HIGHWAYMEN RAID RIVALS!
Morpeth pile on Marske misery
SECOND-HALF strikes from Sam Hodgson and Will Jenkins ensured Morpeth Town finished 2023 with a win on the road against north-east rivals Marske United at Mount Pleasant.
In a game played in tricky conditions, and where chances were hard to come by, it was the Highwaymen’s superiority on the counter-attack that ultimately separated the two sides and left Marske in relegation danger.
In front of an expectant 1,200 crowd, it was Morpeth who created the first chance of the game, inside five minutes, when the ball fell to Nic Bollado in the box but he fired over.
Eddie Church had Marske’s first sight of goal soon after when he attempted to place the ball in the bottom corner but visiting keeper Dan Lowson made a comfortable save.
Morpeth were forced into a change midway through the first half when Ryan Wombwell picked up a knock and was unable to continue, replaced by Josh Robson.
And that seemed to affect the away side’s rhythm as Marske had their best chance of the game right at the start of the second half when Lewis Leech had a pop from distance and forced an excellent save from Lowson, with Jason Kennedy heading narrowly over from the Curtis Round’s corner.
But it didn’t last for long as, on 64 minutes, Morpeth broke the deadlock when
Dan Myers was dispossessed on the halfway line, the visitors broke and Hodgson’s shot squirmed under keeper Johnny Yaqub.
Marske pushed for an equaliser but were well shut out by a resolute Morpeth side, and with the Seasiders pushing men forward late on, the visitors capitalised in the 90th minute when they hit Marske on the break again Jenkins fired home.
Marske defender Jorge Sikora felt he’d been fouled in the build-up and made his frustrations known to the referee, whose patience ultimately ran out and he showed a straight red card.
It capped a miserable end to 2023 for Marske, whose future remains uncertain amid their ongoing financial crisis.
Morpeth, however, end the year with three points that sees the Northumberland club climb into the top ten.