"We need to do more," admits Morpeth Town boss after heavy defeat

They go to basement side Workington this Saturday on the back of a 4-0 mauling by promotion-chasing Warrington Rylands.

Hooper made a cameo appearance from the bench for the last half hour, with Liam Miller also returning from injury to join the squad – but Town were well beaten by then.

“I’ve been here seven years, nearly five as manager, and that’s the first time I would like to apologise to the fans for that first half display,” said boss Craig Lynch.

Jake Burton turned in a flick-on at the near post for a soft opener in the 14 th minute and Harrison Wood doubled the Rylands lead on 36 when he fired across Dan Langley at his near post into the far corner from a narrow angle.

Ben Hardcastle’s low curling free-kick was tucked away by George Waring for three on 43 and Morpeth’s misery was compounded two minutes later when he capitalised on a parried shot to tuck away his second.

“I can accept getting beat, but I can’t accept getting beat in that manner in the first half,” continued Lynch, whose side remain only four points from safety with 12 games to go.

“You don’t need to be good at football to run around. You don’t need to be good at football to have a bit of heart and desire, and the first half we didn’t.”

Morpeth improved after the break but their only real effort on target came late on when midfielder Danny Barlow forced keeper Luke Pilling into a smart diving save with a drive from 16 yards.

“The game plan today was to run in behind to create space – we didn’t do it once in the first half. Second half Danny’s had two shots, Ryan Chator’s ran in behind for fun and it creates more space and invites people to cross the ball in.”

“If you go to Workington the same, it doesn’t matter what level you play at, if that’s the standard you set… we need to show more and we need to do more, and you’ve got to do your job in the team,” said the boss.