Lynch wants to keep the home support happy
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.
Jack Foalle, Sam Hodgson, Will Dowling and on-loan Middlesbrough youngster Fenton John all found the net as Lynch’s side exacted revenge for the 7-0 defeat they suffered at the hands of the Tigers earlier this season.
But there were more pressing matters at hand for the Highwaymen boss as he assessed his side’s performance.
He said: “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.
“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.”
There was a major twist in the East Division title race as Hebburn Town moved to within five points of leaders Stockton Town.
Not for the first time this season, captain Amar Purewal was the hero for Daniel Moore’s side as his welltaken hat-trick helped the promotion-chasing Hornets to a relatively comfortable 3-0 win at Grimsby Borough.
There was a double boost for the Hornets as an Adam Bartham goal condemned Stockton to a surprise 1-0 defeat at Winterton Rangers.
Hebburn head into the final fortnight of the season knowing they will be crowned champions if they can take maximum points from their five remaining fixtures and condemn their former Northern League rivals to the play-offs for a third consecutive season.
Dunston UTS remain in the top five despite falling to a defeat by the odd goal in five at Sheffield.
In-form striker Jack Maskell netted two penalties for Jon Mcdonald’s side but it was their hosts that took the honours thanks to a Finn O’boyle brace and a Stephen Brogan strike.
Newton Aycliffe slipped out of the top five as they fell to a 3-1 home defeat against Carlton Town.
The visitors had the points wrapped up by the hour-mark thanks to two goals from Niall Davie and a
Nathan Watson effort eight minutes into the second-half.
Liam Jarvie netted a late consolation for Aycliffe, who remain in contention for a play-off place despite their defeat.
Consett remained firmly in mid-table after they battled their way to a share of the points in their home game with Liversedge.
Ben Ramsey scored a goal in each half to put the Steelmen in front on two occasions but his efforts were cancelled out by a brace from Liversedge striker Eddie Church.
And there was a home defeat for Ashington as Elliott Walker’s goal gave Grantham Town all three points at Woodhorn Lane just 24 hours after the Colliers confirmed that their home had met ground criteria in order to continue playing at step four of the non-league pyramid.
SOUTH Shields and Spennymoor Town both remain in the play-off places despite suffering brave away defeats.
The Mariners always looked up against it as they visited already crowned champions Tamworth and they found themselves two goals down by the midway point of the first-half as Chris Wreh and Nathan Tskikuna both netted for the hosts.
A stunning strike from Mackenzie Heaney and a neat finish from Michael Woods got Elliot Dickman’s side back into the contest.
But it was the champions that secured the points as Nathaniel Knight-percival grabbed the winning goal 20 minutes from time.
The manner of the goal left Mariners interim manager Dickman frustrated.
He told Mariners TV: “I thought at times we played some good stuff, we are a really good footballing side and we had moments which were really good.
“We did well to get back into the game but we switched off from a set-play, which is really disappointing to be honest and I thought we deserved something from the game.
“They’re obviously a decent side, they have a way of playing and it works well for them. It was difficult with the pitch but there were moments that were good, moments we are pleased with but it’s the manner of the goals we conceded, they were cheap.”
The Mariners will head into next Saturday’s season-ending home clash with Southport in the play-off places - but Spennymoor remain in contention despite their loss at Alfreton Town.
Goals from William Fewster and Jake Day helped the hosts to all three points - but they were made to work for the win as Glen Taylor got the Moors back into the game with a well-taken volley.
Blyth Spartans fell to a heavy defeat at play-off bound Scunthorpe United.
The game was all but over by half-time as goals from Max Kouogun, Kai Corbett and Danny Whitehall all found the net for the Iron during a dominant opening 45 minutes.
Spartans improved marginally after the restart but fell further behind as Whitehall scored from the penalty spot.
There was a late consolation for Jon Shaw’s side as Nicky Deverdics scored a penalty late on - but it was the hosts that had the final say as Alfie Beestin netted their fifth in injury time, leaving Spartans in danger of going down.