By Andrew McDonnell (@AndrewSJourno)
There’s never been a game short of goals when Morpeth Town have met Dunston UTS in recent years, and there’ll be two familiar faces wearing blue this time around – and a very well-known face in the dugout.
Club: Dunston UTS
Nickname: The Fed
Founded: 1975
Ground: The UTS Stadium, Wellington Road, Dunston, Gateshead, NE11 9JL
Craik Park to Dunston: 19 miles
Last Season: 15th
Twitter: @dunstonutsfc
Morpeth have won their last five games in all competitions – scoring 18 goals in the process – against Dunston, and they’ll be looking to continue that form when they travel to the UTS Stadium at the end of August.
That form includes three wins-in-a-row away from home, with the Highwaymen doing the double over UTS last season.
Michael Chilton netted a brace last September, while Damen Mullen and Mateusz Halambiec also got on the scoresheet during a 4-2 win at Craik Park.
It was the same result in the reverse fixture 28-days later. This time, Sean Taylor had two goals to his name, and Ben Sayer and an own goal from Dale Burrell helped Morpeth get an important three points.
Chris Swailes was part of the Morpeth side that won the FA Vase in 2016, and is now manager of Dunston. Swailes has recruited two of his former teammates this summer, with Michael Hall and Steven Anderson joining his playing squad.
Adam Rundle signed from Hebburn Town and Mark Fitzpatrick arrived from Whickham, as Swailes’ side look to push on from their 15th-placed finish last term.
Nick Gray and Dave Malone’s men have won five games at Dunston, drawn eight and lost five since the 1996-97 season. The overall record for the two teams stands at; 10 Morpeth wins, 14 draws and 15 Dunston wins.
