Stafford Rangers deservedly took all three points with the their encounter with the Tynesiders on Wednesday night.
Rangers manager Steve Bull will be proud of his teams defensive game as they gave nothing away and made some priceless tackles in and around the 18 yard area.
Debutant Lee Novak was full of running and showed all aspect to his game, not being frightened to get back and get stuck in when Gateshead was under the cosh.
Novak had two half decent chances during the match, but he also help in the build up winning a few headers and sparing the ball out to the left and right to find both Nelthorpe and Phillips.
Round about the half hour mark centre back Carl Jones had to leave the pitch after a collision with a Stafford player, Jones later went to hospital for an X-ray on his jaw.
Matt Hocking came off the bench to replace the injured Jones.
Stafford had some very useful build up play and moving the ball with slick passing from back to front in the matter of seconds. On 31 minutes Macpherson latched on the ball and netted, this coming after Stafford’s crisp passing in the final third.
It was the crisp passing all game that the Gateshead centre backs seemed to panic about time after time, with James Curtis having his fare share of shaky and heart stopping moment for the home fans.
Craig Nelthorpe was in his normal quick as a whippet form, making darting runs down the left and crossing in many balls only to find the keepers gloves.
Ian bogie will have seen flashes of decent play from his side, but at time communication and awareness was the down fall again for the Tynesiders.
Line Ups and Ratings:
Musselwhite 7
Kicking was top notch and was there when needed
Baxter 7
Started the first half well and had a half chance of a goal from the edge of the box, starting to find his A-game hopefully
Brackstone 6
Still to state his authority in the team and show his class
Jones 6
Hopefully the X-Ray shows no broken bones
Curtis 6
Let his head drop after a few panicked moments early on in the game
Phillips 7
Played well in the first half, but a lefty on the right wing will always go stale
Nelthorpe 8
Look sharp and made life hard for the Stafford wingbacks
Man of the Mtach
P. Turnbull 6 (Captain)
Was ineffective
Gate 7
Chased down ball after ball and made some good interception in the middle
Armstrong 6
Marked out the game
Novak 7
Made a good impression, goals will come once he settles in
Subs:
Norton (not used)
Hocking 6
Found to be wanting at times
Harwood 6
Made a few runs with little end product
Southern (not used)
S. Turnbull (not used)
