Jacobs on Target as Bees Share the Spoils at Hebburn

On a crisp autumn afternoon, just over 200 miles north of Market Harborough, the Hornets of Hebburn Town hosted the Bees of Harborough Town, with both HTFCs playing at their highest level in the footballing pyramid in their respective histories.

The first opportunity of the match came the way of the visitors, as centre-back Alex Morris set the tone for the afternoon with a firm, tone-setting challenge to win the ball on the halfway line, with the ball finding its way to Michael Jacobs. Jacobs headed down the left wing to fire a low ball towards the front post, where the returning Britt Assombalonga flicked the ball goalwards, but into the grateful arms of the home goalkeeper.

The Newcastle United loanee between the sticks for Hebburn Town was called into action shortly after but gathered superbly in a crowded box from Devon Kelly-Evans' floated free-kick.

A dangerous opportunity for the home side as a contested challenge on the edge of the box resulted in a free-kick for the Hornets – central to Elliott Taylor’s goal and inside the D. The Bees showed their resilience, with the defensive wall standing tall to deflect the shot away for a corner, which subsequently came to nothing.

Riley O’Sullivan was a constant thorn in the home side’s side, as after 15 minutes he powerfully shrugged off a Hebburn defender, much to the chagrin of the home support, but the referee played on – O’Sullivan combining with Arlott-John and Kelly-Evans, the result being a shot by Kelly-Evans blocked and out for a corner.

This first-half showing from the travelling Bees was exactly the tonic needed following Tuesday’s disappointing result, with Arlott-John and O’Sullivan combining again, this time O’Sullivan seeing his neat turn-and-shot blocked and out for another corner. Centre-back Rory McAuley, up from the back for the corner and subsequent couple of George Carline long throws, was unlucky that the pitch didn’t quite hold up, as his shot on the turn whilst in space could have opened the scoring, but he slipped at the vital moment after being fed by O’Sullivan, who had again firmly shrugged off the attentions of the home defence to deliver the low cross to McAuley.

Whilst Hebburn’s build-up play certainly looked threatening, the Bees had dampened their endeavours well and deserved the lead just before the half-hour mark. With O’Sullivan unceremoniously brought down near to the edge of the box, and quite central, it allowed Jacobs to step up and look to curl an effort goalwards, and thanks to a deflection in the four-man wall that wrong-footed the keeper, the ball ended up in the net, much to the delight of the travelling contingent.

As the half wore on, it was the Bees' midfield that dictated the game, with Kelly-Evans pulling the strings, and just behind, the ever-willing defensive pair of Morris and McAuley marshalling operations from deep. Although, as the additional minutes board was shown, it spurred the home side into two late forward forays – the first a cross in from the left after a strong run, and maybe the striker should have done better as his downward header lacked power and was caught by Taylor; the second a cross from the right which was met by a diving header but was off target.

As manager Mitch Austin concluded in his post-match interview, the second half was in large parts controlled by the home side, with chances for the Bees at a premium.

The home side pressed from the off, with Jake Charles taking the first opportunity of the second half, which was dealt with by Elliott Taylor. A few moments later, Matty Cornish and Liam Murray combined down the Hebburn left, resulting in a shot from Murray that was narrowly wide of the post.

Approaching the hour mark, Taylor gathered at the second attempt from a Darcy effort at goal – then a double-sub from the home side that reinforced their intent to get something from the game.

A deep run down the Hebburn right, and whilst the cross was initially thwarted, the ball was passed back to Murray, who crossed first time with the outside of his left boot towards the back post, and Matty Elsdon beat Carline to the ball to prod home low under the diving Taylor.

The Bees had a couple of opportunities after the goal, with Riley O’Sullivan spraying a delightful ball wide right to Arlott-John, and whilst his run and cross for Assombalonga didn’t quite meet its intention, the follow-up combination play with O’Sullivan and Connor Kennedy forced a couple of corners, sadly with no positive outcome.

The home side certainly had their tails well and truly up as the half continued in search of taking the lead, but the Harborough Town well-drilled defence stood strong to block a number of shots and dealt admirably with a series of corners.

Late on, as the clock ticked past the 90th minute, two opportunities for the home side to snatch the victory – the first a fast break from Hebburn as Darcy ran at the retreating Harborough defence and crossed for Murray, but his effort was wide, shortly followed by Bird down the left, but Charles was just unable to finish the opportunity.

A solid point on the road for the Bees, and a point apiece seemed a fair result given the dominance of both teams in either half.