Stockton Town took all three points against Morpeth Town thanks to a Kevin Hayes brace.
Words by Jordan Clarke
Photo by Mike Driver
Stockton Town 2-0 Morpeth Town | 25th August 2025
Goals: Kevin Hayes, 1-0, 17 min; Kevin Hayes, 2-0, 71 min
Hayes struck either side of the half-time break, finishing a free-kick and penalty to secure the victory.
Michael Dunwell named Adam Nicholson, Amar Purewal and Glen Butterworth straight into the starting lineup, who all returned to the squad for the clash.
Morpeth caused problems off the blocks, with Harry Christy keeping the scores level with a strong stop to deny Sam Hodgson from close range.
Adam Nicholson, on his first start of the season, heroically stopped a dangerous cut-back across the face of goal, prodding it wide before Luke James could finish.
But Kevin Hayes was the man who opened the scoring, curling a wonderful free-kick into the top corner past Dan Langley for his third goal of the campaign.
The Anchors had a number of half-chances towards the end of the half, but nothing to trouble Langley in goal.
Half-time: Stockton Town 1-0 Morpeth Town
The Highwaymen caused many problems to open the half, with Harry Christy getting called into action a couple of times within the first five minutes.
Former-Anchor Sam Hodgson should really have equalised for the visitors, with a wide-open header inside the box, which the forward somehow put wide.
Jeff Henderson nodded a free-kick narrowly over the crossbar, as Craig Lynch’s side seemingly look inevitable to find an equaliser.
But in the 70th minute, Amar Purewal was dragged to the floor inside the box, with the assistant referee flagging for a penalty. Kevin Hayes stepped up and slotted into the corner, with the help from a fingertip of Dan Langley.
Deep into stoppage time, Kevin Hayes ran through on goal with his eyes on a hat-trick, but opted for a pass across the box towards Jack Spears, who just lost control of the ball at a crucial moment before being able to get a shot off.
Full-time: Stockton Town 2-0 Morpeth Town
The Anchors are back on the road next week, with a trip to NPL West’s Trafford in the Emirates FA Cup awaiting Michael Dunwell’s side.
