Moore proud of ten-man Hebburn Town after Mickleover draw

Daniel Moore revealed his pride over Hebburn Town’s performance in their home draw with NPL Premier Division rivals Mickleover on Saturday.

The Hornets made the perfect start to the contest when on-loan South Shields winger Joao Gomes fired his side in front as he rounded off a neat passing move from close range. However, Moore’s men were dealt a blow when midfielder Arron Thompson was shown a straight red card for a strong challenge just after the quarter-hour mark.

The visitors got themselves back on level-terms just three minutes later with a goal from Gabriel Adebambo and despite both sides creating chances throughout a hectic second-half, they both earned a share of the points for their efforts.

Speaking after the game, Moore said: “I’m really proud of the players, I thought they gave everything and we played the majority of the game with ten men. We only had ten available on Thursday, Paul Van (Zandvliet) and young Harry have come in to back up the squad, we only had ten outfield players, senior players anyway, so to go down to ten men, the shift they have put in was absolutely brilliant and I’m really proud of them.

“We should have won the game, with ten men we had three or four great chances and Dan has made a couple of great saves but we deserved to win the game. You can’t fault the players, I said just go for it, with ten men what did we have to lose.”

The draw has left Hebburn sat five points above the relegation zone with just three games remaining in the season - but Moore has insisted his side are not even considering being dragged into the battle to avoid the drop.

He said: “No, we have too much quality in there. I know we are another man down on Saturday but like I’ve said I think if we win two out of three games we will probably finish in the top ten. Fifty points was the aim to start with so we are a couple of points away and I am sure we will get to those fifth points.”

Hebburn now have a free midweek to prepare for a hectic bank holiday weekend as they visit Gainsborough Trinity on Saturday before hosting Stockton Town on Monday afternoon.

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