Heed down but not out of Wembley bid
GATESHEAD’S bid to reach Wembley for the first time in the FA Trophy will be decided at the International Stadium on Saturday.
The Heed twice led in the first leg of their semi-final at Bromley at the weekend only to go down 3-2.
Comeback specialists Gateshead remain firmly in the tie and believe they can get the job done back on Tyneside.
It was a case of what might have been for the Heed among the snow flurries at a wintry Hayes Lane.
They could have had the tie all but won in the opening six minutes after a blistering opening to the game.
Danny Johnson deflected Richard Peniket’s shot into the net with less than a minute on the clock.
Shell-shocked Bromley were fortunate not to suffer further damage as Wes York and Johnson both hit the post.
Another highly contentious penalty against Bromley, the 12th Gateshead have conceded this season, saw Charlton loanee Brandon Hanlan level.
Johnson then made it an incredible nine goals in the last five games for the Heed hit man as he waltzed around Ravens keeper David Gregory.
Bromley then bossed the second period after Louis Dennis bent a 22-yard angled shot into the far corner six minutes in.
Dennis then combined with Hanlan, who had earlier hit the bar, to rifle the winner nine minutes from the end. The Kent outfit have the advantage going into Saturday’s showdown, but it is a slender one and Gateshead have several reasons to be optimistic. They have racked up 17 goals in the last five games and Johnson is on fire up top, Richard Peniket also in goalscoring form.
The second leg will not be played on a plastic pitch as at Bromley, and the Heed have come back many times this season in the Trophy.
There should also be a large partisan crowd at the International Stadium, with manager Steve Watson urging the Heed Army to roar Gateshead to Wembley.
Watson said: “The fans gave us great backing at Bromley.
“It’s a big day for everyone on Saturday and we’ll need a 12th man to create a great atmosphere. It was awful conditions at Bromley in what was a textbook game of two halves.
We started very well and could have been three up.
“The penalty decision was a bad one and bitterly disappointing.
“We then got in front again, but the second half was as disappointed as I’ve been all season.
“We go into the second leg a goal down and didn’t do enough to win the game, but we’ve been in a lot worse positions than this and won — it’s all to play for.”