Morpeth Town boss Craig Lynch reflects on pleasing point in Pontefract Collieries season opener

Morpeth Town boss Craig Lynch has admitted that he was more than happy to see his side earn their first point of the new season in a 0-0 draw with Pontefract Collieries.

The Highwaymen made the trip to West Yorkshire for their NPL East opener on Saturday afternoon, but were unable to find a winning goal in a hard-fought contest from which either side could have emerged victorious.

And speaking after the final whistle, Lynch stated that he was satisfied with the manner in which his team got themselves off the mark for the campaign. He said: “Good game, I enjoyed it. It's the first game of the season, you come to Pontefract, who have been around the play-offs the last couple of years, and you know it's going to be a good measure of how we look.

“They’ll go in and probably say they could have nicked it, I think we could have nicked it. It was good, I was pleased with the last 10 to 15 minutes away from home - we were still getting on the ball, and probably that was our best spell, really. So for me, to take a point, it's a good point. Definitely a good point.”

He continued: “Speaking to their manager, he thinks they'll be up there, and there's no reason why they can't be. I still think there's a lot more gears that we could go up, but like I said, friendlies, they get you fit, you work on a few things, but it's not like the real thing where points are on the board.

“The first 10 minutes we started well, the last 10 minutes we did well. There's a lot in the game that we could get better at, but like I said, it’s the first game. To come away from here with a point, it just eases a bit of pressure, doesn't it, because I think the last four years we've been chasing that point for about three or four weeks.”

Morpeth’s next outing comes away at local rivals Ashington on Tuesday night, with the Colliers set kick off their own NPL East campaign.