WITH seven points from their opening three games, Hexham are the early pacesetters in Division One.

But they were disappointed not to make it maximum points as they shared six goals with Red Row Welfare in an end-to-end encounter at the weekend.

The Tynedale side were ruing missed chances but, on reflection, were pleased to be unbeaten after their opening three games.

Red Row broke the deadlock after just five minutes of the fixture, but Will Forsyth levelled five minutes later when he curled the ball into the bottom corner after linking up well with brother Hamish.

But the visitors were back on top on 25 minutes when a long clearance sent a striker through, and he sent an unstoppable drive past stand-in goalkeeper John Walton.

It remained that way until 20 minutes after the restart when Hexham sub Kurtis Harvey’s hard work paid off. He robbed his opponent of the ball and then ran through to finish and make it 2-2.

But Hexham shot themselves in the foot and conceded a penalty straight from the kick off, allowing Welfare to again get their noses in front.

Hexham played the remaining 10 minutes of the game with 10 men after Dylan Mabunu was sin-binned for dissent, yet the spoils were shared when teenager Ben Wright sent home Owen Murtough’s back post cross.

It was fellow teen Callum Armstrong who stole the show in Hexham’s midweek victory over Bedlington. On only his second appearance for the senior team, the 17-year-old reacted to a rebounded effort to fire the winner home in the final five minutes.

It looked as though both teams might have had to settle for a point apiece as the teams were tied at 3-3 until Armstrong’s decisive action.

Hexham started slowly and found themselves 2-0 down at half time. But they were confident of turning the game on its head and were back in it within 10 minutes when Murtough’s cross was headed home by Michael Robson.

The scores were level five minutes later with Murtough this time getting his name on the scoresheet after flicking Peter McRoberts’ cross into the back of the net. Hexham had the wind in their sails and were ahead for the first time as McRoberts was again the provider, his corner headed home by Tom Hacking.

Bedlington heaped the pressure on and were rewarded with an equaliser, but Armstrong’s late goal saw Hexham claim all three points.