing for a play-off spot.
For Lynch, not only was it a healthy portion of revenge after a 7-0 defeat in the reverse fixture earlier in the campaign, it was a glimpse of what may lie ahead as he seeks to keep an increased crowd coming back with entertaining football.
“We’re not a charity, we need to make sure we’re getting every inch out of the club and that’s what we did,” said Lynch after a fine victory that moved Morpeth closer to a targeted 50-point mark.
“We’ve got a good home following and those types of results keep them coming back. For me, the home form is very important. We’ve got to make it hard for teams to come here.
“We went through a spell where the opposition were turning up and beating us – it was embarrassing. You need 11 people that are going to go above and beyond and that’s what we’ve done.
I’m nothing without the lads on the pitch and they’ve been outstanding. No one would have had us down to win against Worksop but we’ve shown that when we have an XI and the subs hungry to do well for Morpeth Town we have a chance.
“We absolutely owed them one after they beat us 7-0 last time. We had 11 players who had that mentality, intensity on and off the ball, it was all spot on.
“We have to grow into games – we tweaked it at half-time to punish them and the second half was magnificent.”
Both sides looked industrious in possession in the first half, without fashioning a real opening of note other than Liam Hughes nodding a few headers well wide of the target for Worksop and Andrew Johnson seeing a shot deflected wide of the far post for the hosts.
But the second half would explode into life the moment the Tigers struck the crossbar from inside the box on 49 minutes. Morpeth responded in the best possible fashion, scoring on 52 minutes when Jack Foalle saw a first shot superbly saved by Aaron Chapman before the winger followed up to put his side in front.
That lead was doubled three minutes later when Sam Hodgson scored his 19th goal of the season (22 if including goals versus Marske United) from close range to put the away side on the ropes.
They then, effectively, put the game beyond doubt when Fenton John raced clear, stepped inside Hamza Bencherif and then slotted between Chapman’s legs on 63 minutes.
With the result beyond doubt, Will Dowling scored his first goal for the club to ensure a superb home win for the Highwaymen.