Hebburn, recently promoted into the PitchinIn Northern Premier League system after a recent re-structure, gave Lee Bullock & Nathan Haslam the challenge they were after as they look to be well prepared for the upcoming season.

The 3-1 score line may have made the game look routine but it was anything but with Whitby’s goalkeeper, Shane Bland, called into action on several occasions.

The Seasiders stunned Hebburn early on with two goals inside the opening ten minutes.

The first came when Bradley Fewster raced clear of the home sides’ defence before playing a dangerous ball right across the face of goal with Jacob Hazel lurking.

He wasn’t able to get the ball himself, but it found it’s way into the back of the net via the sliding foot of a Hebburn trialist.

Hazel would get his goal minutes later though, as he latched onto a ball over the top before hitting a superb half-volley over the head of home keeper Mark Foden.

This quick start may not have been what the hosts had hoped for but they responded and got themselves back into the game, thanks largely to some sloppy play at the back from Whitby.

After failing to clear their lines on multiple occasions, Tom Potter pounced to fire a left-footed strike beyond Bland despite him getting a strong hand to it. It seemed that the power took it beyond him.

As the second half changes were made, the game became somewhat scrappy, however Hebburn did manage to find some sort of rhythm and called Bland into some excellent saves throughout the second 45 minutes.

However, Whitby secured the win six minutes from time against the run of play as the ball found its way to Marcus Giles who couldn’t believe his luck when he had an open goal to fire into.