Hebburn Town fell to a 5-1 defeat at National League North rivals Radcliffe on Tuesday night.

Daniel Moore admitted Hebburn Town FC ‘just weren’t good enough’ as they fell to a 5-1 defeat at National League North rivals Radcliffe.

The Hornets made a slow start and were punished as a fine solo effort from Tyler James put their hosts in front inside the opening three minutes of the contest. On-loan Hartlepool United youngster Kian Foreman got Moore’s men back on level-terms within 60 seconds - but that was as good as it got for Hebburn as they were well beaten at the Neuven Stadium.

Kian Freeman celebrates with Hebburn Town team-mate Josh Donaldson after scoring in their defeat at Radcliffe (photo Tyler Lopes) | Tyler Lopes

placeholder image — Kian Freeman celebrates with Hebburn Town team-mate Josh Donaldson after scoring in their defeat at Radcliffe (photo Tyler Lopes) | Tyler Lopes

James doubled his tally and restored his side’s lead just before the half-hour mark before luck went against Moore and his players when Joe Pritchard’s cross found its way into the net to extend Radcliffe’s lead to two six minutes before half-time. There was not let-up after the restart as Pritchard doubled his tally from the penalty spot with seven minutes remaining before Charlie Raglan rounded off a poor night for the Hornets when he grabbed the final goal of the game in the closing stages.

Moore praised the hosts’ for their performance - but refused to criticise the effort shown by his own players on what he believes was a first disappointing display of the season.

He told the club website: “It’s the first time I’ve been disappointed this season. It wasn’t us at all and fair play to them because they pretty much bullied us. We know what they’re about. From what I’ve watched of them and heard about them, they don’t deserve to be down there. They had a poor end to the season last year - but throughout the season they were in the play-offs and you can see why. They’ve got some really good players, big, strong athletes, which we couldn’t deal with tonight. Defensively, we were poor. Midfield, got bullied, didn’t win enough second balls. I’m not going to fault the effort, the lads tried, we just weren’t good enough and we came up against a team we could tell wanted points.”

The Hornets are back in action on Saturday when they host former Northern Premier League title rivals Hednesford Town at the Trustmark Group Stadium.

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