The Opposition - History
Like many northern teams, Hebburn Town have their roots as a works team.
In the case of the Hornets, that was the Reyrolles company and they were formed in 1912, joining the Jarrow and District Junior League.
They switched to the Tyneside Combination in 1923 and the Tyneside League four years later.
They moved over to the Northern Combination in 1941 before becoming members of the North Eastern League until returning to the Combination in 1945.
It wasn't until 1988 that they adopted their current name.
Recent seasons have seen them win the FA Vase (2020) and Durham Challenge Cup (2023).
Promotion to the NPL Division One was secured in 2021 and last season saw a third place finish, losing in the playoffs to Long Eaton United.

A journey of 155 miles awaits the Nailers today.

The Opposition - This Season
The Hornets started the season in fine fashion with a comprehensive win over Grantham Town and they followed this up with victory against Stockton Town to make it two out of two.
An early exit from the FA Cup followed at the hands of Heaton Stannington but they bounced back with three further league wins in a row which left them top of the table at the end of August.
They tasted defeat in the league for the first time in September against both Liversedge and Consett and were also eliminated from the FA Trophy with a penalty shootout defeat to Brighouse Town.
After losing their first game of October they went on a seven game unbeaten run which was ended by fellow title challengers and local rivals Stockton Town just before Christmas.
They suffered a heavy defeat to Ashington on Boxing Day then drew their next three before defeat to North Ferriby on the 27th of January.
Since then they are unbeaten and have won their last ten matches, conceding just three goals in the process.
They have the best attack and second best defence (behind Stockton) in terms of goals scored and conceded.
Victory on Thursday night took them top of the table: P 35 W 23 D 6 L 6 F 76 A 36 Pts. 75.
At home they have won 13 out of 17 matches played and lost just once, to Liversedge way back in September.

Manager Daniel Moore was appointed ahead of the 2022/23 season.
Top scorer Amar Purewal is clear in the race for the NPL East Golden Boot with 30 goals. Second top scorer Robbie Spence has 9.

The Nailers
Belper come in to this match in 16th place in the six-match form guide, having topped it this side of Christmas (by contrast Hebburn, stretching it to a ten-match form guide would have a ten point cushion at the top).
After three wins on the spin in February, the Nailers had to wait until a last gasp Curtis Burrows winner against Sheffield on Bank Holiday Monday for a further victory.
The four games before that and the two defeats to Cleethorpes which have come since mean that there is now a five point deficit to the playoff places with just four games to play, although there is a game in hand over Carlton to consider.

Head to Head
The only previous meeting between the sides was in November 2023, earlier this season.
Goals from Amar Purewal, Robbie Spence and Liam Murray saw Hebburn run out 3-0 winners at the Raygar Stadium in front of 401 spectators.
Phil Watt saw red for the Nailers and it was Cam Johnson's last league game in a Belper shirt.

Form Guide (League)
Hebburn Town (Mar) WWWWWW (18 Apr)
Belper Town (9 Mar) LDDWLL (13 Apr)

Team News
Ben Rhodes and Kev Bastos both face suspension following red cards last weekend.

Permutations
Realistically Belper need to pick up at least 10 points from the final 12 available to reach the playoffs.
Those four matches include the top three and Liversedge who are third in the form guide.
The Nailers can't realistically drop a place due to a vastly superior goal difference over North Ferriby.
Victory will take us to 6th as Newton Aycliffe are not in action.
For Hebburn it's simple, two wins from their final three games secures the title.
They are level on goal difference with Stockton who can only reach 80 points. Hebburn are on 75 with three games remaining.

Match details
Hebburn Town vs. Belper Town
Northern Premier League Division One - East Division
Saturday, 20th April 2024 – 3:00pm kick off
Hebburn Sports Ground
South Drive
Hebburn
NE31 1UN
Tickets: Adults £8, Concessions £6, U16s £2, Under 12s Free.

Follow the match
Live commentary is available with Tom on Radio Belper Town - https://radiobelpertown.mixlr.com
Full coverage on X (Twitter). Team news, HT & FT scores on Facebook.
Match reports to follow on the website and in the Non-League Paper.

Elsewhere in Division One East
Belper could do with favours from Consett, who travel to Carlton and Grimsby Borough who are at Pontefract.
Newton Aycliffe have already played their 37th game and finish at home to Pontefract next weekend.

(16th) Bridlington Town vs. Ossett United (18th)
(5th) Carlton Town vs. Consett AFC (12th)
(9th) Cleethorpes Town vs. Stocksbridge Park Steels (15th)
(3rd) Dunston vs. Winterton Rangers (20th)
(10th) Liversedge vs. Ashington AFC (14th)
(8th) North Ferriby vs. Sheffield (11th)
(4th) Pontefract Collieries vs. Grimsby Borough (13th)
(2nd) Stockton Town vs. Brighouse Town (17th)