Hebburn Town manager left ‘proud as punch’ despite knockout blow to promotion hopes

Hebburn Town player-manager Daniel Moore was left ‘proud as punch’ despite his side falling to a defeat in their Northern Premier League East play-off semi-final against Long Eaton United.

The Blues looked well on their way to inflicting a third defeat of the season on Moore’s men when first-half brace from Jamie Walker put them well in control when the half-time whistle was blown. Robbie Spence halved the deficit for the Hornets midway through the second-half and it was Moore himself that grabbed a dramatic equaliser in the sixth minute of injury-time.

Neither side could find the net during 30 minutes of extra-time and it was the visitors that secured a play-off final meeting with Stockton Town when they claimed a 3-2 win in the shoot-out. Moore praised the ‘character and attitude’ of his players and believes they were unfortunate to come out on the wrong end of the tie.

He told The Gazette: “I’m proud as punch and you can talk about what happens in a game, but it’s a one-off game and we did so well to get back into the game after going into half-time two goals down. We took it to the death, we showed the character and attitude, we showed the things we expect of them and I can’t ask anymore from them. It’s a cruel way to lose a game but one team has to lose and unfortunately today that was us.”

Hebburn will round off their competitive fixtures for Moore’s first season in charge when they take on National League North side Spennymoor Town in the Durham Challenge Cup next Wednesday night. With thoughts already turning towards the game, Moore is adamant he will ensure his players are over their play-off heartache as they prepare to meet his former club at the Stadium of Light.

He said: “It’s progress, and I think we have brought a togetherness to the club and now it’s time to build on that and look forward to Wednesday. We will have to get around some of the younger lads that unfortunately missed the penalties and it’s important that I do that as a manager. We will talk to them, we’ll get them ready for Wednesday and get them ready for the cup final because they all deserve to be there.”