Hebburn Town suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of National League North rivals Merthyr Town on Saturday.

Daniel Moore delivered an open and honest assessment of Hebburn Town’s performance in their defeat at National League North rivals Merthyr Town.

The Hornets made the long trip to Wales looking to rack up a notable away win and end a run of five league games without a win. However, it was the hosts that seized the initiative when Kieran Evans opened the scoring just after the quarter-hour mark. Josh Donaldson got Hebburn back into the game when he grabbed an equaliser four minutes before half-time but it was the hosts that took an advantage in the break with Kane Simpson strike.

Action from Hebburn Town's defeat at Merthyr Town (photo Tyler Lopes) | Tyler Lopes

placeholder image — Action from Hebburn Town's defeat at Merthyr Town (photo Tyler Lopes) | Tyler Lopes

Hebburn remained in the game until the closing stages when Merthyr belatedly settled the contest with two goals in the final two minutes from Ellis Watts and Morgan Wigley and that left the Hornets with just one win from their seven away games so far this season.

Speaking after the game, Moore admitted his side had been second best and hinted they may need to return to the style of play they showed during a strong start to their first season in the National League North.

He told the club website: “Ultimately, they were just better than us. Better on the ball, defended better, created more, they were the better team - but I feel like we have gone away from what we did at the start of the season. At the start of the season, we sat off teams, we had a trigger where on the pitch they got to and we jumped out a little bit.

“The last few weeks, have we gone away from that a little bit? Probably, yeah. We have gone after teams a little bit, a little confidence trying to pinch the ball back. Ultimately, we are not good enough to do that and that’s not me saying the players aren’t good enough but in this division you can’t do it and we’ve left people exposed in the last few weeks.”

The Hornets now have a free midweek to prepare for next Saturday’s FA Trophy second round tie against Guiseley as Moore’s men look to gain revenge for the FA Cup defeat they suffered against the Lions earlier in the season.

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