Hebburn returned to home soil on Saturday and swept Bamber Bridge aside with ease, coming away with a thumping five-one win thanks to goals from Jack Donaghy, debutant Paul Van-Zandvliet, Olly Martin and an Amar Purewal brace.

Having signed in the week from Ashington, Van-Zandvliet was handed a debut start, replacing the suspended Robbie Spence in midfield. That was Daniel Moore’s only change from the FA Cup heroics last weekend. The Hornets began the game in good fashion and immediately, Liam Noble opted to play a long ball over the top of the defence towards Purewal, but the chance came to nothing as the Assistant Referee raised their flag for offside.

In the eighth minute, a good opportunity fell the way of the home side. Joe Posthill delivered the ball towards an unmarked Purewal in the area, and the forward directed his header towards goal but the effort was tame and Nick Michalski held well for Brig.
The Hornets found themselves ahead inside ten minutes. Noble’s set-piece was misjudged by the goalkeeper as he let the ball slip through his gloves, and Donaghy was on the goal-line to tap home.

The fast start continued and in the thirteenth minute, Hebburn found themselves two to the good. A long throw from Michael Turner was flicked on by Donaghy, and the ball fell to the feet of Van-Zandvliet who swivelled in a tight area, and slotted the ball under the ‘keeper for a debut goal that doubled his side’s advantage. Kieran Hunter was then adjudged to have handled the ball outside his area and received a booking by the referee. The following free-kick was cleared by Noble.

The Hornets continued to pile pressure onto the Brig defence, and Posthill used his blistering pace to get round the defenders, before striking an effort that deflected wide for a corner. From the resulting corner, the keeper was able to palm away. A third goal arrived for Hebburn in the fortieth minute. Noble played a long pass towards Martin on the right-hand side, the winger then ran towards the byline and swung in a low ball towards Purewal at the back post, and he made no error in poking the ball home for three. A brilliant move.

As the referee indicated there would be three minutes of additional time in the first half, Martin struck a curling effort that just evaded the top-left corner. Inches away from a fourth goal. The referee then blew his whistle to bring a halt to the best half of football we’ve seen from the Hornets this season.

No changes were made at half time and Bamber Bridge were the ones on the front foot at the start of the second half. Olly Molloy’s effort from twenty-yards sailed over the crossbar, no trouble for Hunter. Just a minute later, Martin had fired in a fourth goal for the hosts. The Brig defender misplaced a pass and Martin latched onto the ball. He drove towards goal, leaving two defenders in his wake, before rounding the goalkeeper and tucking the ball into an empty net. It was becoming easy for Hebburn. In the fifty-second minute, Martin won his side a set-piece. Taken short by Noble to Aidan Heywood, and he struck low from distance into Michalski’s gloves.

A first change of the afternoon came from the away side in the fifty-fifth minute. Billy Bould replaced Alex-Ray Harvey. Hunter was then forced into his first save of the game from Bould’s strike. Moore then decided the hour mark was a good time for his first change as Joe Walton replaced Martin. The flow of the game was being interrupted in the second half as more substitutions were being made by both benches. Firstly, for Brig, Jeff Adubofour replaced Lewis Hey, then just two minutes later, Van-Zandvliet's debut
had come to end as he made way for Liam Murray.

In the sixty-eighth minute, Heywood was the second Hornets player to go into the book for a foul on the Brig player. A third Hornets change also arrived as Posthill made way for Bailey Adamson. A huge opportunity for a fifth goal came in the seventy-second minute. Purewal was able to latch onto a lofted ball from Heywood and attempted to lob the goalkeeper, but the ball went inches wide of the far post, and the Brig defenders cleared. Moore continued to rest his key players with the game all but over, as Michael
Turner was replaced by Tom Devitt for the final eighteen minutes.

Bamber Bridge chose to make their final substitutions in the seventy-fifth minute. Max Cane, Jarma Mohamed and Danny Edwards replaced Michael Potts, Lucas Weaver and Molloy. Brig then won a penalty in the seventy-seventh minute as Arron Thompson fouled Bould. Bould stepped up, and fired the ball into the bottom-left of the goal, sending Hunter the wrong way. A consolation strike with the game well out of the visitor’s reach. Unfortunately, another clean sheet for Hunter, had been wiped. A final Hornets change followed, as Leo Robinson replaced Thompson.

Hebburn were then awarded a penalty of their own in the eightieth minute. Michalski came rushing out of his goal to try and prevent Purewal from winning the loose ball, instead he fouled the man in the process and the referee pointed to the spot. The spot-kick
was dispatched perfectly by Purewal, driving his strike down the middle of the goal, as the 'keeper dived to his right.

The hosts were then made to play the final eight minutes with ten men, as Purewal couldn’t continue. Late in the game, the visitors forced a corner that was headed over by Max Cane. After an additional five minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew his whistle
for full-time.

A brilliant day at the office for Hebburn as they cruised to a victory at home. Next up, the Hornets have a quick turnaround, facing local rivals Morpeth Town on Tuesday night at Craik Park.

Man of the Match: Paul Van-Zandvliet

Match Attendance: 543

By Dan Carlton