Hebburn travelled to Teesside after a run of three victories against the leading teams in the league; Michael Armstrong returned to lead the attack but Gray,Rutherford,Carroll ,McMann and Neil were unavailable. The team were challenged by an extremely saturated pitch and most of the game was played in appalling conditions with driving rain throughout.

Thornaby are several places below Hebburn but they started the game well and were causing problems in the early stages with Ross Foreman an old adversary from his time at Marske prominent with his physical style. However Frater dealt comfortably with any danger. The game was an enjoyable contest with end-to-end play but although Hebburn were battling in all areas of the field and had a couple of half chances there was little real penetration and the home side took the lead when Burke hammered the ball past Frater from close range after a goalmouth scramble. This was after 33 minutes and shortly afterwards Gary Dadd tripped Abdullah in the corner of the box to concede a penalty; although the decision was fair the poor conditions contributed greatly to the mis-timed tackle. Foreman gave Frater no chance with a well struck penalty to give Thornaby a 2-0 lead at the interval.

Hebburn started the second half with much more purpose and put the home team under pressure as Trosh and Pain became more prominent in midfield. Anthony Myers, Lynch and Armstrong were making good runs and this paid off on the hour when Lynch crossed from the left and Thackeray in the home goal fumbled into his own net when challenged by Marsden. Hebburn looked comfortable at this stage and looked capable of securing a result. Pendergood, Nesbitt and David Myers were coping well with any attacks and were pushing up to support the midfield. However as often happens when teams are chasing a goal Thornaby broke clear and a good run by Gell ended when he slotted the ball past Frater to restore the two goal deficit after 77 minutes. Nevertheless Hebburn continued to press and scored again when a hard low cross was turned into his own goal by Thornaby defender Iveson.

This ensured a nail-biting finish in which Hebburn exerted considerable pressure but after a close and physical encounter were unable to grab the equaliser their play deserved. Both teams should take credit for their contribution to a good game in dreadful conditions and a draw would have been a fair result.