Making sure Hebburn Town get off to a 2018 flyer is a Shaw thing

Hebburn Town hosted Northallerton and produced a convincing 2-0 win.

Hebburn took the lead when Northallerton failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to Gary Shaw, who poked the ball into the net, beyond the despairing dive of goalkeeper Tom Dawson.

In the 57th minute, a through ball from the back found Shaw, who raced through and hit a fierce shot into the net for his second goal of the game and move his team into sixth place, just six points off the promotion places.

Hebburn had ended 2017 with a run of poor performances which had seen them drop from second place at one stage to seventh and although facing stern competition were eager to turn this around.

The Hornets certainly started in fine fashion and in the early stages, fine linking play between Wallace and Shaw and long throw-ins from Stuart Bramley were putting the away side under pressure.

A tremendous throw by Bramley was not cleared by the Northallerton defence and Gary Shaw was on hand to despatch a firm drive past the keeper to open the scoring.

Shaw almost scored a second when he broke clear of the Northallerton defence, but was thwarted by a last ditch tackle.

A superb save from Steve Hubery prevented Northallerton from levelling the scores as he arched his body to tip over a powerful header from Chris Dickinson.

The Hornets almost doubled their lead when Craig Malley planted a firm header against the post with the keeper stranded.

In the final minute of the first half, only excellent covering work by Peter Jones prevented a goal scoring opportunity and then Ross Toward, who had just replaced the injured skipper Iain Bickerstaff, headed a goal bound effort over his own goal to ensure the Hornets left the field in the lead.

On the hour, Callum Smith, having a fine game in midfield, fired over the bar, but the Hornets would not be denied for much longer.

The pass of the game was collected superbly by Shaw in the box, and his drive from 12 yards beat the keeper to double his tally and give the Hornets a 2-0 advantage.

Northallerton were still very much in the game, as they brought on their substitutes, but Hebburn’s back four and midfield stood up to any pressure and in the final minutes could have extended their lead.

Paul Chow brought a great save from the keeper with a strong header at the near post and this was followed by another effort from Shaw which was well saved.