Williamson extremely proud of his players

GATESHEAD boss Mike Williamson expressed his immense pride in his side despite their narrow defeat at Wembley.

The Heed were the better side for large parts of the game after a cagey first half, but lacked a cutting edge when they needed it the most.

Williamson said: “It’s as far on the immensely proud side scale as you can possibly get. We gave everything out there today.

“Obviously the first half was a tense affair, it was cagey, it was a typical final. When they scored, I said to Ian Watson, hopefully it’ll take the shackles off us a bit which I thought it did and our second half was really positive, the boys threw everything at it.

“We know how good Halifax are and they deserve a lot of credit, but we gave everything. The boys, what they’ve given to the club and the community, they should be immensely proud. It’s been a hugely positive experience.”

It’s well documented the Heed were down to the bare bones heading into the final, but the Gateshead boss made no excuses for his teams performance, praising the lads at his disposal for getting to this stage.

“If this was a league game, you’d dissect it and there’s many reasons and elements but I’ll leave that to you guys and the fans,” Williamson said. “Whoever it is, for me, we had this group of lads and I couldn’t be prouder than what they gave us.

“They got us here and they deserve all the credit for that, in such a difficult period of the season. I genuinely from the bottom of my heart, there’s no disappointment. For the families and the fans it would have been nice, but for that group of lads, what they’ve achieved this season should be their own merit.”