Play-off chasing Hebburn Town warned ahead of Whitby Town test

Hebburn Town manager Daniel Moore believes Whitby Town will pose a significant threat to the Hornets play-off push when the two sides meet this weekend.

The Seasiders inflicted a 6-2 home defeat on Hebburn in September on a night when Hornets midfielder Paul Van-Zandvliet was shown a controversial red card and little went right for his side during the second-half of what had been a close-fought contest. However, the Hornets moved on from that defeat and have enjoyed a positive return from their festive fixtures to remain in close proximity to the Northern Premier League Premier Division play-off spots.

Whitby are currently ten points adrift of the top five after winning two of their three fixtures over the last fortnight - and Moore believes they showed enough in their win on South Tyneside to be considered a genuine threat in the return fixture this weekend.

He told The Gazette: “I thought Whitby would be there or thereabouts after last season and when we played them at home, even before we went down to ten men, you could see they were a good side. They are in decent form, they are picking up wins more often than not and it seems like they’ve turned a corner in terms of what they are trying to do. It bodes well for a decent game down there to be honest.”

With the midway point of the season now behind them, Hebburn have had an opportunity to be assessed by the opposition they have faced during their first season in the third tier of the non-league game. However, as a result of their impressive performances, Moore believes both the Hornets and fellow newly-promoted side Stockton Town have earned their respect by moving into play-off contention.

“Some teams have recognised we are a good, attacking side and have paid respect to us in recent weeks by not coming and having a good go at us. We have that attacking threat and I would say both us and Stockton have earned the respect of the division. We are no mugs, we deserve to be where we are in the table.”

Moore will be without suspended defender Matty Elsdon and on-loan South Shields winger Joao Gomes is unavailable.