DINANGA’S BACK IN THE GROOVE FOR HAPPY HEED

HITMAN Marcus Dinanga’s first Heed hat-trick strengthened the Tynesiders’ play-off ambitions while increasing Oxford’s woes at the foot of the National League.

Dinanga had scored two goals on eight occasions for Gateshead but struck the Heed’s fourth deep into stoppage time to finally walk away with the match ball.

His first two goals were the hallmark of a predatory poacher, the third the product of an in-form Gateshead’s never say die attitude epitomised by player assistant-manager

Louis Storey.

Dinanga went four months without a league goal but is now back in the groove and on 23 goals in all competitions.

Oxford, now seven points adrift at the foot of the table, could have done without giving an in-form Gateshead two leg-ups in the first half.

Andre Burley was booked after giving away the 17th minute penalty and then sent off for a second yellow just past the half hour for blocking a quickly taken free-kick.

That left an Oxford side, already with the worst defence in the league with an hour to play a man light, the Heed adding three goals to Luke Hannant’s firsthalf spot kick.

That saw Gateshead replicate their 4-0 win at Oxford in September and make it six wins from the last seven unbeaten games, four of them being clean sheets.

“It has been a tough week with a lot of travelling, so to win convincingly, obviously helped by Oxford going down to ten men, was very pleasing,” said interim manager Rob Elliot.

“We didn’t have enough players to put a team out the day before we played Chesterfield last month and there have been a lot of departures and arrivals.

“We had to give the new players time to find their feet, but now we are starting to reap our rewards and we’ve got a few to come back from injury, which will make the squad even stronger.”

After a quiet opening to the game, Burley’s push on Dinanga as he tried to get on the end of Callum Whelan’s cross saw Hannant break the deadlock from 12 yards.

And Gateshead went two up inside three minutes of the second half when a clever flick in the box saw Dinanga pounce after Ben Worman’s shot was blocked.

After that it was damage limitation for City as the Heed poured forward. Dinanga pounced on another blocked effort, this time from Ed Francis, to make it three before the hour.

He wasted the chance for a hat-trick when put through by Joe Grayson’s excellent ball from deep, shooting just wide, before sub Dajaune Brown glanced a header just wide.

Not to be denied, though, Dinanga profited from Storey’s persistence when the defender robbed Josh Ashby on the byline to set up Dinanga’s third as Gateshead moved up to fifth.