Hebburn Town manager hails captain Purewal ahead of landmark appearance

Hebburn Town player-manager Daniel Moore has paid tribute to Hornets captain Amar Purewal as he prepares to bring up a century of appearances for the club this weekend.

The former Darlington and West Auckland Town striker has become a firm favourite since former manager Kevin Bolam brought his to Hebburn Sports Ground in the summer of 2020.

During his first season with the club, the Panjab international helped the Hornets to their first ever promotion into the Northern Premier League and scored in their FA Vase Final win over Consett, where he came up against his twin brother, Arjun.

Purewal continued to be an integral figure under Moore during his first season in charge of the Hornets and was handed the captain’s armband by the former Shildon boss ahead of the current season.

With a landmark appearance lying in wait against Ossett United this weekend, Moore hailed his in-form striker as ‘a role model for younger player’s and praised his attitude on and off the pitch.

He told The Gazette: “He’s probably epitomises what you want from a non-league player because he acts as a professional.

“Amar could be playing League Two, that’s how he treats the game and prepares for it. He deserves what he gets, he’s been huge for me. He was consistent last year and he’s back at those levels. I was a different type of captain to Amar, he leads by example and as a younger player you look up to him. They watch how he prepares, how he looks after himself away from football.

“He’s a great role model for any young lad in non-league football. He loves playing up there, I think he’s proud to captain the side and play up front. He loves that responsibility, he’s a leader on the pitch and his running stats are always at the top of the squad.”

Purewal will be looking to find for the third consecutive game when the Hornets make the trip to Ingfield this weekend.

Surprisingly, the hosts are yet to win an East Division fixture on home soil this season after winning one and drawing four of their five league games during the opening three months of the campaign.

Despite heading into the game as favourites to collect the points, Moore has warned his table-topping squad they are now viewed as a scalp by their opponents, who will be only too keen to disrupt the Hornets bid for promotion this season.

He said: “Every week since the start of the season, I’ve said everyone looks at Hebburn and sees us as a scalp. It wasn’t that when I came in, teams now raise their game against us.

“I have been trying to get it into the lads that teams are like that. That’s what they want to do, they want to ruin it. It’s a different type of challenge to get it into the players that this is what they are facing.”

Moore will be without the services of midfielder Arron Thompson and forward Olly Martin as they serve one-match suspensions for accumulating five yellow cards.