Morpeth Town manager Nick Gray was full of praise for his side as his side reached the FA Vase Semi-Finals for the first time in the clubs 132-year history.
Veteran Chris Swailes and striker Dale Pearson netted the goals to send Morpeth into the last four.
“Fantastic,” exclaimed Gray, “delighted for everyone at the club, from the people working on the pitch, to the people behind the bar, to the players, committee, chairmen….I’m delighted for everybody.
“You’re in football for days like today.”
Morpeth came out the gates strongly, and had a number of chances in the first half to kill the game off, and Gray agreed the first goal was crucial:
“I think the first goal was key, it showed in the end, they came at us the second half, but at least we had the lead you know, but the first goal is always crucial in these types of games.
Gray had particular praise for the central defence pairing of Michael Hall and Swailes, the latter opening the scoring on 13 minutes.
“The bionic man?” Gray said quoting an FA article about the two time Vase winner, “ I played with Chris, he’s the same age as me.
“I play a kickabout sometimes for 90 minutes and I cannot walk for three days, so god knows what he’s going to be like this week.
“Special mention to him and Michael Hall who were great, the central defence was fantastic, outstanding even.”
And Gray credited the second performance of the visitors:
“It felt like an hour,” the Town manager commented about the last 25 minutes, “I thought my watch had broken, it was a long time, but it’s better than being in the other dugout where you are behind.
“We dug in, showed a bit of character.”
The Highwaymen will now face Bowers & Pitsea in the semi-finals, with the club just two results away from Wembley and the FA Vase final.
