Gateshead NOWT Kettering Town TWO

Date: Wednesday 27th January 2010, by Heed Army & Tynesider

Gateshead started the game with some slick and fancy attacking football and gave the home fans a sense that a fruitful game may lay ahead. However it turned into another night of despair as the toothless Tynesiders were easily dispatched by Kettering.

Graeme Armstrong pounced on the Kettering goalkeepers bad clearance in the opening exchanges, hitting an angled shot from the far side of the box only to miss the target by inches.

New winger James Sinclair showed he had pace early on as he belted down the right wing a number of times in the first 10 minutes alone. However his ring rustiness was clear to see, maybe he was a little over excited as well, as his wild uncontrolled shots were nearer the corner flag than the goal. Sinclair did show flashes of why he was deemed good enough to briefly appear in the premier League and UEFA Cup for Bolton Wanderers. If he sticks to the basics of running the touchline and crossing before trying to expand his game with cutting inside and tricks, then we'll have a good player on our hands.

Craig Baxter went from linking up well with new winger Sinclair down the right to looking like a dear in the headlights. In the first ten minutes Baxter looked to have a new lease of life storming forward and having a good understanding with Sinclair. However the second half brought more of a horror show with both himself and fellow fullback Mark Robinson repeatedly hitting the 1st man with most crosses.

Paul Farman came to the Tynesider's rescue with a point blank block on his goal line after centre-half Rikki Bains was rolled far too easy by Kettering's Jean-Paul Marna. Unfortunately the warning wasn't heeded.

Baxter was given time to take a throw in, having the choice of a safe ball to a unmarked Rikki Bains (who didn’t have a man within 10 yards) or aim at Graeme Armstrong who had four blue Kettering shirts round him. Well, in true Gateshead style why make it safe and easy, it went to the Kettering shirts and they broke away to score. Kettering Town's on-loan striker Kwesi Appiah slotted the ball home past Paul Farman on 15 minutes.

As the first half went on Gateshead's composure was gradually becoming less and less with the defence resorting to blindly lumping the ball forward. Kettering slowed the game down and used the ball to dictate how they wanted the game to go, leaving Gateshead players chasing shadows in midfield.

That all too familiar feeling arrived on forty minutes as Darren Wrack doubled the Heed Army’s pain, leaving Ian Bogie with a head ache at half time.

Half-time: 0-2

The second half was a story of Kettering sitting deep and frustrating every Gateshead attack as the Tynesiders never really looked like scoring.

Sinclair and Phillips (Hamstring?) came off after 55 minutes as Gateshead sacrificed their wingers and went 4-3-3, with new striker Brian Wake on. This brought both full-backs into play to deliver the ammunition, but unfortunately cross after cross hit the first defender.

Gateshead's best chances fell to the strike force as Clare had great chance only to head over, Armstrong brought another good stop out of Nathan Abbey and new signing Brian Wake nearly got through only to be thwarted.

Against Forest Green and Luton we played well, last night confidence was shot as soon as Kettering got hold of the game. Once they went two up they sat back and absorbed whatever we could throw at them, and unfortunately that was nothing of worth. Bogie has less than a week to enter the cheat codes into the video game, as we're starting to look like a team in a hole.

GATESHEAD: Farman, Baxter, Curtis, Bains, Robinson, Sinclair (Francis 55), Turnbull, Williams, Phillips (Wake 55), Clare, Armstrong. Subs (not used): Provett, Jones, McDermott.

Booked: Francis, Curtis.

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Gateshead NOWT Kettering Town TWO