Competition for places can fire Hebburn Town to success this season

Hebburn Town striker Graeme Armstrong believes that competition for places can fire the Hornets to success this season.
Hebburn Town.Hebburn Town.
Hebburn Town.

The former Gateshead and Darlington frontman has already put down a marker to his rivals for a place in Kevin Bolam’s starting eleven with an impressive start to pre-season.

Armstrong was on target in Hebburn’s first friendly of the summer when he scored in their 3-0 win at Heaton Stannington two weeks ago and continued to impress as he fired a hat-trick in his side’s 4-2 home win against West Allotment Celtic at the weekend.

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Young duo Olly Martin and Cedwyn Scott have also been on target during pre-season and they will compete to become a regular starter with Armstrong and his Darlington strike partner Amar Purewal after he joined the club during the summer.

Armstrong is relishing the competition for places and insisted that nobody can afford to underperform during the season as their side look to challenge on a number of fronts.

“We are naturally an attacking side and that benefits me massively,” he told The Gazette.

“We have Amar Purewal that has come in and then there’s young Cedwyn and Olly too.

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“The competition for places is really strong so that keeps everyone going.

“There are always chances being created and whoever plays there will score goals because we are so focused on going forward.

“Everybody knows that they have to be at their best because if they aren’t, there will always be someone to take your place.”

Armstrong has been a regular goalscorer with a number of North East non-league clubs during a career that has spanned almost 20 years.

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The striker turns 37 later this month and he revealed that his outlook towards pre-season preparations have changed as he looks to compete alongside his younger team-mates.

“I don’t know about getting better in pre-season, but I think I am working harder in training and on matchday.

“The key thing for my confidence is that I am scoring goals and that’s the reward for working harder for me.”