An Amar Purewal hat-trick was enough to comfortably see off Grimsby Borough last weekend and extend the Hornets unbeaten run to 10 matches.
Loooking to build on the momentum from victory at Carlton Town, it was a quick start from Hebburn as Purewal gave the visitors the lead inside the third minute.
The striker controlled a long ball from the middle of the park, before cutting inside onto his deadly left foot and firing an effort into the bottom right corner past Grimsby goalkeeper Liam Higton. A great finish.
Daniel Moore’s side were very dominant in the early stages and minutes after the opener, Liam Noble’s effort from 18 yards sailed just wide of the post.
The chances kept on coming for the Hornets and in the 15th minute, Dean Briggs made a marauding run from inside his own half down the left flank, before attempting a low cross into the Grimsby box that was deflected behind for a corner. With Boro playing a high line, the clear tactic for the visitors was to go long at every opportunity.
The tempo then died down as the clock ticked towards the half hour mark and the game became scrappy as neither keeper seemed to be troubled since Purewal’s goal.
There was then a confrontation between Dan Groves and Cameron Gardner and to everyone’s surprise, it was Groves who was shown a yellow card. Soon after, Jack Donaghy then committed a nasty foul on Luke Horne. The resulting free-kick lacked quality and went out for a goal kick.
Noble was then fouled inside the Grimsby half following a high boot in the face. A flurry of corners arose for the home side, but Donaghy and Aidan Heywood were on hand on both occasions to head the ball away from danger.
A physical battle in the first forty-five minutes then came to an end as the referee blew his whistle for half-time.
Grimsby Borough came flying out the blocks in the second half as Lewis Collins saw his effort blocked.
In the 50th minute, Noble’s cross found Joe Walton who flicked the ball towards Purewal, but his acrobatic attempt was comfortable for Higton to save.
Ten minutes later, a scuffle broke out on the sidelines as a Grimsby player seemed to shove Hebburn manager Moore in his technical area, which caused complaints from the substitutes bench.
Boro thought they had found the equaliser in the 67th minute of the match.
A goalmouth scramble from a corner resulted in celebrations from the home side after they believed the ball had crossed the line, but the referee disallowed the goal for a foul on Hebburn goalkeeper Kieran Hunter.
The Hornets first change came in the 70th minute as Olly Martin replaced the hard working Briggs.
A couple of minutes later, the Hornets found themselves 2-0 up! Purewal beat the offside trap to slot past Higton for his 27th goal of the season.
Straight after the goal, Moore then opted to make another change as Arron Thompson was replaced by Leo Robinson with 15 minutes remaining.
With 10 minutes of the match left, the Hornets made their final substitution as Walton was replaced by Liam Murray.
In the 86th minute, Purewal put the game to bed by getting his hat-trick after Noble split the Grimsby defence with a well-timed through ball and the in-form striker done the rest by tucking the ball into Higton’s bottom right corner, leaving him with no chance.
A brilliant day at the office for Hebburn as they closed the gap to league leaders Stockton Town by five points, albeit three games in hand. However, the Hornets now face a tough week with an away trip to Liversedge on Tuesday night, followed by a home clash against Ashington on Thursday evening, befofe hosting play-off chasing Belper Town at the sportsy on Saturday afternoon.

Match Attendance: 158

Man of the Match: Amar Purewal