BIRTHDAY boy Marc Nixon gave Hexham a present of his own as his two goals earned them all three points.

In the side‘s first game in Northern Alliance Division One since October, the striker celebrating turning 32 with both goals in the slender 2-1 win over Felling Magpies.

The winner on 75 minutes was a special one, as he settled the close encounter by beating the offside trap and sending a delightful chip over Felling goalkeeper Phil Creed.

After an enforced period of idleness due to the poor weather of late, Hexham look to have a busy few months ahead as they need to fit 19 league games into the remaining 15 weekends of the season.

So they will need to rely on a bigger squad, welcoming Gareth McAlindon straight into the team to make his debut.

Hexham started the game well in blustery conditions, Kurtis Harvey going close with a diving header early on. At the other end, in almost a carbon copy of the chance, Tom Williams saw his header clear the crossbar.

The hosts had goalkeeper Sean Heads to thank for keeping the scores goalless on the half hour when he made a tremendous one handed save low down.

The game swung back into Hexham’s favour with Nixon making a nuisance of himself, breaking the deadlock two minutes before half time with a well finished goal.

The Magpies were on top as the teams emerged and, after Hexham survived the onslaught for the opening 10 minutes, they finally succumbed to the pressure when James Fenwick headed home past Heads.

The equaliser put Felling in the ascendancy but, despite enjoying a lot of possession, they were often stifled by the central defensive pairing of Jamie Peel and Michael Robson, well aided by wing backs Tom Hacking and Steven Coates.

Hexham freshened things up by introducing Tom North and Matt Wilson from the bench, while Patrick McAlindon was also added to the action alongside brother Gareth who was having a great debut.

With the game poised on a knife edge, it was over to birthday boy Nixon to wrap things up with the delightful lob as Hexham were able to see out the game despite Felling pouring forward in search of a point.