This game was never got set alight by either side, with long ball being played by Gainsborough and Gateshead never getting there passing game going.
Ian Bogie kept with the 433 formation and played Craig Nelthorpe on the left of the front three with David Southern playing on the right of the central Armstrong.
A brief five minute spell at the beginning of the match seen Craig Nelthorpe terrorising the Gainsborough defenders with darting runs and whipping in a couple of half decent crosses.
The first half was a scrappy affair at times with Gainsborough happy to just lump the ball forward from both midfield and defence.
Gateshead did not seem to find the space to pass the ball around with ease, frequently the Heed had their passes intercepted through the middle of the park. a lot of the first half play was coming down the left hand side for Gateshead, with Nelthorpe being the target for many of the balls.
The right hand side for Gateshead was far from productive , with Craig Baxter not being able to get fully forward as you would normally expect. David Southern found himself dropping deeper and deeper as he found little space when he received the ball, in doing so every time Baxter found himself running towards a Gainsborough defender who was also marking the deep Southern.
In the second half little changed for both sides with Gainsborough happy to launch a long ball in the hope that Chris Hall, the Trinity winger to latch on to.
Paul Musselwhite had little to do all game, but he did pull off a fantastic save down to his left to deny Gainsborough from taking the lead. His fast reactions kept the heed in the game.
Graeme Armstrong had two chances to get all 3 points for the Tynesiders with two headers. The first header rattled the cross bar from 10 yards, the second from only 5 yards but he didn’t get a clean connection.
Michael Rea and Jamie Harwood joined the game late in the second half and opened up the attacking options, Michael Rae dragged defenders around the box and brought his team mates into play more than they had been.
In fairness the result was a bit of a body blow to the travelling fans, but to keep the unbeaten record and a clean sheet away from home is a good result.
Line up and Ratings:
Musselwhite 9
Kept Gainsborough from grabbing all 3 points
Man Of The Match
Baxter 7
Never got his full game in gear
Phillips 6
Wouldn’t go past the half way line all game, his game is past the half way line!!!
Jones 7
Made some good clearances as Gainsborough lumped the balls in his direction
Curtis 7
Will always pick up balls coming at him over the top
Gate 8
Only midfielder to make some probing runs
S. Turnbull 6
Was in and out of the mix
P. Turnbull 7 (Captain)
Had his moments but also drifted out of the game in spells, not helped by the long ball being played by Gainsborough
Nelthorpe 8
In the same shape and form of two seasons ago, MAGIC waiting to happen
Armstrong 7
Had two chances to win the game and was left along upfront at times
Southern 6
Is not finding the space or the time on the ball, frustration was clear to see.
Subs:
Harwood 7
Made a slight impression, gave a slightly better option down the right
Rae 7
Will maybe feel he should have got on the pitch earlier to make a difference
Francis (not used)
Norton GK (not used)
Hocking (not used)
