Gainsborough v Morpeth Match Report

Gainsborough v Morpeth 

The first defeat of 2024 for Russ Wilcox’s Holy Blues after a 90 minutes of football packed with drama and controversy saw the home side narrowly miss out on any points from the fixture. 

A dominant start to the game by Trinity, they were treated with the first shot on target of the game as Fraser Preston tried to cut it on the right and curl one in with his left, however he couldn’t generate enough power to beat Lowson in the Morpeth goal. 

Morpeth reacted quickly as Bollado was set free down the right hand side, he couldn’t create a goal though, as the captain, Dylan Cogill, got over to divert the shot wide. 

The biggest chance of the first half saw Howe beating the keeper after a well-timed through ball from Preston found him, he shot from a tight angle and the shot was blocked by Chris Reid which injured him, forcing him to be replaced early on. 

Trinity beautifully played the ball around the midfield, creating some great chances and dominating the ball for most of the first half. Howe had a notable chance again after a George Hornshaw cross planted at his feet, his shot Wales’s saved well by Lowson, just before the offside flag was put up against him. 

The main action of the first half was very late. Morpeth’s counter attack was stopped twice as Bobby Johnson made two fouls in the build up, the first was him pulling back Bollado, then the second was a tactical foul on the same player. The referee then pulled out two yellow for both of the challenges and Johnson was dismissed. 

The score at half time, 0-0. 

Morpeth had a dream start to the second half. 2 minutes in, Nic Bollado opens the scoring after he converted a low cross into the area, beating Dylan Wharton, who went 227 minutes without conceding a goal. 

Some more great attacking play by Trinity, moving the ball about quickly and convincingly. More controversy as Daniel Barlow brought down Daniel Devine, play continued and Howe was through on goal, however, the referee then called it back for the foul, denying Trinity an equaliser, stopping a potential goal. 

Morpeth then doubled their lead through Jack Foalle in the 57th minute. He was sent through and beat Ashley Jackson down the left hand side, then beating Wharton as his shot went across the face of goal. 

Trinity then found a way to break the Morpeth offside trap as Dayle Southwell put a great ball over the defence to find Declan Howe, Howe took it past the keeper and tried again from a tight angle, this time his shot went across the face of goal and out for a goal kick. 

Wharton made an incredible save as Donaldson had a chance to triple their lead, he was played into the 6 yard box and his shot wasn’t bad, but a strong right hand from Wharton denied the goal. 

The Blues kept attacking and trying to finish a chance, there was a tremendous ball from Bailey Conway which met Southwell for a volley, the volley comes into Howe but Lowson does enough to get there first and deny Gainsborough a way of coming back. 

A few minutes later, Lewis went so so close to bringing Trinity back into the game, another great ball from Hornshaw found  in the centre but his effort was just sent over the bar, Trinity were putting so much pressure on the Morpeth defence and came close to a goal. 

Tavonga Kuleya came on for the final 10 minutes and showed off a promising cameo, he created a few chances and made some impressive runs with and without the ball down the right hand side. A player to look out for in the coming weeks. 

The final drama in the match came in the 94th minute of the game as Chris Lynn was dismissed for a dangerously late and high challenge on the loanee Kuleya. 

The final whisky blew out minutes later and Gainsborough had fallen short of a point in dramatic fashion. Russ Wilcox had his say on the game after the match where he suggested that if the home side had stayed with 11 players on the pitch, they would have won the game comfortably. Daniel Devine had a positive say on the first half saying that Trinity “played some of the best football he’s seen since he’s been at the club”. 

A dominant first half was overturned due to the unfortunate red card and it completely changed the game. The Blues will look past the loss and take the positives out of it to focus on the next match, Matlock away.