Spoils are shared as Heed grab top away-day point
GATESHEAD picked up an excellent point on the road as attacking midfielder Dan Ward struck for the second consecutive away game.
Ward scored the Heed’s winner on their last road trip at Maidenhead, his 80th-minute close-range strike earning a point at high-flying Bromley.
Gateshead made light of seven absentees as Mike Williamson’s men dug deep to earn a draw at an in-form side unbeaten at home.
The depleted Tynesiders adapted to the plastic pitch at Hayes Lane, playermanager Williamson delighted with his side’s efforts.
He said: “The performance was very good against a side unbeaten at home and fourth in the table.
“I know the manager Andy Woodman from my Newcastle days and we had a game plan how to stop things at source and get in the pockets.
“It worked very well but I am still extremely frustrated because the goals we are conceding at the minute are down to lapses of concentration.
“We are giving them away rather than teams earning them but I thought the boys were phenomenal and what an effort they put in.
“There were many positives from such a good performance, our patterns of play and how we competed aerially and got about them.
“When we get a few boys back and find our rhythm that is only going to put us in a strong position.”
Given the two sides respective league positions and Gateshead on the back of a dispiriting 3-1 home defeat against Altrincham most pundits had this down as a home banker.
However, the Heed displayed a resilience which kept them in a tight game and they then produced a defining moment late in the match.
Bromley had a goal chalked
off,
rightly, in each half, Michael Cheek with an effort ruled out for offside after just four minutes.
It was an early scare which did not phase a determined Gateshead, Dan Langley then turning an Omar Sowunmi shot past the post.
Owen Bailey, one of two holding midfielders alongside Boro loanee Kamal Conteh, then had a shot deflected wide at the other end.
It was Bailey who almost gave the Tynesiders the lead just before the half hour when his near-post header from Greg Olley’s corner brought a save out of Tom Smith.
Adam Marriott headed straight at Langley from Reece Hannam’s cross, Smith then tipping over from Olley.
Midfield man Dan Jarvis replaced striker Paul Blackett six minutes into the second half and three minutes later the Heed almost had the lead.
Huddersfield loanee Luke Daley pulled the ball back for Ward, whose close-range shot was repelled by Smith.
Ward put another effort wide before Cheek found the net again, only for a linesman’s flag to rule the effort out – deja-vu for the experienced frontman.
Louis Dennis had been Gateshead’s nemesis in the past and the Ravens’ attacker came off the bench to break the deadlock.
Smith’s long ball found Harry Forster on the right and he found fellow substitute Dennis, who scored at the back post.
That could have derailed a Heed side with only two wins from the opening 12 games but they hit back impressively.
Robbie Tinkler forced a save from Smith before Ward found the far corner from Adam Campbell’s 80th-minute cut-back.
Daley’s cross was then deflected on to the post as the Heed sensed a winner, Langley then making a crucial save from Dennis.
It was enough to secure a precious point on the road, Gateshead dropping to 19th in the National League despite their heroics in Kent.
Bromley’s former Newcastle goalkeeping coach Andy Woodman said: “It was a below-par performance in some aspects from us.
“Gateshead came here and did a really good job on us.
“There were moments in the game when they kept possession and we could not get near to them.
“It was one of those frustrating days – but credit to Gateshead.”