MATCH STATS

AS cup finals go, it was hardly a classic, but FC Halifax Town boss Chris Millington didn’t care a jot after steering the Shaymen to a second FA Trophy success in seven years.

Unfortunately for the neutrals in a 27,374 Wembley crowd, it was a sloppy mistake as opposed to a moment of magic which settled this rather drab contest – midfielder Jamie Cooke charging down goalkeeper James Montgomery’s attempted clearance into an empty net following Louis Storey’s weak back pass just before half-time.

Gateshead plugged away in search of an equaliser but the culmination of a threadbare squad due to injuries, ineligiblity, and a gruelling end-of-season schedule clearly took its toll on Mike Williamson’s men.

“You can see exactly what we set out to do,” Millington explained. “Gateshead are a team we know well and they are a team we really enjoy playing in that they pose so many tactical questions that we have to be prepared to answer, and they did that again today, in bucketloads.”

FC Halifax came into Wembley showcase as one of the form sides of the National League, unbeaten in eight – including a fine 3-1 win over champions Wrexham – since their penalty shootout success over Altrincham in the semi-final.

Only two points separated the sides in the National League table over this the course of the season – and there was precious little to split them here in a nervy opening. The fans, however, did their bit. From Tyneside to South Yorkshire, the sun-drenched crowd did their best to inspire the teams which the action was hardly uplifting.

Both sides set up in an identical 3-4-2-1 which only succeeded in can- celling out the opposition and stifling the obvious quality on show, in either blue or white. For 40 minutes, it was a case of who would blink first as these two mid-table sides sized each other up like a couple of heavyweight

FC HALIFAX V GATESHEAD boxers waiting to make their move.

Registering just one shot apiece, both well off target and hardly worth noting, the half looking like petering out to a tame stalemate until someone did blink, on 43 minutes.

Turning to snuff out the danger of a failed Halifax attack, Storey rolled the ball back to his goalkeeper from the edge of his box but his routine pass came up a touch short, prompting Montgomery to hurriedly rush off his line. The Heed keeper got to the ball first but his clearance was shut down by the alert and brave Cooke, the ball looping into the far corner of the net in a ‘timestood-still’ moment.

Gateshead upped the tempo at the start of the second half, Owen Bailey’s glancing header from a corner, although well wide, offering at least something in the way of encouragement for