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Gateshead 0 Fleetwood 2
Date: Wednesday 25th August 2010
Team tinkering turned to team stinking. The midfield change of Alex Francis for Andy Ferrell left a gaping hole in the teams central midfield three. Punishment for Ferrell giving the ball away for the FGR goal on Saturday, Francis' good display at right-back for the Reserves, whatever the reason it certainly backfired.
Against a team with dangerous players, The 4-5-1 formation struggled to generate anything going forward leaving the lone striker Gary Mulligan looking helpless during the first 45 minutes.
Ben Clark gave a commanding performance at the back with Carl Jones, yet the defensive pair had to cope with wave after wave of the Fleetwood Town attacks.
Magno Vieira Opened the scoring for the visitors on 35 minutes slotting the ball deep in the bottom right corner to give the travelling Cod Army something to cheer about.
Fleetwood then doubled there lead on 44 minutes when Maguire’s rocket of a shot from outside the 18 yard box travelled through a crowded box to nestle in the bottom left corner, leaving Tim Deasy scrambling.
After the break Francis was replaced along with the quiet Craig Nelthorpe, their replacements Martin Brittain and Nathan Fisher preformed better in the reshuffled 4-4-2 formation.
The second half saw the Tynesiders grow with enthusiasm and kept possession for the first ten minutes, pinning Fleetwood in there own half.
Martin Brittain (a surprise substitute on recent form) showed why he is always a contender for his name being in the starting line up by whipping in dangerous ball and linking up with Baxter with what seemed telepathy at timers.
Nathan Fisher was more than a hand full for the stocky Fleetwood number 5 and striker who partnered him in defence, maybe a full 90 minutes will result in the onion sack ripples to the chants of FISHER!
The harsh reality is that Gateshead were given a wake up call tonight. After picking up points in hard fought tight games, the evidence of the evening suggests the Tynesiders are short of real quality to worry the better teams. That needs to be addressed by the manager and that doesn't mean just adding any old bodies.