Gateshead's lineup suggested they were set to park the bus and defend from the outset. Given the odds against them winning, you can hardly blame manager Ian Bogie for his choice.
I told my boys to control the match. Early signs were that they would, with four corners and three shots in the opening six minutes.
Then disaster struck with a bizarre own goal from Bore. Gateshead midfielder Odhiambo's long-range effort cannoned off the underside of the crossbar, sending Anyon flying backwards into his own goal. Bore was first to the rebound, but he stupidly tried to head the ball back to the keeper, who was still doubled over behind the goal line.
Chandler added insult to injury around half an hour into the match, converting a Rents right-wing cross for Gateshead's second. We were in all kinds of trouble, and looked a complete mess.
Christophe set up Koroma in the 38th minute, but the Gambian handled the ball. 2-nil down at the break, we needed major improvements in the second half to stand any chance of turning it around.
I took off club captain John Nutter, replacing him with Samba Kanouté (Park moved out to the left), and tried to light a fire under the team.
Desperate goalkeeping kept substitute Simon Russell from pulling a goal back on 80 minutes, before Shuker was called offside when a cross deflected off him into the back of the net. Russell forced a good save on 83 minutes. But despite looking the better team, we still couldn't score.
The match stats tell all the story needed. Wasted opportunities, poor finishing, and reckless defending undid us against a solid, studious Gateshead team. A five match unbeaten run ends with a terrible performance. How do we regroup from this one?
We drop to third, three points behind Mansfield and one point shy of Wrexham—with a two-point cushion from Fleetwood and Kidderminster.
It could not have been a worse time to hold a fan day. The board reported a "bumper crowd" of 3341, but all they saw from their team was rubbish.
The Reserves have a friendly tomorrow. I'll be checking out the trialists to see if any of them should be offered a contract. Our next match is in four days.
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