It’s not all Dover for Heed despite defeat
‘THE fight goes on’ is the message from Gateshead manager Neil Aspin after his side were dealt a body blow at the weekend.
A brace from Vanarama National League Golden Boot winner-elect Ricky Miller sunk the Heed on the South Coast.
The 2-0 defeat at Dover Athletic saw the Kent outfit go above Gateshead in the race for the play-offs.
Four of the Tynesiders’ rivals for a top-five place won, leaving Aspin’s men four points behind fifth-placed Aldershot Town.
They will be five points adrift of the top-five with five games to play if Dover win their game in hand.
While the odds are now stacked against Gateshead, it is not a lost cause - Aspin disappointed with the display but defiant.
Aspin said: “The message now has to be, finish the season by winning all five of our remaining games and keep pushing.
“Dover was a setback but we cannot give up because if you do that then you have no chance.
“As long as there are points at stake we have to keep going and keep picking up as many points as we can.”
With Wes York, out-of-favour winger Toby Ajala and new loanee Jake Wright all injured, the Heed were down to the bare bones.
So much so JJ O’Donnell, out for two and a quarter years, and Tom White, back after a year on the sidelines, were on the bench.
Young midfielder White came on for the final 10 minutes for his Gateshead debut - but by then the game had gone.
For the first time in 2017 the Heed failed to score, Crabble far from the ideal venue for their 10-game unbeaten run to end.
Miller’s excellent free-kick on the half-hour was all that separated the two promotion chasers after a tight opening 45 minutes.
Dover, however, had the better of the second period, Miller clinching the game 12 minutes from time with his 34th of the campaign.
Aspin added: “There was nothing in it in the first half but I cannot complain – in the second half we got what we deserved.
“In a big game like this, we needed all 11 players on song and we were not anywhere near that in the second half.”
In-form Maidstone United are next up for the Heed, the 18thplaced Stones not yet safe from relegation, on Tyneside at the weekend.