by Peter Scherer

After a hard-fought point in Hyde, Tuesday night’s visit to Ilkeston was a disappointing result. The 3-1 defeat leaves Mickleover on the defensive, but they are determined to get back to winning ways on Saturday when they host newly promoted Hebburn Town.

It is important for us to continue now, we are still a new team and are still learning

said manager Gareth Holmes.

After a mixed pre-season, our guests made the best possible start to their first season in the Northern Premier League, winning promotion as champions of the East Division and currently top of the table.

They faced Warrington Rylands at home and won 1-0 before travelling to Blyth Spartans on Tuesday night for another 1-0 win.

For player and manager Daniel Moore, it is the third season as coach of the Hornets, after previously leading Shildon into the Eastern Division play-offs.

A former Mansfield Junior, he captained the Spennymoor side that won the FA Vase, despite missing the Wembley final, before returning to Shildon as captain again. He is still registered as a player.

Goalkeeper Kieran Hunter joined from the Sunderland Academy, spending three years at Gateshead and also spent time at Chester Le Street on a dual registration after arriving at Hebburn.

Centre-back Matty Elsdon played junior football at Sunderland and Middlesbrough, before joining Barrow after a loan to Inverness and being released, and then being loaned to Whitby and FC Utd before joining Blyth Spartans permanently.

He then returned to Scotland with Clyde before returning to Blyth on 22 July, where he spent a year before joining the Hornets.

Tom Devitt is another centre back who started out in the US with Lionsbridge. He returned to England with Gateshead before moving to Blyth Spartans. He then also went to Scotland with Stranraer, from where he joined Hebburn in July 2021.

Jack Donaghy is a homegrown product who came through the club’s youth team and made his first-team debut in 2017. Primarily a centre-back, he has been a mainstay for the club over the last seven years.

Liam Noble is a central midfielder with over 250 league appearances since taking over Sunderland from Cramlington Boys Club. After a few loan spells at Carlisle, he made the move permanently, signing for Notts County in July 2014. His next stop was Forest Green before returning to Notts County, from where he moved to Hartlepool. He then spent 4 ½ years at Morpeth, but joined Hebburn in pre-season after finishing last season on loan.

Defender Aidan Heywood was manager Moore’s first signing for the club after playing under his management at Shildon. He has also played for Easington Colliery and Team Northumbria and is also the coach of Hebburn Juniors.

Dan Groves is a right-back who started out at the Darlington Academy and made 17 appearances in League Two. After being released in 2010, he joined Blyth Spartans before moving to Spennymoor and then moving to Shildon in 2015. He returned to Hebburn in 2018.

Dean Briggs is also a central midfielder who started out at Ashington before moving to Gateshead. He then moved to Holland Park Hawks and Peninsula Power in Australia, returning to the UK with Ashington in July 2020. He signed for Hebburn at the start of last season.

Aaron Thompson plays in central or defensive midfield. A former South Shields player, he joined Hebburn from West Auckland in September 2022.

Robbie Spence is a midfielder who joined the Hornets in 2018. A former Scunthorpe junior, he also played for team Northumbria in the Northern League.

Striker Olly Martin scored the winning goal in a victory over Warrington Rylands on the opening day of the season. As a junior at both Newcastle and Sunderland, he moved on to Gateshead, Jarrow Roofing and Whitley Bay. He signed for Hebburn in June 2019 and scored the winning goal for them in the 2020 FA Vase Final at Wembley.

Amar Purewal is a striker who joined from West Auckland in June 2020. A Punjab international, he started out at Newcastle United before moving to Newcastle Benfield and Bishop Auckland. He was then Durham City’s top scorer before moving to Darlington before joining West Auckland in 2016.

Winger Joe Walton was manager Moore’s second signing for the club after the pair played together at Spenymoor. He started out at Sunderland RCA and also had spells at Washington and Morpeth.

Bailey Adamson is one of the club’s first new signings. The striker comes from Lincoln City’s Academy.

Midfielder Leo Robinson joined on loan from Hartlepool at the end of last season and has now made his move permanent. He also had a spell at Redcar and scored the winning goal for the Hornets at Blyth on Tuesday night.

Defender Michael Turner is another new signing from Morpeth, while Joe Posthill is a striker who joined in pre-season after being Shildon’s top scorer last season. Posthill started out at Hartlepool and played for Stockton before moving to Shildon.

Callum Dobson is the reserve goalkeeper, signed following his departure from the South Shields Academy, while Hebburn have a number of their own academy players signed for the first team: Gildo Da Silva, Tyler Brownsword, Max Campbell, Alfa Djalo, Cam Inglis, Aidan Maher and Harry Urwin.

Kick-off at the Don Amott Arena is at 3:00 p.m. Come along and support Sports on their way to their first league win of the season.

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