SHE has proved to be a pair of safe hands for the ladies’ team time and again, but there was a starring role up front for Nicky Baguley as she helped Tynedale II to victory over Morpeth IV.

Despite only having 10 players, the Tyne Valley side edged out their opponents in an entertaining encounter between two evenly matched teams.

Baguley was used as a striker instead of her usual goalkeeper role, with shot stopper Tim Lewis kept busy in the opening half. The Morpeth keeper was equally called into action on numerous occasions.

The deadlock was broken on 15 minutes when sustained pressure by Tynedale midfielders Fran Dent, Ant Armstrong and Tasha Berkley culminated with a well-worked chance for Baguley, who beat the goalkeeper with a pushed shot which was directed into the corner of the goal.

Tyne led until 10 minutes after the restart when Morpeth levelled.

And then followed a period of dominance as they attacked Tynedale with the wind in their sails, putting the visitors’ defence under severe pressure.

However, good work from the experienced duo of John Barron and captain Gary Brown, supported well by fellow defenders May Thomas and Sam Armstrong, who shared the most significant players of the game award, kept their hosts at bay.

The home side seemed certain to take the lead when their forward broke, but he was thwarted by a fantastic save with the left leg of Lewis, who deflected the powerful shot past the post.

The Tynedale midfield and forward lines then found the energy to mount several attacks down both wings with Tori Connolly and Laura Gray creating more chances to get their noses ahead.

Armstrong came close when he carried the ball into the D from the right and saw his powerful shot beat the keeper only to hit the post.

The Tynedale pressure paid off 15 minutes from time with a lovely team move and a string of good passing which saw Connolly put the ball into the back of the net with a reverse stick push past the Morpeth keeper, securing a 2-1 victory for the guests.