Hudson hails Hebburn Town as NPL East title challenge is boosted with Belper win

Assistant manager Mark Hudson lauded Hebburn Town’s ability to overcome a physical and mental challenge as they took a step closer towards claiming the Northern Premier League East title with a 4-0 win over Belper Town.

After taking maximum points from away days at Grimsby Borough and Liversedge and a home game with Ashington during the previous seven days, Daniel Moore’s side made it 11 wins on the bounce by seeing off the Nailers with a professional display at Hebburn Sports Ground. All of the hard work was done in the first-half as an own goal handed the Hornets an early lead before former Ashington winger Dean Briggs took centre stage with two neat finishes before the half-time whistle had been blown.

Moore’s men always remained in control of the contest and rarely looked threatened as they looked to extend their lead throughout the second-half - but they had to wait until injury-time to grab a fourth goal as Olly Martin got on the scoresheet in the final minute. That rounded off a fine display from the in-form Hornets - although their title celebrations were put on hold by Stockton Town’s 3-0 home win against relegation threatened Brighouse Town. However, Hebburn can officially secure the league title and a first ever promotion into the third tier of non-league football if they are able to a home win against Ossett United on Tuesday night.

Speaking after Saturday’s win, Hudson praised the Hornets squad for their recent form and the attitude they have shown throughout their most hectic and challenging period of a long season spent largely in the top five of the East Division table.

He told The Gazette: “That’s our third game of the week after playing Tuesday and Thursday and we were a bit concerned with what physical condition the players would be in. But I thought they were bang at it from the start and all of the damage was done in the first-half to be honest. We are really pleased with what they have done and where they have taken us. We’ve trained really hard all season and we said over the last two weeks to put their bodies on the line for this football club. They have suffered physically but they’ve been fantastic and we just have to finish the job now.”

The Hornets will now focus on a potentially historic night against Ossett on Tuesday before rounding off their season with a visit to Sheffield next Saturday afternoon.