Moore wants Hebburn Town to take FA Trophy exit 'on the chin'

Daniel Moore insisted Hebburn Town must take their FA Trophy exit at the hands of North East neighbours Dunston UTS ‘on the chin’ and move on as quickly as possible.

Friday night’s eagerly anticipated first round tie saw both former Northern League clubs looking to land a place in the second round for the first time in their history - and it was the hosts that racked up that achievement thanks to a stunning first-half effort from winger Wil Shaw.

Speaking after the game, Hornets boss Moore told The Gazette: “We are disappointed with the result and I don’t think there were loads of chances for either team but they took theirs and we didn’t. We looked quite bright in the first half but again we have given a team a goal to hang on to and they defended really well in the second half but we couldn’t break them down. It’s disappointing but we have to take it on the chin and move on.”

Hebburn appeared to settle into the game before their hosts and they created half-chances in the opening 25 minutes with recent signing Robert Briggs and summer addition Jack Foalle both unable to open the scoring. Dunston grabbed the lead on the half hour with a quite simply stunning goal from former Consett man Shaw. The winger was able to find space around 25 yards from goal before curling a pinpoint effort beyond the desperate dive of on-loan Sunderland goalkeeper Dan Cameron and inside his far post.

Ethan Wood came close to restoring parity just before the break as a long period of controlled possession from the Hornets ended with the midfielder sending a low drive narrowly beyond the near post. After surviving an early scare when Cameron denied Dunston striker Sado Djalo just minutes after the restart, Hebburn started to create some sights of goal with Briggs, Olly Martin and Briggs all unable to grab an equaliser as time slipped away.

Damage

It was striker Gary Martin that came closest to at least forcing the tie into a penalty shoot-out as he headed home at the far post after meeting a free-kick from Briggs - but their celebrations were cut short by an offside flag. There was still time for former Newcastle United academy striker Josh Donaldson to come close to rubbing salt into Hebburn wounds when he smashed a rising drive against the post - but the damage had already been done as the chance to make history slipped away for Moore and his players.

If there was a positive for the Hornets boss, it was the performance of midfielder Liam Murray as he continues to establish himself as an increasingly influential member of his side with another impressive display.

He said: “I thought he (Murray) was the best player on the pitch - and that’s no disrespect to any of the Dunston players because I thought they were good as a team. Individually, Muzza was outstanding again and I picked him out in the dressing room because he’s been brilliant all season and he is a positive we have this year and he’s a driving force in what we are doing.”

Dunston UTS: Lowson, Neary, McDonald, Turnbull (Turner), Pearson, Devitt, O’Donnell (Donaldson), Edwards (Chrisp), Djalo (Neary), Robinson, Shaw Subs: Baxter

Hebburn Town: Cameron, Heywood, Oliver, Donaghy (Turner), Elsdon, Wood (Thompson), Foalle (Taylor), Briggs, Martin, Murray, Martin (Charlton) Subs: Moore

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