Daniel Moore hails hardworking Hebburn Town after historic Southport win
Hebburn Town marked their debut as a National League North club with a home win against Southport.
Daniel Moore hailed a hardworking display from Hebburn Town FC as the Hornets marked their National League North debut with a deserved win against Southport.
The vast majority of the 1,211 in attendance at the Trustmark Group Stadium were celebrating with just eight minutes on the clock as Moore’s men grabbed the lead with the first chance of the game as debutant Jake Charles took advantage of an error to allow Matty Cornish to tap home from close range.
Liam Murray went close to doubling the lead with the half-hour approaching when his deflected error looped over visitors goalkeeper Solomon Honor before nesting on top of the net. A second goal did arrive just minutes before half-time and it came thanks to Charles as he marked his competitive Hornets duo with a deadly finish across the helpless Honor after he was released in on goal by goalscorer Cornish.
The visitors reduced the arrears on the hour-mark with a scrappy goal from Daniel Ogwuru as he punished Hebburn for failing to deal with ball into their area by bundling the ball into the net from close range. However, the introduction of Tom Allan, Dan Myers, Alfie Henderson and Josh Donaldson sparked further energy and intensity into the Hornets side - and it was the latter of that quartet that ended any doubt over the result in the final minute of the game.
The on-loan Hartlepool United striker has wasted a golden opportunity just minutes earlier - but he made no mistake in the closing stages with a cool finish as he marked his competitive debut with a goal after good approach play from fellow debutant Elliot Forbes.
‘My voice has gone a bit’ - Daniel Moore
That allowed Moore to reflect on a positive introduction to life in step two as he side earned maximum reward for a hardworking display.
He told The Gazette: “My voice has gone a bit but i thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a controlled, professional performance and when you look at the chances, we could have won by more. Shape-wise, we were superb. Off the ball, brilliant. On the ball, we can get better - but it’s the first day of the season. You see we have created a lot of good chances and some of the lads will be disappointed we haven’t got a couple more but we will take that in the first game of the season, no problem about it.
“I am a big believer in you can control the game with and without the ball. We did a lot of work, which we knew we had to off the ball, and that was nice to see it work out there. In the 90 minutes, Isaac had one save to make. Yes, we are disappointed with their goal because it came from our set-piece - but they’ve had a shot in the 90th minute and he has pushed it away. Other than that they haven’t had any other opportunities.”
Hebburn Town: Allan, Heywood, Donaghy, Elsdon, Wood, Cornish (Henderson), Charles (Donaldson), Murray (Allan), Forbes, Foreman (Myers), Oliver Subs: Dobson, Briggs, Waters
Southport: Honor, Lavelle (Griffiths), Jameson (Perritt), Davies, Griffiths, Slew, Solomon (Lloyd), McKenzie (Edwards), Ogwuru, Burgess (Dwyer), Minihan Subs: Pike, Cunningham
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