Words Joe Edgar | Pictures Jonathan Moore

Gateshead 0 Altrincham 1

As is the expectation before two forward-thinking teams collide, the match began at a frightening tempo, with both teams creating chances from the very start.

The first fell to the hosts, and Jack Roles, when he looked to follow up a shot that was parried back into the area by Caleb Ansen. The Gateshead man stormed into the box to reach the ball, but, to the relief of the Alty defence, he couldn’t direct his strike goalward, and the ball flew harmlessly over the bar.

His miss ignited the Robins, and with 14 minutes on the clock, Kian Taylor bagged his first Vanarama National League goal in Alty colours, clinically rounding off a superb team move.

It was started by Alex Newby who, on the edge of the box, cut in and out of the Gateshead defensive block. After a clever one-two with Lucas Weaver down the right, he fired the ball across the box to Jake Bickerstaff. Despite being held by his marker, Bickerstaff was able to lay the ball in Taylor’s path, and Alty took a deserved lead.

Now the momentum was firmly in their favour, Alty pushed on, eager to add another
goal. They came close to doing so through Taylor shortly after his first, but a
speculative effort from the halfway line by Tom Crawford dropped onto the roof of the
net and had George Shelvey frantically scrambling towards his own goal.

With both teams maintaining the attacking intensity, it was soon Ansen’s turn to be
tested again. Breaking towards the Altrincham penalty area, Will McGowan hit a curling effort towards the top right corner, forcing the new Alty signing into a remarkable save, using the entirety of his long frame.

Shortly after, not wanting to be outdone by his opposite number, Shelvey produced an impressive save to ensure Altrincham were unable to increase their advantage in the first half.

It came when Lucas Weaver got on the end of a threaded pass by Lewis Banks and found himself one-on-one with the Gateshead shot stopper. Weaver looked to slide it past him, but Shelvey's legs denied him.

The second period began in a similar way to how the first ended, with Gateshead looking to control the game through possession and Alty hitting them on the break, but chances were created far less frequently.

Bickerstaff had a shot deflected wide from short range and Roles hit a low free-kick just past the post, but both sides were struggling to produce any quality with the final attacking action of their moves.

With 20 minutes to go, Gateshead were presented with a golden opportunity to change this, and they looked set to equalise through Tyrell Sellars-Fleming.

Jovan Malcolm dribbled powerfully through the Alty half, but just as he entered the 18-yard box, he cleverly found Sellars-Fleming to his left. Thankfully for Alty his first time shot sailed well over the bar.

Desperate for an equaliser, the momentum in the final stage of the game was all in favour of the home team. Luke Hannant blasted a volley wide and Kain Adom forced Ansen into a smart save, but a goal-line clearance from Tylor Golden epitomised Altrincham’s collective determination to keep a clean sheet.

Gateshead Shelvey; Tinkler (c) (Adom, 78'), Booty, Worman (Sellars-Fleming, 66'), Tripp, Roles, Hannant, McGowan, Horton, Malcolm, Jones. Subs not used: Bond, Humbles, Colkett, Bramwell, Thompson.

Altrincham Ansen; Banks, Baines (c), Osborne, Newby (Griffiths, 69'), Taylor (Linney, 61'), Weaver (Amaluzor, 69'), Crawford, Golden, Bickerstaff (Nuttall, 76'), Olson. Subs not used: J.Jones, Reddin, Fallon. 

HT 0-1

Goals None | Taylor 14'

Yellows Jones 41', Malcolm 90'+4 | Golden 82', Banks 90'+5, Nuttall 90'+6, Griffiths 90'+7

Reds None | None

Referee Richard Eley

Assistants Johnathon Bickerdike & Wayne Grunnill

Fourth official Darius Bradley

Attendance 1,114 (145 away)

Next Up

We head to the North East again on Tuesday night to face off against Hartlepool United in the Vanarama National League (kick-off 7:45pm.

Ticket and away travel info for the midweek game is available right here.