Heed go top of the league after cashing in Bucks

GATESHEAD are the new leaders of Vanarama National League North after they racked up their 15th win from 21 league games.

It was the halfway point of the season for the Tynesiders who came from behind to beat basement dwellers AFC Telford 4-1 on Tyneside.

In form striker Paul Blackett moved into double figures with a brace, fellow attackers Cedwyn Scott and Macaulay Langstaff also on target.

The Heed got off to the worst possible start when they fell behind with just 65 seconds on the clock.

They struggled to repel an attack down the left, Jacob Chapman punching clear when he may have held the ball.

Gateshead’s left side were then exposed and when the ball broke to Mace Goodridge the midfielder hit a 22-yard rocket into the near top corner.

It was a magnificent strike and one that rattled the Heed until they fashioned three chances in little more than a minute.

Gateshead got their equaliser on the half hour as Cedwyn Scott struck his 15th goal of the campaign. Captain Greg Olley’s drive hit a defender’s arm.

Nothing was given and when the ball broke to Scott the striker drilled an edge of the box shot into the bottom corner.

The Heed completed the comeback before the break with a rapier attack. Adam Campbell’s measured ball inside the full-back saw Robbie Tinkler square the ball for Blackett to finish first time for his ninth of the campaign.

Telford were then almost in when Louis Storey’s chested backpass put Chapman in trouble.

Owen Bailey replaced Carl Magnay at the break, Blackett firing a good early opening over the bar after Olley and Campbell had combined well.

Carlisle loanee Taylor Charters, now operating at left wing-back, saw his deflected 25-yard strike held by a diving Griffiths.

It wouldn’t be long before the Tynesiders had their third in front of a midweek crowd of 874 at the International Stadium.

Olley, with his back to goal, put a neat flick into the path of Blackett, who cut past two defenders to poke the ball into the far corner.

It was another good finish from the frontman who then made way for 15-goal hit-man Macaulay Langstaff with half an hour to play.

There was no respite for a Bucks side five points adrift at the bottom, Langstaff in but unable to find the net from a tight angle.

A perfectly weighted pass from link man Campbell then released Langstaff on the right channel, the Teessider holding off his man to find the far corner.

The league’s top scorers were heading for the top, fit again schemer Danny Greenfield introduced off the bench for his first game since the opening day of the season.

Gateshead saw the game out without any alarm, Langstaff denied his second by a stunning save.

The Heed will now look to retain their new status as league leaders with another victory at home to Leamington on Saturday.