Spirited Morpeth team beat Durham City to continue their good start to the rugby season

Yet this was a deserved victory for Morpeth, owing much to the spirit that the side is showing.

The team showed a few changes from last week’s match against West Hartlepool but started the game brightly. Winger James Turner was the beneficiary on five minutes when good hands from both forwards and backs saw him finish off an excellent move, touching down wide out for an unconverted score.

Unfortunately Morpeth were unable to capitalise, as City’s pack began to cause problems to the Morpeth set piece, particularly the lineout. It was no surprise when the visitors hit back with a converted score on 11 minutes, followed by a further try on 17, making the score 5-12.

Whilst the faltering lineout continued to cause the home side problems, Jake McKay was on the mark with a penalty on 20 minutes, which reduced the deficit to 8-12. With most of the play on or around the halfway mark, the score remained 8-12 to City after the first 40 minutes.

The home side then suffered further disruption when former skipper Carl Hill suffered a calf strain that led to him being replaced.

With the game evenly poised, the undoubted highlight of the second period was the solo effort from winger Turner, which proved to be a match-winning effort.

It came on 69 minutes from some 70 metres, as the player was set free and then beat the final defender to race over.

McKay added the extras before sealing the deal with penalty a couple of minutes later.

The final five minutes or so saw Morpeth playing out the match in the Durham half. There was a return to form from influential flanker Josh Williams, who, together with number 8 Elliott Clark, put in significant shifts to make the victory a reality.

Finally, it was good to see the returning Michael Craigs play the last 15 minutes or so. His presence will almost certainly strengthen the Morpeth pack.

Final score 18-12.

Scoop’s Man of the Match was James Turner for his outstanding performance.