A Bailey Adamson first-half strike was enough to see Hebburn Town edge past Esh Winning on Tuesday night, to seal a home tie against Newton Aycliffe in the First Round Proper of the Durham Challenge Cup.

Daniel Moore decided that this game was a great opportunity to rotate his squad, making eight changes from the weekend win over Lancaster City.

The Hornets were the clear favourites heading into the game and they started on the front foot. Joe Posthill opted to strike from the edge of the box inside the opening two minutes, but his shot was no trouble for goalkeeper Harry Alderson. In the fifth minute, Groves played a floated ball over the Esh defence hoping to find Alfa Djalo, but Alderson was quick off his line to clear.

Hebburn were then awarded a free kick in the eighth minute as Tom Devitt was fouled. Leo Robinson whipped the ball into the box, and Jack Donaghy headed wide of the post. Five minutes later, another chance arose for the visitors. This time, Cameron Inglis delivered
a cross towards Djalo who tried to head over the goalkeeper, but his timing was wrong, and the ball ended up in Alderson’s gloves. Promising signs for the Hornets.

Esh Winning’s first chance of the game came in the nineteenth minute. Cobi Jones drove past Groves down the right-hand side and attempted to swing a ball into the box, but the cross was blocked and eventually cleared by Hebburn. In the twenty-fifth minute, Paul Van Zandvliet delivered towards Adamson in the middle, but the forward was unable to meet the ball and Esh cleared. The visitors were struggling to break down a resilient Esh defence.

Next, Posthill swung a ball into the box that evaded everyone and fell to the feet of Inglis. The right-back let fly towards goal, but his strike was wide of the post. The Hornets were in control, but there was no goal to show for their dominance. In the thirty-second minute, another cross into the box from Posthill was cleared only as far as Robinson on the edge of the box. He fired low and just wide of the post. There was a feeling around the ground that a Hebburn goal was soon to come.

In the thirty-sixth minute, Groves tried his luck from distance, but his strike was inches past the post. The Hornets perseverance finally paid off in the forty-third minute when Adamson struck to give his side a deserved lead. Some neat play between Djalo and Inglis on the right-hand side saw the latter deliver a low cross into the six-yard area, and Adamson was on hand to poke the ball under Alderson for one-nil. Just before the break, Hebburn were awarded a free kick twenty-five yards from goal. Posthill stepped up and fired over the crossbar. It would’ve taken something special to score from that distance.

After two minutes of additional time in the first half, the referee blew his whistle for half-time. It was one way traffic as the visitors held a one-goal advantage.

As the second half began, Hebburn continued to be the dominant side. In the fifty-first minute, Adamson drove at the Esh defence before unleashing an effort that stung the palms of Alderson. Djalo was there to pounce on a potential rebound but the goalkeeper held well. Just three minutes later, Joe Bates struck low towards the far corner, but Dobson got down low to palm away from safety. A first real sighting on goal for the hosts. Moore opted for a triple change in the fifty-ninth minute, adding extra experience to his side. Aidan Heywood, Arron Thompson and Liam Noble replaced Inglis, Van-Zandvliet and Robbie Spence.

On the hour mark, Elliot Judson attempted to lob Dobson from distance, but the effort had no chance of troubling the goalkeeper. In the sixty-fifth minute, Posthill shot from twenty-five yards was off target and sailed over the crossbar. With twenty minutes remaining, Hebburn made a double change as Donaghy and Adamson made way for Gildo Da Silva and Aidan Maher. Maher was involved in the action straight away just minutes later. He fired from distance, but his shot was straight at Alderson.

Screams then arrived from the Hebburn faithful in the seventy-eighth minute. Da Silva latched onto a long ball and was brought down by the goalkeeper, denying a clear goalscoring opportunity but the referee said no and awarded a corner. The resulting corner came to nothing. A baffling decision by the man in the middle, one of many made on the night.

With three minutes to go, Da Silva attempted to lob Alderson, but his attempt went wide of the goal. The referee indicated an additional four minutes of second-half stoppage time. In the dying minutes of the game, the hosts were pushing for an equaliser, and were awarded a set-piece after Groves was adjudged to have fouled an attacker. The cross was delivered into the box and was blocked by Maher. Shortly after, the referee blew for full-time.

Hebburn Town came away from West Terrace Stadium with a hard-fought victory against lower league opposition. There is now a full week break before the Hornets head to Manchester to face Hyde United next Tuesday evening.

Man of the Match: Dan Groves

By Dan Carlton