Moore left proud as Hebburn Town battle to win at Blyth Spartans

Hebburn Town manager Daniel Moore praised his players for ‘putting their bodies on the line’ in Tuesday night’s narrow win at Blyth Spartans.

In what was the first of a number of all-North East fixtures in this season’s Northern Premier League Premier Division, the Hornets claimed a hard-earned three points against a Spartans side looking to bounce back from relegation from the National League North last season. After a lively start to the contest that was largely dominated by Moore’s men, the hosts came back into the game and threatened with on-loan South Shields youngster Joao Gomes looking their main threat.

However, it was a Hebburn talent that ultimately decided the contest as substitute Leo Robinson came off the bench midway through the second-half and took just four minutes to grab the only goal of the game. The former Hartlepool United academy midfielder benefitted from a large dose of luck as his speculative effort struck a defender before finding its way beyond Spartans keeper Harrison Bond and into the back of his net.

Speaking to The Gazette after the game, Hornets boss Moore revealed his pride over the way his players ground out a win against a Spartans side he believes will improve throughout the remainder of the season.

“I’ve just said in the dressing room, I’ve sat and thought about it, we’ve just beaten a team that’s just been relegated from the National League North and we’ve beaten a team that finished in the play-offs last year.  So I am really proud of the players, what a shift from them tonight.  To a man, I thought defensively, we put our bodies on the line.  Blyth are a good team, you can see they are only going to get better so to come and get a result, I am really, really proud of the players.”

The win in South East Northumberland meant Hebburn have now collected maximum points from their first two games in the Northern Premier League Premier Division and are yet to concede a goal in either game. With Saturday’s long trip to winless Mickleover next on the agenda, Moore believes his players have given themselves a ‘brilliant platform to build on’ as they turn their focus towards the visit to the Don Amott Arena.

“It’s just the start but that togetherness we’ve got in that dressing room got us those three points tonight.  That desire to keep the ball out of the net, to work hard, our lads ran themselves into the ground for each other and the badge so it’s a brilliant platform to work on.  I’m really pleased we are creating dangerous chances at this level and I’ve said over the last two games, we’ve created a lot of chances, probably more than we did in half a season in the other league.”