Assistant manager Mark Hudson wants more after Hebburn Town edge out Worksop Town

Assistant manager Mark Hudson insisted Hebburn Town have room for improvement after they made it seven points from their opening three games of the National League North season with a narrow home win against Worksop Town.

Daniel Moore’s men went into their meeting with the Tigers looking to build on a solid start to their first ever season in step two of the non-league pyramid after they claimed a home win against Southport before battling their way to a deserved draw at Brackley Town on Saturday.

Despite neither side producing genuine goalscoring opportunities during the opening hour of a tight and nervy contest, the Hornets always felt like the most likely to grab the first goal of the game. That finally arrived eight minutes from time when on-loan Hartlepool United striker Josh Donaldson fired home from the penalty spot after Jack Donaghy had been brought down in the area.

That was enough to ensure Hebburn will travel to Buxton this weekend sitting in third place in the National League North table - and despite that overwhelmingly positive start to the campaign, Hudson has stressed there is room for improvement in one key area.

He told The Gazette: “There is still loads of improvement to come from us - especially out of possession. We are solid and organised but I think on the ball, we need a bit more belief going forward and in the final third. We have a good points tally but there is miles more to come from the lads. We needed to freshen it up because Saturday at Brackley took it out of us so we brought Tom Allan and Robert Briggs in for their first starts. They wore Worksop down a bit in the first 60 minutes, that was the plan and then we had Alfie [Henderson], Muzza [Liam Murray] and Kian [Foreman] with their pace and they gave us little bit of edge in the last half an hour. I think we deserved it in the end.”

Outstanding

Hebburn’s summer transfer activity saw Moore opt to inject some National League North experience into his squad after the likes of Tom Allan and Elliot Forbes joined after spending significant time in step two earlier in their careers. However, it is the performances of defensive duo Aidan Heywood and Jack Donaghy that have really caught the eye over the first two weeks of the season. Hudson praised the duo for their impressive introduction into a tough division - and described the Hornets squad is ‘coming together nicely’.

He said: “When we sign players, even if they haven’t played in this league, we know they can progress and be comfortable. Jack has been here for a long time and he’s progressed with the club - and he’s been outstanding in the first three games, he hasn’t put a foot wrong and Aidan has been the same. Along with experienced lads that have played in the league, we are coming together nicely and we are going to need everyone this season because there is still a long way to go.”

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