Wins all round for Rothbury, Morpeth and North Sunderland in Alliance

The Hillmen were 3-1 winners at Whitley Bay Reserves and striker Murray, who joined in the summer, got himself on the scoresheet along with Euan Gibson and Angus Stout.

They trailed 1-0 at the break at Hillheads but Stout bundled in the equaliser from a Greg Woodburn ball and they turned the game on its head when Gibson smashed in a Murray pass.

Murray poked in the third himself to seal the points as Rothbury produced an 8-minute blitz.

“The reaction from the lads and subs was brilliant and it ended up being relatively comfortable in the second half. Euan Gibson and Greg Woodburn were excellent down the left contributing to all three goals,” said manager Tom Macpherson.

Morpeth are also up into second spot in Division Two after a 9-0 pounding of Blyth Rangers at Craik Park.

Damien Stevens netted four times and he was joined on the scoresheet by Liam Clavering, Konnor Purvis, Adonis Godopoulos, Max Wilson and Austin Davies.

“Myself and Stuart Melville are really delighted with the performance – in our last two home games we have scored 23 goals so we really enjoy playing at Craik Park,” said boss Ross Donnelly.

Man-of-the-match Jack Grisedale hit a hat-trick in North Sunderland’s superb 5-0 win at Newcastle Chemfica Amateurs.

Cameron Thorpe and Will Patterson added the others for boss Alan Mcfarlane’s side.

The Fishermen have a tough Minor Cup second round tie as they go to Newcastle University A on Saturday, while Morpeth are at home to Division One strugglers Forest Hall – though Donnelly expects a difficult tie.

“It is a good test for our young side, but we are hoping to go on a good run in the competition as we feel confident at the minute,” he said.

Rothbury face a hard trip to fellow Northern Alliance First Division side Bedlington, who are fifth in the League, as all three sides play against teams from their own League.

“We look forward to the Minor Cup after a good start in the league, although we’ve been given one of the toughest draws going so we know we need to be at our best,” said Macpherson.