By Stuart Dick, Head of Media

Morpeth Town have reached the fourth round of the Buildbase FA Vase after a thrilling 3-2 victory over Newton Aycliffe at Moore Lane on Saturday afternoon.

The Highwaymen went a goal down when John Campbell lobbed Dryden with a calm finish on the stroke of half time.

Town then netted three goal in the opening 15 minutes of the second period through Matthew Grieve and a Liam Henderson brace turned the game on its head.

Another delightful finish from Campbell reduced the deficit to one, but Morpeth held strong to put their name in the hat for Monday’s draw.

The visitors showed their intent in the opening minutes of the game when Jordan Fry rifled an effort a goal from the edge of the area, James Winter somehow saving with his chest.

Morpeth’s strong start to the game continued in the 5th minute, Mark Doninger latching on to a long ball, cutting onto his left on the edge of the area before curling an effort over the bar.

Next to try his luck was Sean Taylor after a through ball by Ben Sayer, the forward’s shot well saved by Winter.

Arguably the best chance of the game to this point fell to the hosts in the 14th minute.

Striker John Campbell pulled away at the back post, receiving the ball before beating two in the penalty. He looked to find the bottom left hand corner but was denied by the leg of Dryden, a phenomenal save.

A quiet spell followed with a couple of tasty challenges made by the hosts that saw cautions dished out by the referee.

It wasn’t until the half hour mark that Morpeth went close again through Henderson, whose physicality made it a tough day for the Aycliffe centre-backs.

With one minute remaining before half time, Aycliffe took the lead. Campbell reacted quickest to a Knight flick-on, finishing powerfully into the top right hand corner of Dryden’s net from 15 yards out.

The holders had it all to do, but started the second half strongly and equalised 96 seconds into the second period. Doninger’s free-kick was only parried by Winter, Grieve on hand to tap home the rebound.

Aycliffe came back strong, and only a fine diving stop by Dryden denied Paul Garthwaite the home sides second.

The Highwaymen took the lead in the 59th minute by a spectacular strike by Henderson.

Donigner’s flick on found the striker in the penalty area, and the former Watford man powered home a half volley in to the top right hand corner, beating Winter at his near post.

Two minutes later Henderson netted his second, again beating the offside trap before firing from an acute angle from the right, this time stroking the ball through Winter’s legs to double the lead.

However, the hosts never gave up, and scored from nothing in the 76th minute. A Morpeth cross was claimed by Winter and he, like he had done a number of times, launched the ball immediately long.

The long ball was misjudged by the Morpeth Town defence, allowing Campbell to run free and lob an oncoming Dryden to make it a nervy quarter of an hour for the Highwaymen.

But Morpeth held on, and have reached the fourth round of the FA Vase. The win makes it 13 wins in a row in the competition, and 10 out of 11 in all competitions.

Morpeth Town – Dryden, Forster, Turner, Sayer, Grieve, Reid, Taylor (Anderson), Graydon (C), Fry, Henderson, Doninger

Unused – Provett, Robinson, Novak, Chilton

Newton Aycliffe – Winter, Brown, Howes, Kitchen, C.Garthwaite, Close, P.Garthwaite, Laidler, Knight, Banks, Campbell.

Subs: Varga, Brass, Boagey, Riley, Harrison.