2,088

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Omari Sterling-James

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D L W W W D L W W W

Cleethorpes Town (A) 18.4.26

A sensational performance from Omari Sterling-James puts relegation-haunted Morpeth Town to the sword this afternoon, keeping the Pitmen in the title hunt in the process with a dominant win at Keys Park

Two wins over the Easter period had kept Hednesford in touch with both Hebburn Town and FC United of Manchester going into today’s round of games on seventy-one points. Manager Kelvin Davis made one change to his side for their return to Keys Park as George Williams was passed fit to make his home debut in place of Max Sheaf, who was only fit enough to take his place amongst the substitutes

Nineteenth-placed Morpeth had given their survival hopes a huge boost courtesy of a 3-0 win over Whitby Town on Easter Monday, with manager Craig Lynch electing to stick with the same XI for today’s longest trip of the campaign down to South Staffordshire

A sunny, but breezy afternoon at Keys Park kicked off with Morpeth very much on the front foot in the early exchanges, winning four successive corners in the first three minutes as they looked to force home a vital opener. Will Dowling’s delivery from the right looked to pick out Luke James at the far post, prompting Williams to head away from underneath his own crossbar and away from danger

The Pitmen’s first foray into the Morpeth half saw them take the lead in the fifth minute, with Sterling-James continuing his rich vein of form in front of goal with another fine long-range effort; Montel Gibson picked up a Chris Hussey long ball and laid it off to Jake Jervis, who in turn played it into the path of Sterling-James, twenty-five yards from goal. The former Hereford man took a couple of touches and worked it onto his right foot before drilling a low shot in at goal that beat goalkeeper Dan Langley down to his right and nestled in the far corner of the net

Jermaine Hylton had started brightly for the hosts, making several surging runs down the left and giving right-back Rhys Evans a torrid time on the back foot. A driving run from the winger in the tenth minute saw him get on the end of a flick-on from Gibson, entering the box on the left before dragging his shot across goal inches wide of Langley’s left-hand post

More good play from Hylton three minutes later saw him take Hussey’s pass down the left flank, drifting inside once more before playing a neat ball through to Jervis, who was flagged offside by the assistant on the Wimblebury side before he could strike a shot at goal

Sterling-James was in the mood for more goals, making a run from deep on sixteen minutes and showing some excellent footwork to trick his way past Michael Woods before striking a low shot at goal from twenty-five yards out that took a deflection off Jeff Henderson and flew over the crossbar. To the Pitmen’s disbelief, referee Mr Walker awarded Morpeth a goal kick when it had clearly taken a nick off the former Gateshead defender’s boot

Looking for a response to falling behind, Morpeth won a free-kick to the right-hand side of the Hednesford area on nineteen minutes as Nic Bollardo was fouled by Hussey. A free-kick from Danny Barlow was played to the far post, where Sterling-James brilliantly strained his neck to head away from Woods and Luke James inside the six-yard box

Two minutes later, Jervis was been brought down by Liam Miller to the right-hand side of the Morpeth penalty area, with Hussey playing a good ball into the box that the giant Langley managed to hold at the second attempt inside the six-yard box under severe aerial pressure from Jervis

The Pitmen extended their lead on twenty-five minutes, with Sterling-James once again proving the difference with another wonderful strike; Hussey’s free-kick from forty yards out was floated into the box and dropped at the feet of Hylton - his initial effort was cleared off the line by Josh Robson, who also headed Jervis’s recycled cross out of danger in the next phase of play. The ball ran to Sterling-James, who struck a wonderfully-controlled half volley from twenty-five yards out that beat Langley once more to his right and found the same corner of the net as his first goal. Another brilliant goal to add to the forward’s recent collection

Jervis went close to a quickfire third goal for the hosts on twenty-eight minutes, taking the ball on after good play from Gibson before lifting his effort just over Langley’s crossbar from twenty yards out

Hussey was next to test Langley on thirty-one minutes with an ambitious chipped effort from just inside the Morpeth half, spotting the 6ft 8” stopper off his line but not getting enough height on his effort, with the back-tracking Langley able to claim the shot

Hylton went on another one of his slalom-like runs from the left flank two minutes later, beating Evans for pace again before firing in a low shot that was straight at Langley at his near post via a slight deflection off the defender

With eight minutes of the first half remaining, Jervis and Jamie Morgan linked up down the right to play the right-back into the box, with Morgan taking a touch too many as he shaped to shoot and allowed Henderson to make the block

The Pitmen were content to play keep ball for long spells of the first half, stroking it around at the back and forcing Morpeth to chase the ball for several phases of play. Hussey played another delightful ball into the box on forty-one minutes from a right-wing corner that was aimed at Ollie Harrison, only for Henderson to head away before Langley claimed the looping ball

In first half added time, Gibson was pulled up for an offside call against him as he darted in between Robson and Henderson to reach a pass from Sterling-James, only for the assistant to rightly raise his flag against the striker

It had been a completely dominant first-half display from the hosts, who had taken their chances well through Sterling-James but had looked in absolutely no danger of conceding against a shot-shy and uncompetitive Morpeth attack that had stood off the Pitmen’s defenders and allowed them to dictate the tempo of much of the first period

With just two minutes of the second half gone, Jervis held the ball up well on the right flank before laying it off to Williams, whose looping cross was headed well wide of Langley’s right-hand post by Gibson from eight yards out

Sterling-James continued his one-man assault on the Morpeth defence with another long-range effort on fifty-five minutes, this time getting his laces underneath the ball and wildly shanking his shot into the Heath Hayes terrace

More superb play from Sterling-James saw him open up the Morpeth defence once more two minutes later after Hussey’s free-kick on the left was cleared as far as him, with the two-goal forward showing some neat footwork to take the ball past Woods and fire in a low cross-cum-shot from the right that Langley did well to parry away from the incoming Jervis

The game had settled back into the pattern of the first largely, with the Pitmen once again completely dominating possession and tempo, with Morpeth chasing around the pitch looking for any scraps left behind by the hosts. Morgan made a run down the right flank on fifty-nine minutes and looked to pull the ball back to the edge of the area and towards Sterling-James, only for Woods to make a timely interception and clear the danger

A flowing move down the left from the Pitmen on the hour mark saw Hussey supply Hylton with a slide rule pass that the winger cut back into the feet of Jervis, whose left-footed strike at goal from eight yards out was parried away by Langley down at his near post

Hussey continued to deliver real quality into the Morpeth box from set-pieces, sending over a superb inswinging corner kick from the right midway through the second half that was cleared at the near post by Evans, under pressure from Williams

Jervis - another like Sterling-James who had been in excellent scoring form recently - turned provider for Gibson on sixty-nine minutes as the hosts further stretched their lead to make it 3-0. Sterling-James, perhaps inevitably, was involved in the build-up with a clever threaded pass into the feet of Jervis on the right flank, with the veteran striker breaking into space in front of him before unselfishly squaring the ball across to Gibson, who took a touch before calmly firing past a horribly exposed Langley from close range

Having been beaten three times in the afternoon, Langley’s indifferent game continued to unravel as the stopper went down holding the lower part of his back shortly after the restart, requiring a lengthy spell of treatment before he gingerly got back to his feet and continued with the game

Barlow picked up the game’s first yellow card of the afternoon on seventy-one minutes, with the midfield man booked by Mr Walker for a late and clumsy challenge on Liam Kinsella just inside the Morpeth half

Morpeth made the game’s first change of the afternoon on seventy-four minutes as former Spennymoor Town defender Dan Myers came on in place of Joel Holvey

This kicked off a raft of substitutions for both sides, wth the Pitmen making a double change a minute later as Ryan Wynter continued his return to fitness as he replaced Williams at centre-back and Dom McHale came on to play on the right flank ahead of the excellent Jervis

A minute later, Morpeth made a further personnel change as Lynch elected to bring on midfield man Ryan Chater in place of Barlow, who had been booked earlier in the half

There were to be further personnel changes for the visitors on seventy-eight minutes, but not ones that Lynch would have necessarily wanted to make, as Langley’s earlier knock forced the stopper off the field; with no substitute goalkeeper on the bench, Bollado was handed the goalkeeper’s jersey as Langley made way for JJ Hooper. At the same time, veteran midfielder Woods was also replaced as the younger legs of Billy Gordon came on in midfield

Chater’s introduction to the game saw him pick up a quickfire yellow card from Mr Walker on eighty-one minutes as he hauled down Hylton in full flight, handing the Pitmen a free-kick to the left of the Morpeth penalty area

McHale tested the reflexes of the stand-in stopper Bollado a minute later, playing a quick one-two with Gibson on the edge of the box before striking a firm left-footed effort and goal that bounced in front of the striker but at a comfortable height for him to push away down to his left-hand side

However, Bollado could do nothing to stop a rampant Sterling-James from wrapping up his hat-trick a minute later as Tony Breeden’s long punt forward was controlled well by Gibson midway inside the Morpeth half - his pass played Sterling-James clean through on goal, with the former Kidderminster Harriers man having time and space in behind the retreating Morpeth defenders to steady himself and fire past Bollado from twelve yards out

Gibson was afforded a standing ovation from the main stand before play could restart as he was withdrawn by Davis, giving Niall Watson a late run out up front

There was a final personnel change of the game for the hosts on eighty-six minutes as Dan Trickett-Smith came on in midfield as Kinsella was given a well-earned rest 

With the game drifting into four added minutes, Morpeth made a final change as young Hartlepool United loanee James was taken off and replaced by another youngster, former Sunderland youth team player Aaron Chungh

It had been a highly impressive and dominant ninety minutes from the Pitmen, who earned what was a crucial three points to keep them in touch at the top of the table with victories for both Hebburn Town and FC United of Manchester elsewhere. Victory for Davis’s side confirms that they are guaranteed a top-three finish, which in itself guarantees a home tie for any play-off semi-final that may or may not be involved in. Their final away trip of the season comes next weekend with a trip to Cleethorpes Town, whose own vague play-off hopes had essentially been killed off with defeat to Hebburn today

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Hednesford Town: Breeden, Morgan, Hussey, Kinsella (Trickett-Smith 87), Harrison, Williams (Wynter 75), Hylton, Doyle-Charles ©, Gibson (Watson 85), Sterling-James, Jervis (McHale 75)      Sub unused: Sheaf

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Morpeth Town: Langley (Hooper 79), Evans, Miller, Dowling, Henderson ©, Robson, Barlow ▆, (Chater 76 ▆), Woods (Gordon 80), James (Chungh 90+1), Bollado, Holvey (Myers 74)       Subs unused: none

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