By Andrew McDonnell (@AndrewSJourno)
Pre-Season Friendly
Venue: Shielfield Park, Tweedmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 2EF
Date: Saturday, July 8, 2017
Kick-Off: 3:00pm
Football is back. Morpeth Town’s first game of pre-season is away to Scottish League Two side Berwick Rangers this weekend. The Highwaymen also began their pre-season in 2016 against Scottish opposition (Kilmarnock), with Killie winning 4-2 on the day.
The game will be a great test for Nick Gray and Dave Malone’s side, who will be looking to push on from their second-placed finish in the Northern League Division One last season.
There’s been arrivals and departures this summer, and it’ll be interesting to see where the squad is ahead of a busy pre-season – Morpeth have nine games in the space of four weeks.
Team News
New signings Curtis Coppen, Danny Carson, Wayne Phillips and Richard Pell are in the squad for the trip to Berwick and are likely to make their debuts for the club. Midfielder Luke Carr is also in the squad and is set to make his return.
Gray and Malone will be without defender Stephen Forster and forwards Mark Davison and Liam Henderson for the first game of pre-season.
The Manager’s Views
Morpeth co-manager Gray said: “I’m looking forward to it. It’s the first game back and all the lads will be itching to get started.
“We need to be very competitive in pre-season and you want to challenge yourself and see where you are with fitness, they should be ahead of us because they’ve been training earlier than us.
“It is a tough game, but that’s what we want.”
The Opposition
Berwick play in the fourth tier of Scottish football and were in action against Northern League opposition during the week – losing 2-1 to Consett.
Last season, the Black & Gold finished eighth in the league, just five points of bottom side Cowdenbeath, and manager John Coughlin has been busy this summer.
Their latest recruit is former Arbroath, St Johnstone and Elgin City midfielder, Keiran Stewart, who played in the loss to Consett.
Admission Information
Visiting supporters will be accommodated in the North Stand section of the main grandstand, directions by stewards. Enter by turnstile ‘Block B’, this is the entrance for seating or standing.
Special admission prices are £5 for Adults and Concessions (Kids Free when accompanied by an Adult). Disabled fans and carers admitted free, a special area inside turnstiles reserved if required.
