Shaun Smith . . .
Gateshead 0 v 2 Witton Albion
Unibond Premier League
12th March 2008
Attendance 368
On a blustery windy night on Tyneside, any hope of Gateshead catching leaders Witton Albion in their pursuit of the Unibond Premier title were blown away, as the current leaders comfortably came away with all three points at the International Stadium.
Witton backed by a noisy travelling support from Cheshire, showed their intent from the kick off, almost taking the lead as early as the 2nd minute, an effort from Thornley hit the post and rolled along the goal line, before being cleared to safety by Jones. Albion continued to press forward as the home side struggled to get out of their own half, Adam Warlow beat the offside trap on 14 minutes but his shot produced a fine save from Musselwhite, the warning signs were apparent as 5 minutes later the visitors took the lead, a right wing cross found left-back Liam Bromwell in acres of space, he had time to take control before rifling an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.
Gateshead pressed forward, working hard in search of an equaliser, an effort from Brayson brought a comfortable save from Kennedy, but overall Witton dealt comfortably with any threat, a running battle throughout the first half between Witton right-back Cavell Coo and Gateshead forward Davy Southern produced a yellow card for the defender and added to the players and supporters frustrations.
The Heed started the second half brightly and almost equalised in the 48th minute, a cross from Gate found Brayson, although he had his back to goal he still managed to flick the ball goal-wards, but his attempt was cleared off the line, a crucial miss as Witton doubled their lead on 55 minutes. In similar fashion to the opening goal, a through ball again found an unmarked player in the box, this time it was David McPherson who took advantage, making no mistake from 12 yards out with a fierce right foot shot, the goal was greeted with one of the Witton dugout celebrating(like the first goal) with a spot of break dancing at the side of the pitch.
After the second goal a double substitution saw Harwood and Phillips replace Brayson and Gate, so adding more width and more attacking options, a good effort from Armstrong making room for himself on the edge of the box produced a fine save from the keeper, from the resulting corner kick the ball fell kindly to Harwood, but again Kennedy was alert to it.
Witton seen out the final twenty minutes easily as the home side struggled the pierce a resolute defence, the only major incident being a bit of a kafuffle, between the Gateshead dugout and one of the Albion defenders, resulted in a ‘hand bags’ incident which had to be broken up by the referee and linesman, signs of what was a frustrating night for Gateshead and a solid top of the league performance from Albion.
This result virtually guaranteed Witton Albion the league championship, the only club that can catch them now are Fleetwood Town, but having seen both teams recently, I don’t think they’re good enough to close the gap. Gateshead will have to work hard to remain in the top 5, but I’m confident they can hold there position, personally speaking I’d prefer to see Gateshead finish 5,th meaning they’ll have to play there play-off games away from home, in the last calendar year they’ve only lost two matches on the road, with some of their best performances coming away from the International Stadium.
As we head towards the last month of the regular season, Buxton, Eastwood, Guiseley and Marine are also all involved in the promotion shake up, it’ll be an interesting month and promises to be an exciting end to the campaign.
Smid’s entertainment value - 6/10
Smid‘s Starman - Mark Peers (Witton Albion)
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