MAIDSTONE 2 GATESHEAD 2 Heed secure a draw despite losing a man
Fighting spirit prevails
TEN-MAN Gateshead came back from two down at Conference form team Maidstone to earn a superb point in Kent.
Kicking towards the Elvis End at the Gallagher Stadium, the Heed were all shook up after a disastrous opening 10 minutes.
Jai Reason had already missed a sitter when Neil Aspin’s men suffered a double whammy against a Stones side that had won their last three.
Zavon Hines got goalside of Theo Vassell in the box and the defender’s challenge brought not just a penalty but the harshest of red cards.
That left Gateshead to play 80 minutes a man light and it looked all over when Alex Wynter doubled the home lead midway through the second half.
A determined Heed, however, never stopped believing and the 10 men were back in it a minute later through Richard Peniket.
Fellow striker Danny Johnson then levelled on 80 minutes, a gutsy Gateshead overcoming not only the plastic pitch, but the referee as well.
“I’m really pleased with the attitude of the players,” said Heed boss Aspin. “They showed great desire to keep going. I’ve been in football for 32 years and that’s the worst sending-off I’ve seen in all my career.
“Maidstone came out the blocks much quicker than we did. They were on the front foot and causing us problems.
“But if anything the sendingoff galvanised us. We played some good football in the first half with 10 men and had some decent efforts at goal.
“We then got our rewards in the second half by keeping going in the game, but at 2-0 down with 10 men it looked a long way back.
“The first goal gave us belief and put doubt in their minds and both forwards did well with their goals.”
Returning goalkeeper James Montgomery had already tipped over a Joe Pigott free kick when Hines gave Maidstone the lead.
Down to 10 men, the Heed had to regroup, midfielder Paddy McLaughlin dropping back to left-back and Jamal Fyfield going into the centre of the defence.
Sparked by the injustice of Vassell’s red card Gateshead did everything but score in the 19th minute. Lee Worgan turned Luke Hannant’s shot onto the post and blocked the rebound, Peniket then unable to turn the ball home. The Tynesiders were showing plenty of spirit but it took a timely Callum Williams challenge to deny Hines early in the second half.
It looked all over when Wynter found the net from 15 yards following a poorly-dealt-with Hines free kick, but within a minute a battling Heed were back in it.
Peniket rounded Worgan in the Stones goal after good work down the left by Johnson. Neill Byrne went down in the box but appeals for a penalty fell on deaf ears. It was to be only a stay of execution for a jittery Maidstone.
Johnson, who scored twice at Maidstone last year, pounced on an ineffective clearance to beat the last man and hammer a shot past Worgan.
It was no more than a defiant Heed deserved as Maidstone fluffed their lines in front of a bumper Gallagher Stadium crowd.