Gateshead took on Conference North Leaders Southport on Saturday afternoon in a game which had many twists and turns.

The Tynesiders started the game well with their familiar passing game keeping Southport at bay, while looking dangerous going forward.

On 10 minutes Jamie Harwood was involved in handbags with a Southport player, both players seemed to raise their hands and started a push me and I'll push you competition. Both players received Yellow cards, both could have seen red.

Southport broke the deadlock after a cheeky lob over the back four found Kilheeny with only the keeper to beat, he lobbed Musselwhite, chested the ball down and slotted it home very calmly to take Southport into half time with a one nil lead.

The second half saw Gateshead start with Ian Bogie's words still ringing in their ears as they pushed for the equaliser from the get go.

Lee Novak ran his socks off covering the ground of many his team mates, both holding up the ball and winning lost causes.

Southport's goal keeper went walk about on 69 minutes, chasing down Novak as he latched onto a great through ball. Novak attempted to lob the keeper and he handled the ball a good 5 yards outside the area, the red card was produced and he made the lonely walk down the tunnel to the cheers of both home and away fans.

David Southern's contribution to the game came from a 20 yard shot which was brilliantly saved by the Defender who donned the keepers gloves.

Southern's replacement Graeme “Goal Machine” Armstrong grabbed the leveller, he headed home from 5 yards from a pinpoint cross from Craig Nelthorpe.

Gateshead pilled on the pressure but Southport stood their ground and wasted time better than a guest on the Jeremy Kyle show to keep the score at 1-1.

Line up's and ratings.

Musselwhite 7
Had little to nothing to do, had little choice to come out to try and get the ball for Southport's goal.

Baxter 7
Linked up well with Harwood

Brackstone 6
Shows moments of class followed by a nightmare pass to the opposition

Curtis 7
Gave his all as ever

Hocking 5
Seems to panic anytime he has time on the ball

Harwood 7
Final ball was lacking today

S. Turnbull 5
Had a shocker

Gate 7 (captain)
In the mix from start to finish

Nelthorpe 7
Came to life in the last 10 minutes

Southern 6
Passing was not his strong point today, closed down every time

Novak 8
Ran for every ball, put a lot of players to shame with his effort
Man of the Match

Subs:

Norton (Not Used)

P. Turnbull (Not Used)

Phillips 7
Everything started with him when he entered the field of play

Armstrong 8
At the right place at the right time

Francis 7
Chased the ball down when needed

After some sniffing about on football forums, some transfer rumours involving Gateshead came to light.

On the Chester City Fan Forums, two City players are rumoured to be on their way to the Heed.

Paul Butler the former Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanders defender along with Former Wigan Athletic and Stockport County Midfielder Tony Dinning.

Here is the forum and the posted rumour:

Deva Chat

Both players have a vast experience at every level of the pro game, but find themselves on the fringe of the first team at Chester City.

Could this just be hear' say and rumour or could the Tynesiders about to add strength to the current squad???

Time will tell.

Related article on Sky Sports news:

Sky Sports Article

After Tuesday nights flood alerts that caused the Setanta Shield match with Blyth Spartans called off, Gateshead travel to Droylsden in search of FA Cup glory.

This will be the third encounter with the bloods this season after meeting both in league and first round of the Setanta Shield.

Both the previous matches have ended in 1-1 draws after 90 minutes, with Gateshead winning 2-1 in extra time in the Setanta match.

Sadly Craig Nelthorpe is unable to play in the FA Cup after parent club Doncaster Rover, declined Gateshead's appeal to let him play. Also Lee Novak is Cup tied having already play in a previous qualifying round for former club Newcastle Blue Star.

David Southern and Graeme Armstrong are to be the likely partnership upfront for the Cup tie, with Player coach Paul Thompson likely to be back up from the bench.

Carl Jones is still missing with a broken jaw, Matt hocking is likely to partner Curtis in defence.

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)

Ian Bogie has added to his strike force by signing the former Gretna striker Lee Novak from minnows Newcastle Blue Star.

Lee is a powerful forward with pace to match and will be a great addition to the Heeds line up, his game is very similar to Graeme Armstrong, using both power and pace to frighten any defence.

During the summer Lee had a trail with Stockport County, scoring in a trail match and attracted interest from several league clubs.

Novak could make his debut against Stafford Rangers on Wednesday night, The match looks like it will be action pack with the return of Craig “Christiano” Nelthorpe and the new arrival Lee.

On a sad note midfield general Steve Salvin has left in the opposite direction to join Newcastle Blue Star, Steve has found it hard to get a place in the starting line up this season with work commitments.

The Heed Army wish him all the best in the future!

Craig Nelthorpe is set to return to the starting line up after returning from his three match suspension.

Nelly's return will hopefully give some fresh idea's in the attacking side of the Tynesiders game, with his darting run with the ball and great crosses.

Nelly's return will see either Wayne Phillips or Davie Southern maybe loose a place in the starting line up, or maybe we will see a change in formation to accommodate both players.

Stafford face a long mid week trip after the original fixture was called of two Saturdays ago due to a waterlogged pitch at the International Stadium.

Stafford Rangers manager Steve Bull will be looking to take his side into the top four with a victory over Gateshead, But Ian Bogie will have their own ideas about taking Gateshead up to a possible 9^th place in the Conf north table with a two victory.

Bogie and Wrightson will be hoping Kris Gate (pictured) can carry his good form from Saturdays game into Wednesday nights match. Kris was box to box against Telford and will be a integral part of the Heed midfield this season.

To say Gateshead never got going in this match is a bit of an understatement, with bad communication from back to front.

The normally solid defensive pair of James Curtis and Carl Jones had a few very poor back passes intercepted on route to Musselwhite, leaving Mussa to make two fantastic saves at the feet of the Telford strikers.

The Heed Army have come to feel very safe with Curtis and Jones at the back, but this was as rare as rocking horse shite to see both having not as vocal as normal.

Paul Musselwhite's for mentioned saves kept the Heed in the game, his kicking was impeccable throughout.

On to the midfield, Kris gate can hold his head up high after doing the running of many of his team mates, be it closing down the goal keeper to getting back to help the defence.
The Turnbull brothers debate will roll on after yet another flat and uninspiring display from the twins.
Both players are a huge talent, but never seem to firer on all cylinders while they are both in the starting line up. The presence of a ball winning midfielder who can get the ball and run is lacking at times and was evident during Saturdays match.

Up front was hit and a miss all game long, with long balls not finding the two supporting strikers in Phillips and Southern. Armstrong found himself taking on the Telford defence alone when the ball arrived at his feet, having no support near him when he received the ball, giving the defence ample time to get back in numbers.

Telford took the in the second half on 63 minutes when Lee Moore scored from the edge of the box to give the travelling bucks fans something to cheer about after long periods on Telford possession .

Jamie Harwood's introduction gave Gateshead a fresh momentum down the right and his fantastic link up play sent right back Craig Baxter away with the ball, he delivered a perfect cross into the box where Graeme Armstrong headed home from 8 yards on 78 minutes.

Telford maybe deserved to take all three points but no Gateshead fan will complain with a draw after the poor over all performance.

Line Up and Ratings:

Musselwhite 9
Was the man who didn't loose his calm and would have made Gordon Banks look ordinary!
Man of the Match

Baxter 8
Made the goal with help from Harwood

Brackstone 7
Made some hard tackle and kept the ball moving forward

Curtis 7
Fantastic in the air, like a salmon, but some very poor passes back to the keeper

Jones 7
Coped with most of what Telford had to through at him, like Curtis communication let him down

Gate 8
Marathon man, ran his heart out, box to box, full blooded performance

S. Turnbull 6
Has the skill to take people on, but to many ball passed to the side

P. Turnbull 7 (Captain)
Rallied the troops when a goal down, good to see him giving it some for the team

Phillips 7
Made life hell when on the ball, but found little in the final third sadly, but he isn't a striker and he tried hard for the Heed

Southern 6
Drifted in and out of the game, had a good 15 minute spell after half time then had little impact.

Armstrong 8
Fox in the box, had little joy when getting the ball to his feet due to lack of support, but was there when it mattered, great finish.

Subs:

Norton (not used)

Francis

Rae

Hocking

Harwood 7
Sent Baxter away to cross for the goal, made an impact on the game

AFC Telford make the long journey up from the midlands to take on the Tynesiders on Saturday.

The last time Gateshead and Telford played the match ended in a 4-3 victory for then Caretaker Ian Bogie, with Craig Nelthorpe Scoring an impressive late winner to send the 500+ strong crowd home happy.

Telford are sitting in 6^th place in the Conf North table just behind Stalybridge Celtic who are 5^th.

The Bucks manager Rob Smith has assembled a very strong side to the 08/09 campaign and will there or there about come the end of the season.

Rob Smith has the goal machine that is Terry Ferns in his attack, and his midfield has forward minded Steve Jagielka (brother of Everton Defender Phil Jagielka).
Telford will be a very strong outfit and Gateshead will have to at there very best to keep the Bucks at bay.

Ian Bogie may have James Curtis back in his squad for this match after missing both the matches at Tamworth and Droylsden.
Loan signing Craig Nelthorpe From Doncaster Rovers is still missing through suspension and will miss the next two games also.

Here is some footage of AFC Telford United's goal scoring talents from last season, lets hope we don't witness any of their talents on Saturday afternoon:

Its that time of year when hero's and fantastic memory's are made, yes its FA Cup time again!!

The road to Wembley starts with a home tie against Witton Albion at the International Stadium on Saturday the 27^th of September.

Last season the Tynesiders only had two Matches in the FA Cup qualifying rounds taking on Selby Town and winning 6-1, then suffering a 3-1 defeat to Vauxhall Motors.

Hopefully this year the FA Cup can bring some of its famous magic moments to the Heed Army faithful. Its been eight years since Gateshead have reached the first round proper to take on the big boys.

In both 1999 and 2000 Gateshead made it to the first round of this, the world greatest cup competition.

In 1999 Cambridge United beat a strong and brave Gateshead side 1-0 in the first round proper under the management of Mattie Pearson.

Then in 2000 Mattie Pearson took Gateshead one better and made it to the second round proper of the FA Cup after a tremendous match at then Halifax Town of Division three (now League Two) wining 2-0 with Tony hall and Paul Dalton netting for the Heed.

In the second round Swindon Town gave Gateshead a bit of thumping, a 5-0 thumping to be exact, but the first 45 minutes only seen the score line at 1-0. Gateshead held there own but fitness proved to be the beaten of the Heed in the end.

Will we have a classic year in the Cup, story's to tell our grand children??? Lets hope so!!

HEED ARMY TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Tynesiders suffered their third defeat of the season at the Hands of Tamworth at the Lamb Ground on Saturday afternoon.

Ian Bogies men will feel very angry to loose and game they lead 1-0 in from the 17^th minute after Kris Gate scored, up until the 83^rd minute.

Tamworth levelled the score line when Nick Wright scored on the 83^rd minute after the Lambs were awarded a free kick.

Just six minutes later seen Tamworth wrap up all 3 points after they got a penalty on 89 minutes, up stepped Nick Wright to bag his second of the game and win the match 2-1.

Gateshead line up:


Musselwhite
Baxter
Brackstone
Gate
Hocking
Jones
Southern
P. Turnbull (c)
Armstrong
S. Turnbull
Phillips

SUBS:
Harwood
Norton
Francis
Rae
Salvin

Gateshead have pulled out local rival Blyth Spartans in the Second round of the Setanta Shield, this will se the Tynesiders face Spartans three time this season.

The Setanta Shield match will be at Blyth's Croft Park, there will be an atmosphere generated from the travelling Heed Army in the cattle sheds for this match.

This will be the first battle of the minds between Ian Bogie and Harry Dunn, both manager will no doubt

be looking to progress in this competition with good prize money and matches possibly being televised in the next rounds.

Not only will it be the Ian Bogie's first derby game but many players have not experienced the passion generated by both sets of fans during these encounters.

Boxing day and New Years day see's the Heed and Spartans battle it out for the bragging rights, but many fans feel one of the games should have been on Easter Bank Holiday to add to spice to the end of the season.

Gateshead travel to Tamworth On Saturday looking for a third win in a row after beating Droylsden and Fleetwood Town in their last two matches.

Tamworth are 4^th on the Conf north table on 15 points, while Gateshead are in 8^th place on 11 points, Tamworth have played one more game than Gateshead, after last Saturdays home game to Stafford rangers was called off to a waterlogged pitch.

The Lambs have experienced defender Des Lyttle in their ranks, the former West Brom and Nottingham Forest regular will be a stern test for Graeme Armstrong and company.

Armstrong will be gunning to score in his third game in a row after netting against both Droylsden and Fleetwood in the last two matches.

After Monday night's performance could Alex Francis be in line to start again? He gave a great display and battled the full 90 minutes and in extra time.

Paul Musselwhite will be set to reclaim the number one jersey on Saturday, after Jack Norton got a run out in the Setanta Shield on Monday night.
Norton showed in the Setanta Shield he is more than capable of filling in Mussa's Gloves if need be.

Craig Nelthorpe is still suspended and will not be in a Heed Shirts for a further 3 matches it has immerged. The Doncaster Rovers loan player is serving a 3 match ban for a sending off he got against Harrogate Town last month, but he is unavailable to play in FA Cup matches for the Tynesiders, and this will mean he misses a total of four game in a row, a real body blow to the Heed Army.

Here is a promotional video from the Lambs showing off what Tamworth FC and the town have to offer on a match day:

Droylsden took Gateshead all the way to Extra Time in the first round of the Setanta Cup on Monday evening.

The match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes with one man steeling the limelight for Gateshead, debutant Jack Norton made a string of impressive saves to keep the Tynesiders .

Norton who replaced Paul Musselwhite in goal was in fine form, commanding his area well and plucking every cross out of the air with ease. A notable incident during the first half was a magnificent double save by Norton which brought applause from all four corners of the ground.

Alex Francis also made his full debut for the Heed and played the whole, he was solid through out.

Droylsden took the lead with a fantastic finish from a Droysldon midfielder, with an well placed shot into the top corner, Norton planted to the spot, but in fairness no goal keeper in the world would have got anywhere near the shot.

Gateshead equalizer came from Jamie Harwood after he jumped like a kangaroo to head home John Brackstone's inch perfect free kick.

Graeme Armstrong had a fantastic chance to rap up the win inside 90 minutes when he was one on one with Bloods keeper Craig Mawson, but he got the ball caught under his feet and the Droylsden defenders caught him up and cleared the ball.

Davis Southern, Phil Turnbull and Kris Gate came on as second half substitutes and improved options for the Gateshead going forward.

Extra Time was need and both side pushed for a winner during the next 30 minutes, but in the 29^th minute of extra time Davie Southern pounced on a bad pass to send Stephen Turnbull away down the left wing, Turnbull then crossed a viscous cross to the far post to find Graeme Armstrong who scored from a tight angle, Armstrong then celebrated his late winner with the travelling Heed Army.

Line up and ratings:

Norton 10
Without a doubt he kept the heed in the match
Man of the Match

Baxter 7
Had a good game, but didn't get many of his trademark crosses into the box

Brackstone 8 (Captain)
Made the first goal with a great free kick

Hocking 7
Strong all game

Jones 8
If this lad was a piece of jewellery he would be a DIAMOND!!!!

Francis 8
Solid performance from the youngster, will be in line to start again soon

Harwood 7
In and out of the game, but still showed flashes of his A game

Phillips 7
Played well down the left, maybe unlucky to be subbed

S. Turnbull 8
Played his best game yet since, delivered the ball to help win the match

Armstrong 9
Grabbed the winner in style and shared his happiness with the fans, but should have filled his boots a few time during the match

Rae 7
In the mix more than blender, but need to hit the ball with some conviction in front of goal

Subs:

Southern 7
Quiet until extra time, helped in the build up for the winner when it mattered

P. Turnbull 7
Gave the ref hell as much as he gave the his Droylsden counterparts

Gate 8
Battled in the middle and help when going forward

Musselwhite (Not used)

Noble (Not used)

Eleventh placed Stafford Rangers travel to Tyneside this Saturday to take on the mighty Heed Army.

Rangers are currently managed by Wolves legend Steve Bull, if his side play anything like he did in his prime then Gateshead are in for a tough game with plenty of goals.

Stafford Rangers drew their last game 0-0 at home to Kings Lynn on Tuesday night in front of their lowest crowd this season, 476 witnessed the game. On August the 23^rd Stafford pulled in a great crowd of 958 for the match against Tamworth.

Here is footage of David Mcniven winning penalty in the 1-0 win over Solihull on bank Holiday Monday last month:

This footage was not uploaded nor hosted by www.heedarmy.co.uk, and is supplied Via Youtube.

Gateshead will be looking to get another 3 points after Tuesday nights 2-0 win at Fleetwood Town. Although it was a good win on Tuesday night, Stafford should prove to be more of a test than the poor Fleetwood side.

John Brackstone could be in-line to make an appearance, although he didn't play on Tuesday he was named on the bench. Wayne Phillips would be very unlucky if he was to loose his place in the starting line after filling in well for the injured Brackstone.

Craig Nelthorpe starts his 3 match ban and will miss the game on Saturday and the following two matches. Could Michael Rae be in line to get his first start of the season and fill in for the suspended Nelthorpe???

Only ducks would have enjoyed Tuesday nights weather at Fleetwood Town, and the travelling Gateshead fans.

Gateshead got off to a great scoring after just 4 minutes when Graeme Armstrong nodded home after Danny Hurst the Fleetwood keeper parried a Davie Southern header to Armstrong's head.

Fleetwood had a bad habit of being caught off-side repeatedly when going forward or was it great work by the Heed defence, the Heed Army believe it was the latter.

Mat Hocking received a yellow card after catching a Fleetwood forward Steve Foster late 20 yards inside the the Gateshead half.

The second half also produced another early goal for Graeme Armstrong, this time Davie Southern found himself completely unmarked down the right when he received the ball, and his run and cross found Armstrong. The goal wasn't a classic as the ball got stuck under his feet and he managed to place it passed the woeful Danny Hurst.

The rest of the second half seen Gateshead in complete control, with Fleetwood still managing to get caught off-side 80% of the time they went forward.

Michael Rae came on late in the game and had two golden chances to make it 3-0 to the Heed, both time Rae found himself with the Fleetwood defence behind him and the keeper to beat, sadly both efforts went wide

Line up and ratings:

Musselwhite 7
Had minimal to do all game.

Baxter 8
Back to his best

Phillips 7
Commanded for the full 90 minutes

Hocking 7
Shaky first half, steady second

Jones 8
Top draw performance

S. Turnbull 8
The ball could have been butter, he spread it all over

P. Turnbull 8
Much the same as his brother, but he was spreading the jam

Gate 7
Ghosted round the pitch, but appeared when he was needed

Nelthorpe 8
Had more twist and turns than a Harry Potter book

Southern 7
Created one and nearly scored himself

Armstrong 8
Had a good game scoring twice and leading the line well
Man of the match

Subs:

James Harwood 7
Played well

Michael Rae 7
Should have got on the score sheet

Alex Francis 7

Slotted in well

Norton (not used)

Brackstone (not used)