Hebburn Town get new campaign underway with pre-season win

The Hornets boss handed a start to new signing Amar Purewal but it was his strike partner Graeme Armstrong that doubled his side’s lead midway through the first-half after an Ali Stoddart own goal put Hebburn ahead in the early stages.

Another of Bolam’s new additions made his Hornets bow in the second-half as former Whitley Bay defender Luke Salmon came on as a half-time substitute.

And his new side extended their lead just after the hour-mark when Olly Martin produced a stunning effort to grab his side’s third and final goal of a challenging fixture against the Northern League Division Two side.

After the game Bolam reflected on a promising start to their preparations for the new Northern League season.

He told The Gazette: “Obviously, a lot of things still aren’t right off the pitch because of everything going on with coronavirus and we are having to get used to working in that environment.

“But the most important thing was that we got minutes into everyone and stepped up their work towards the new season.

“I was really pleased with the lads, especially with it being their first game of pre-season and the fact it was against an established Division Two side that are always a tough challenge for anyone.

“A lot of things that we have worked on in training came off during the game.

“Me and Mick speak on a daily basis about what we want from the group and one of the things we asked was the off-the-ball stuff and they did that and a number of other aspects of the game really well.”

Hebburn will play their first home friendly of pre-season on Friday night when Northern Premier League club Morpeth Town visit the newly-named Green Energy Sports Ground.

The Highwaymen are tipped to challenge for promotion into the National League North during the upcoming season and Bolam is looking forward to seeing his side against a high-class opposition.

“We want big tests in pre-season and Morpeth will give us that,” he explained.