Heed hold nerve to edge step closer to Wembley
LOUIS Storey was left with mixed emotions after Gateshead survived a major scare to secure a place in the last 16 of the FA Trophy with a home win against National League South club Weston-Super-Mare.
Rob Elliott’s side made a nightmare start at the International Stadium as a stunning strike from Seagulls captain Dale Grubb put the visitors in front inside five minutes.
Storey got the Heed back on levelterms just before half-time as his neat flicked header found its way inside the far post after a fine cross from Kenton Richardson.
Gateshead turned the game on its head just after the interval when Connor McBride’s cross allowed top goalscorer Marcus Dinanga to head his side in front for the first time.
The Seagulls were reduced to ten men by Robbie Willmott’s red card just before the hour-mark but forced the tie to penalties with a last-minute header from Lloyd Humphries.
It was Gateshead that held their nerve as Grubb and Alex Fletcher both missed, allowing Storey to convert the decisive spot-kick and put his side in today’s fifth-round draw.
The Heed player-coach admitted he thrived on the pressure provided by a shoot-out – but conceded he had been forced into the role of “bad cop” by his side’s underwhelming display. He said: “It was quite nice actually, I just went up, hit it as hard as I could again and it hit the back of the net.
“I thrive off little moments like that, when there’s pressure and that pressure is a privilege because it means something is on the line.
“Rob (Elliot) was the good cop today, I was the bad cop. There were a lot of young players on the pitch that have stepped up in terms of getting game-time for the first-team and trying to buy into our concepts and mentality. Those guys deserve praise. For those that are more senior and have been at the club longer, there were some parts of the game, in my opinion, that weren’t good enough and we won’t accept that.
“Conceding a goal and not seeing out a game at 2-1 up and with a man extra, we’ve been there before this season and it’s not good enough. It comes from discipline and structure and probably some of the roles and responsibilities in and out of possession need to be refined.”
Gateshead are back on the road tomorrow when they return to league action with a trip to Woking.
Meanwhile, Hartlepool United’s hopes of reaching Wembley were dashed after they suffered a fourthround exit at the hands of National League South side Hampton and Richmond Borough.
Pools were reduced to ten men in the closing stages when Jake Hastie was shown a second yellow card but held on to take the tie to penalties.
Misses from Nicky Featherstone and David Ferguson ensured Pools came out on the wrong end of the shoot-out.