DEPLETED REDS FIND HEBBURN HELL

Hebburn Town u23 5 Rothbury 1

Northern Alliance Division One

Rothbury boss Dan Herron branded his side’s heavy defeat a ‘horror show’ as they slumped on South Tyneside.

The Reds unbeaten start, with two draws and a win from their opening fixtures following promotion, went up in flames as they found themselves 3-0 down inside 26 minutes.

Michael Old pulled one back in the 38^th minute, but further strikes from Town in the 70^th and 72^nd minutes piled on the agony.

“We were poor,” admitted Herron.

“Although we only had 12, we had 16 named in the squad in the morning and 4 dropped out before the game, which really didn’t help us in 25 degrees on the 3G pitch - subs would have made all the difference.”

Keeper Paul Appleby made his first appearance since a serious arm injury and made a number of fine saves in a man-of-the-match performance, but was picking the ball out of the net in the 12^th minute as Jon Burn scored. John Hobbs added the second seven minutes later and Adam Lennox made it three as the Northern League side’s youngsters threatened to run riot.

The Coquetdalers pulled their socks up and got themselves back into the game when Old notched his second of the season, but they were frustrated by a number of missed opportunities.

“It must be said that the 15/20 minutes before half time we were dominant, and had the chances to go in level easy. At half time we thought it looked like we could get back into it, but we didn’t come out at all really,” admitted Herron.

The hoped-for fight-back didn’t materialise and with options limited it became a case of damage limitation, with further goals from Hobbs and Jon McGeary cementing the defeat.

“We tired in the second half and the legs and clinical finishing from Hebburn killed us off,” said Herron. “We must quickly forget about the defeat and move on as swiftly as possible to be honest.”

The Reds have a chance to put things right when Wallsend Boys Club visit Armstrong Park on Wednesday night (kick-off 6.15pm) followed by another home game against Red Row Welfare on Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm) where the club are hoping for a large turnout to help give the side a lift from the sidelines.

Blyth Spartans Reserves top the Division One table with four wins from four while fellow promoted side Whitburn & Cleadon have also enjoyed a flying start with four wins and a defeat in their opening games.