REPORT: UNITED 2-2 MORPETH TOWN

[BY LOUIS WHEELDON]

United kicked off their season with an electric 2-2 draw at home to Morpeth Town.

A fine finish from Jack Thomas early in the game was soon equalised by Andrew Johnson, before further goals apiece from Jonathan Wafula and Chris Reid saw a share of the spoils.

The game began with both sides struggling to maintain a firm grip of possession, but a first real spell with the ball for the hosts bore fruit as Thomas picked up possession at the top of the box and slid a low effort beyond the flailing Daniel Lowson to open the scoring.

One almost became two very soon after with Remaye Campbell spotting Lowson off his line following a suffocating spell of Basford pressure, but his high lob trickled agonisingly wide of the far post.

Basford continued to see the majority share of the possession, but Morpeth managed to weather the storm and fashion out some of their own ownership of the ball to bury the equaliser after 26 minutes.

Following a drive down the right from Vinnie Steels preceded a low cross into the area which was slammed home from close range by Johnson.

The deadlock wouldn’t hang around for much longer, however, as Basford shook off the cobwebs to see Wafula scramble home a Thornhill corner just five minutes later as Basford deservedly regained the lead.

The visitors from Northumberland ensured that the first half would remain an entertaining affair with a passage of play that saw Reid between two home shirts to calmly slot a second equaliser into the bottom left corner beyond Kieran Preston.

The second half began with much of the same ebb and flow as the first half with both sides looking to carve out chances with slick passing and movement.

Such a move presented an opportunity for Basford as Lowson flapped the ball away from danger before Wafula recovered possession ahead of being hacked down in the area by a Morpeth man, but the referee ignored Basford’s penalty claims.

Basford maintained their high press and almost saw a result stem out of it when, again, Wafula robbed a Morpeth man of the ball before arrowing a powerful effort just wide of the far post.

The hosts had the ball in the back of the net once more as the game entered its final 25 minutes through Matt Thornhill, who raced in behind onto Thomas’ ball through the lines to smash home into the top corner, but the flag was raised on the captain to deny him.

The pressure mounted further still as a great cross inside from Matthew Bowman picked out substitute Rev James in the area, who could only flick a half-effort comfortably into the gloves of Lowson.

It was soon Morpeth’s turn to have a goal flagged offside as a fine set-piece from Liam Noble was scrambled back across to the back post where it was hammered home, but the flag was raised to once again chalk off a finish.

In a game that quickly became an end-to-end affair, Basford soon launched another swift counter attack that saw Angel race away down the left wing before seeing a deflected strike go behind for a corner, which subsequently saw an acrobatic effort from close range by Brad McGowan loop just over the bar.

As the game entered its twilight, a cross-cum-shot from Chris Reid from the right flank flew onto the top of the bar and bounced clear as the chances began to flow for both sides.

A last gasp chance presented itself for Basford as a Rev James cross made its way to Wafula in the area, but he couldn’t make proper contact with the chance as it made its way behind to bring the curtain down on a wildly entertaining draw.

UNITED: Preston, Roma, Angell, Thomas (Ritzema 72'), McGowan, Dearle, Bowman, Thornhill (c), Wafula, Litchfield (James 60'), Campbell (Cartwright 60')
SUBS (not used): Davidson, Hakeem

ATT: 281