By Ben Potts
Morpeth Town will make the trip to Belle View Stadium on the first Saturday in December for a match that is certain to survive any cold weather thanks to the state-of-the-art 3G surface.
Club: Consett
Nickname: The Steelmen
Founded: 1899
Ground: Belle View Stadium, Delves Lane, Consett, Co. Durham, DH8 7BF
Craik Park to Consett : 26.8 miles
Last Season: 7th
Twitter: @ConsettAFC
Morpeth co-managers Nick Gray and Dave Malone will know that the fixture at Belle View will be far from easy after two tough contests with the Steelmen last season.
Way back in August in the first home game of a season in which the Highwayman went unbeaten at Craik Park, a finish from forward Liam Henderson, followed by an own goal, helped Morpeth grind out a 2-1 win.
Much later on in the campaign, on their latest visit to Belle View, Morpeth sealed the double. In a rearranged fixture in late March, a brace from Mark Davison, along with goals from Chris Reid and Joe Walton, saw Morpeth come from two-down to win 4-2.
Although seventh place will have been seen as a more than respectable finish for the Steelmen, manager Mark Eccles has been very busy revamping his squad this summer.
Luke Sullivan, who scored 34 goals last term, has departed for reigning Northern League Division One champions South Shields.
Sullivan was quickly replaced by club record goal-scorer Michael MacKay and fan-favourite Calvin Smith, who have both returned to the club from Jarrow Roofing.
Winger Jack Elliot and defender Ryan Lamb have both arrived from National League side Gateshead. Young defender Nathan Convery has joined the Steelmen from Middlesbrough.
Two new goalkeepers have also been added with the arrival of Dan Gladstone from Washington and David Knight from Blyth Spartans. On Monday it was confirmed that Nathan Lawerence had joined from Durham City.
It has traditionally been a very tight contest with five of the first ten games being draws, and Morpeth winning three. Morpeth’s biggest win in the fixture is a 6-0 thrashing at Craik Park on 10 April, 2003. Their biggest defeat came on May 4, 2010, when Consett triumphed 5-0 at Craik Park.
The close nature of the fixture stands up through history with Morpeth winning 12 times and Consett 11, and nine of the thirty two meetings have been draws.
