Morpeth Town 6 Cleethorpes Town 1

The Owls could not make the most of their FA Trophy reprieve, as they fell to an emphatic 6-1 defeat at Morpeth Town. The visitors were up against if following Oli Donald’s 3rd minute red card. Despite this, Scott Vernon opened the scoring, but the Highwaymen eventually proved far too strong for the 10-men.

With club captain Alex Flett unavailable, Dave Smith changed formation to 4-1-4-1. Brody Robertson and Paul Walker also missed out from the Chasetown starting XI. In came Conor Marshall, Jack Richardson and Josh Batty. Tim Lowe wore the armband for the day.

The side lined-up as follows:

Goal: Theo Richardson
Defence: Conor Marshall, Tim Lowe (c), Oli Donald, Jon Oglesby
Holding midfield: Ben Davies
Midfield: Josh Batty, Jack Richardson, Curtis Bateson, Lewis Collins
Attack: Scott Vernon

Subs: Paul Walker, Brandon Buckley, Jack Boswell, Ben Clappison

All the pre-match plans soon needed to be ripped up however, as Clee suffered a massive setback whilst most of the large crowd were still settling into their positions.

Oli Donald misjudged a flighted ball over the top and tugged back Foalle. The referee took time to assess the situation but had little option other than to send off the defender. As the crestfallen player headed off for an early bath, the resultant free-kick was nodded over the bar.

The management reorganised their charges into 4-4-1 – Ben Davies slotting into right-back and Conor Marshall moving to the centre. Wide players Josh Batty and Curtis Bateson also dropped deeper, as the Owls prepared for a rearguard action.

Unsurprisingly Morpeth had the bulk of possession but, as frustration started to grow, Scott Vernon stunned the home faithful by firing the depleted visitors ahead on 23 minutes. It was nicely worked as well. Marshall slid in to win a tackle and then Bateson found the front man. The top-scorer showed superb composure to lift the ball over keeper Lowson.

For 9 glorious minutes, everyone who had travelled the best part of 4 hours to Northumberland from the coast could dream of an upset. Unfortunately, the hosts turned the encounter around with 3 goals before the interval.

In the 32nd minute, Sean Reid volleyed in the equaliser after a chest down. Then with 41 showing on the watch, and seconds after Vernon shot into the side-netting, Sean Taylor slotted home. With the Owls rocking, there was still time for Jeff Henderson to thrash in a third from 6-yards.

HT Morpeth Town 3 (Reid 32, Taylor 41, Henderson 43) Cleethorpes Town 1 (Vernon 23)

The visitors clearly had a Herculean task when the action restarted, and it was not long before the Highwaymen showed their undoubted pedigree to secure their passage into the 2nd Qualifying Round.

Wayne Phillips scored the fourth in the 48th minute and, within 90 seconds, Reid grabbed his brace with a back-post finish to pile on the misery.

It looked like being a very long second-half but, to their credit, the Owls continued to battle hard to preserve their pride. Doubtless with one eye on Tuesday’s Lincs Cup semi-final, Dave Smith made a triple substitution. The trio withdrawn were Ben Davies, Josh Batty and Scott Vernon. They were replaced by Ben Clappison, Brandon Buckley and Jack Boswell.

The final goal arrived on 73 minutes in slightly farcical circumstances. Morpeth were awarded a dangerous free-kick and, as stopper Richardson lined up his wall, Liam Noble rolled the ball into the opposite corner! The keeper was clearly very unhappy with the official, who indicated that no infringement had occurred by pointing back to the centre-circle.

To sum up Clee’s luck, Bateson curled onto the crossbar 5 minutes later but, on this occasion, Mr Joyce decided that the kick had been taken too quickly.

FT Morpeth Town 6 (Reid 32, 50, Taylor 41, Henderson 43, Phillips 48, Noble 73) Cleethorpes Town 1 (Vernon 23) Attendance: 502

Firstly, a big thank-you to the hardy band of supporters who gave up a full 11 hours of their Saturday to cheer on the mighty Owls. Not the result that any of us wanted for sure!

Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say “well played” to the opposition. Obviously, the sending-off was a massive influence and who knows what would have happened if Oli had stayed on the field. I wish Morpeth well in the next round.

Talking of Oli, our defender was pretty distraught to have seen red. These setbacks happen in sport, learn from it and move on would be my advice – chin up young man!

My man-of-the-match for Clee was Jack Richardson. A great shift in midfield – well played. Time to put this defeat behind us and look forward to a semi-final against Lincoln City on Tuesday.

Details:
Tuesday 29th October – 7.45pm
Lincoln City – Lincolnshire Senior Cup Semi-Final
Linden, Clee Road, Grimsby, DN32 8QL

Admission:
Adults £8, Concessions £5, Under 16s £2

UP THE OWLS!