EVAN Gumbs’ second half header fired Warrington Town past Morpeth Town to progress in the FA Cup.
Gumbs glanced home Stefan Mols’ cross barely two minutes after Morpeth had cancelled out a first half opener.
The 2-1 win sends the Yellows through to face Hyde United away in the second qualifying round on September 17.
After a 2-2 draw in the north east on Saturday, Morpeth returned to Cantilever Park for the second time in less than a month having been the opponents for the Yellows’ 2-0 win on the opening day of the league season.
The combination of Mols and Josh Seary down the right proved fruitful for the hosts from the start, and they linked up well in the third minute for a half chance for Mols that was well blocked by Jeff Henderson.
Bohan Dixon dragged a shot wide and also had a low free-kick comfortably saved by Dan Lowson for the only real half chances of note.
Morpeth forced a succession of four corners midway through the first half, that required Tony Thompson to twice tip over the bar, as well as a good block from Tom Hannigan to deny Chris Reid.
But it was from a corner at the other end that the Yellows took the lead two minutes before the break.
Man of the match Sean Williams switched to his left foot to swing one in that caused sufficient chaos in the goalmouth and the ball was bundled home, possibly by Morpeth number nine Dale Pearson ahead of Hannigan for 1-0 at half time.
Morpeth levelled things up shortly after the hour mark in similarly scrappy fashion, Thompson spilling a Reid cross in to the path of Jack Foalle to prod home.
Parity was shortlived though, as from a nicely worked short free-kick, Seary and Mols linked up for the latter to curl a lovely ball in for Gumbs to run across and glance in to the far corner for his first goal of the season.
Isaac Buckley-Ricketts twice could have made the game safe, first forcing a save out of Lowson when Luke Duffy was perhaps better placed across goal, and then hitting the inside of the post after being released by a wonderful reverse through ball by Williams.
It mattered little in the end though, as the Yellows closed out the win with relative ease in a remarkably sixth meeting between the two sides since Mark Beesley took charge back in November.
The Yellows now have three consecutive games on the road – with Whitby in the league on Saturday and Stafford next Tuesday before the FA Cup trip to Hyde in the next round.
Warrington Town: Thompson, Seary, White, Hannigan, Gumbs, McDonald (Harris), Mols, Williams, Buckley-Ricketts (Amis), Dixon, Duffy (Howard). Unused subs: Putnam, Walker, Speare.
Morpeth Town: Lowson, Wombwell, Reid (Morris), Donaldson, Henderson, Turner, Foalle, Pani (Scott), Pearson, Thomson, Ramsey (King). Unused subs: Geliher, Harvey.
"We're really pleased with some of the stuff that we've done today." 🟡💬
A very happy boss after our cup success!
— Warrington Town FC (@theyellows) September 7, 2022
