North-west outfit on best Vase run in 20 years.
Nelson 3-1 Morpeth Town
The FA Carlsberg Vase
Second Round Proper
Tuesday 18 November 2009
Victoria Park, Nelson FC
Winning clubs receive £1200
Click here for results
North West outfit Nelson are enjoying their best ever run in 20 FA Vase campaigns after seeing off Morpeth Town at a damp Victoria Park on Tuesday night.
The former Football League club, Third Division North champions way back in 1923, have generally struggled since a successful period in the Lancashire Combination during the early 1950s, but have taken advantage of three home ties to move into the Third Round of this season's competition.
After seeing off North West Counties rivals Abbey Hey and Northern Counties East side Selby Town in the previous two rounds, the Blues welcomed the Northern League Division One strugglers to East Lancashire.
And strikers Sam Heap and Lance Ogunyode both grabbed their fourth goals of the competition so far as they saw off the Highwaymen by three goals to one.
Heap finished off a flowing move from Luke Hargreaves' cross to open the scoring on ten minutes, and 13 minutes later it was Hargreaves himself who cleverly created space on the edge of the area before smashing home with his left foot to double the lead.
Town brought themselves back into the game on the half hour when Mark Walton curled a delightful free-kick into the top corner, and they upped their efforts markedly during the second half, narrowly missing out on an equaliser when Barrie Smith clipped the outside of the post with 15 minutes remaining.
Nelson defended resolutely though, and sealed a trip to Marske United in the next round when a dazzling right wing run by Martin Payne allowed him to slip the ball inside to Ogunyode, who rifled home off the underside of the crossbar to finally kill off the visitors.
