by Peter Scherer
With four league games without a win, Mickleover will be hoping that the 362 mile round trip to Morpeth Town on Tuesday night will prove positive.
Like Mickleover, our hosts have spent much of this season around midtable and have recently secured 2-0 wins at Worksop and Prescot Cables, before a 2-1 win at Bamber Bridge last Saturday.
Sports have had a number of casualties over the last couple of months, which has contributed greatly to the lack of stability in the line-up, leaving them 15th in the table, with our hosts now ninth.
Craig Lynch has been in charge at Craik Park since October 2021. He previously managed Seaham Red Star and his playing career took him to Sunderland, Rochdale, Hartlepool, Spennymoor Town and Blyth Spartans.
Goalkeeper Dan Langley arrived pre-season, he was originally spotted by Newcastle Utd, while playing for St.Benet Biscop Catholic Academy. After loans at Gateshead and Spennymoor, he joined Blyth Spartans on his release.
After a couple of months he moved to Oldham Athletic, who loaned him back to Blyth and Scunthorpe, before joining our hosts.
Rhys Evans is a right back who started out with Wallsend Boys. But after a spell in Scotland with St.Johnstone and Queen of the South, he came back to England with Benfield. He came to Morpeth pre-season too, after five years at Blyth Spartans.
Josh Robson is primarily a right back too. The former Sunderland junior spent time on loan in Norway with Notodden, before a permanent move to Bryne. He returned to the UK two years later with Blyth Spartans and is in his third season at Morpeth.
Attacking midfielder Will Dowling started out with East Northumberland & Berwick Schools, before signing for Sunderland. He then had a year at Stoke City before joining our hosts last Match.
Centre back and captain Jeff Henderson played his junior football at Newcastle Utd. He was loaned to Gateshead, before moving to the League of Ireland with Sligo Rovers, where he played in Champions and Europa League qualifiers.
He returned to England with Stobswood after a three years in Ireland and is now in his seventh year at Craik Park.
Josh King is a centre back too, in his third season with the club, since coming from York City. He started out at Park View Academy.
Defender Liam Miller came from Guisborough at the start of last season. A former Sunderland junior and Scotland Under 16 & 17 International, he’s played for Bishop Auckland too..
Left winger Danny Barlow is another former Blyth Spartans player, that was signed in July 2023.
Striker Jerome Greaves is a more recent signing, having come from Bishop Auckland last month. A former Rotherham youngster, he had loan spells at Matlock, and Farsley Celtic, before going to Pontefract on his release.
He quickly moved on to Eccleshill, and has also played for Belper Town and Whitby Town, where he spent the whole of last season.
Fellow striker Luke James has played over 250 matches in leagues one and two, scoring 24 goals. He started out at Hartlepool before moving to Peterborough Utd. He was loaned to Bradford City, back to Hartlepool and Bristol Rovers, before a permanent move to Forest Green Rovers.
After a third spell at Hartlepool, he has also played for Barrow, York City and South Shields, from where he is currently on a season long loan, having finished last season on loan at Blyth. He is also an England C International.
Striker Jack Foalle came from Whitley Bay way back in 2018 and scored on his home debut.
Ryan Wombwell is a right back and another former Sunderland youngster. He had a year at Gateshead after his release and came to Morpeth from Spennymoor in August last year.
Striker Nic Bollado started off with Carlisle Utd, before a spell at Stockport County. He joined our hosts last December, after a loan at FC United.
Jordan Hickey is a central midfielder and another former Sunderland Junior, who then had three years at Hull City. He is another former Blyth player too, who arrived pre-season.
Midfielder Vinnie Steels joined our hosts from Shildon over the summer of 2023. He also played for Darlington, York City, Burnley Under-21s, and Sunderland Under-21s before a stint at Shildon prior to joining the Highwaymen.
Nathan Buddle is another pre-season signing from Ashington. A centre back, he was another former Hartlepool youngster, who has played for Blyth, Carlisle, Gateshead and Spennymoor too.
Midfielder Fenton John is another season long loanee. A former Middlesbrough junior, he joined Gateshead pre-season, from where he is currently on loan.
York City youngsters striker Billy Marshall and midfielder Leon Gibson-Booth are both on youth loans too, having both previously been loaned to Ossett Utd.
Striker Sam Davison had been part of Carlisle United’s academy since featuring in their under-11 age group. There for five years, he switched to Morpeth’s Academy and featured in pre-season fixtures before making match day squads for the first team.
Midfielder Matty Griggs is another of the talented juniors breaking through into the first team pre-season. He is also dual registered with Whitley Bay.
Matt Boyd is another product of Morpeth’s own Academy. A young midfielder he also featured for Hibernian in their Academy set-up in Scotland.
Finally Morpeth juniors Josh Follin and Ryan Cater have recently joined the first team squad too, having both been selected for England Schools.
Kick off is at 7.45 and instructions should be on the clubs website to follow the live commentary.