Stockton Town opened 2026 with a great team performance in the freezing heights of Morpeth Town.
Words by Jordan Clarke
Photo by Harry Cook
Morpeth Town 0-2 Stockton Town | 1st January 2026
Goals either side of the half-time break from Amar Purewal and Jake Petitjean secured all three points for the Anchors.
Michael Dunwell named an unchanged side from the one that beat Hebburn Town on Boxing Day, but Vinnie Steels returned to the bench after missing a month with a hamstring issue.
It was the hosts who had the better chances in the early stages, with Nathan Harker making himself big to deny Jeff Henderson at point blank range.
That chance woke the Anchors up, and the following time was spent with the ball in and around Morpeth’s box, but with little to show for it.
That was until a rapid counter-attack caught Morpeth off guard, with Jake Petitjean feeding a wonderful through ball into the path of Amar Purewal, who slotted his strike past big Dan Langley for a very well deserved goal.
Josh Scott nearly added a second on the stroke of half-time, but his effort only found the side netting, and Stockton went into the break a goal to the good.
Half-time: Morpeth Town 0-1 Stockton Town
Petitjean was causing all sorts of problems for the defenders, and he nearly got on the scoresheet in the 56th minute when his header forced a good save out of Langley.
But 10 minutes later, there was nothing Langley could do to deny Petitjean, when he slipped his strike into the bottom corner after great work on the wing from Kevin Hayes to create the space for his cross, which made the finish much easier for Jake’s fifth goal of the season.
Purewal nearly doubled his tally for the day after being played through by Cameron Painter, but his strike was dragged narrowly wide.
Kevin Hayes came close to a third late in the game, when his volley was parried away, but the matchup ended with Stockton taking home all three points with a solid 2-0 victory.
Full-time: Morpeth Town 0-2 Stockton Town
Stockton are on the road again on Tuesday, when they visit FC United of Manchester, before returning home to face Prescot Cables on the 10th January.
