By Reuben Young
Morpeth Town will look to continue their impressive home record against Bishop Auckland, who they play in the first game of October.
Club: Bishop Auckland
Nickname: The Two Blues
Founded: 1886 (as Auckland Town)
Ground: Heritage Park, Stadium Way, St Helen Auckland, Bishop Auckland, DL14 9AE
Craik Park to Bishop Auckland: 47 miles
Last Season: 8th
Twitter: @bishopafc
Morpeth have an impressive home record against Bishop Auckland, having only lost once in their nine meetings.
The last match between the two sides ended in a 6-3 goal-fest in favour of the Highwaymen. Morpeth’s scorers that day were Joe Walton and Liam Henderson, with a brace each, while Mark Davison and Michael Hall also got on the score sheet.
However, the away fixture earlier in the season was a different story. Bishop Auckland came out 3-2 winners, with a dubious penalty being key after being 2-0 down. Chris Reid and Mark Doninger were the scorers in the loss for Morpeth.
The Two Blues have been busy in transfer window so far. New signing Matty Moffat played the majority of his career with Bishop’s local rivals West Auckland Town.
While youngster Cameron Wilson signed from Stockton Town, after starting his career at York reserves. Their third signing is centre-half Luke Gilhespy who re-joined from Dunston UTS.
Bishop Auckland pack plenty of attacking threat with Andrew Johnson bagging 43 goals in 48 appearances last season. Defender Jeff Smith also managed eight goals and six assists.
Morpeth have won four of their last seven meetings between the clubs, but have struggled away winning only three times at Heritage Park.
The Highwaymen haven’t lacked goals though, scoring 36 to Bishop Auckland’s 26 since the 1996/97 season. However, the overall record is close with eight Morpeth wins, three draws and six Bishop Auckland wins.
