Hebburn Town win shows West Auckland are moving in the right direction - Young

West Auckland Town manager Gareth Young believes his side’s pre-season friendly win at Hebburn Town FC had the hallmarks of what he will need to see from his players during their first ever season in the Northern Premier League East Division.

West secured a historic promotion into the fourth tier of the non-league game when they claimed a Northern League Division One play-off final win against Shildon - and they have shown some promising signs during their preparations for the new season. The latest step in those preparations came during a hastily arranged pre-season friendly at National League North newcomers Hebburn and Young’s depleted side claimed a narrow win in a low-key affair thanks to a second-half goal from Fin O’Gorman.

Young was delighted with the performance he witnessed from his players at the Trustmark Group Stadium and believes they have shown they have bought into the demands he has placed upon them throughout his time in charge.

Speaking after the win, he told The Gazette: “We have our expectations for what we want this season - but we also know there are going to be tough games and we came up here with ten players, we had a goalkeeper we’ve just brought in today and a lad that played for me in the reserves - and we knew it would be tough with the side we had out. It was a learning curve, we knew we wouldn’t have a lot of the ball, so it was about concentration, organisation and a bit of desire. They fought for each other and I’ve learnt a lot from the players because they battled for every single second ball on the pitch.

“They are buying into what we want. You look at last season, we weren’t favourites to go up but the togetherness was on a different level and when you have that buy-in, when you have players that will go the extra mile, you know you have the basis of a good side that can compete.”

Your next football read: Arsenal make £136m power play as Newcastle United x Bruno Guimaraes saga takes twist