Harrogate Town 2 Gateshead FC 1: Sulphurites rewarded late on for 'perseverance' after conceding horror goal
Simon Weaver credited his Harrogate Town side with showing “perseverance” as they struck late to see off a dogged Gateshead on Bank Holiday Monday.
The Sulphurites completely dominated the vast majority of the contest against opponents who offered virtually nothing as an attacking force, but still had to come from behind to register their third victory in five National League outings this term.
A horrendous misjudgment by goalkeeper Rory Watson, making his competitive debut for the club, gifted Gateshead the lead almost immediately after half-time.
But, having seen ex-Town stopper Pete Jameson’s clearance from inside his own box hit the back of their net, Weaver’s men upped the ante and drew level through Josh Hmami’s second goal in as many appearances for his new club.
And, after threatening to take the lead on a number of occasions, the hosts eventually did when Warren Burrell’s 90th-minute header was diverted into his own goal by Ashley Boatswain.
"I thought that the lads showed perseverance,” Weaver said.
“We probed and created quite a few chances, and it can become quite frustrating. It was 0-0 at half-time and there were a few natives getting restless.
"Every team in the land will want to go in at the break a goal or two up having dominated proceedings, but then there was that freak goal. But, the character of the team shone through.
"The lads did well to hold their nerve after something freaky like that [Gateshead’s goal] happened. We had been in the ascendancy for the whole game and then suddenly found ourselves 1-0 down.
"And, on the back of Friday night’s defeat at Aldershot, this was the acid test, but the lads came through.”
Town completely bossed possession during the first half, with Gateshead struggling at times to even clear their lines and get the ball into the home half.
But, with the visitors sitting deep and keeping 10 men behind the ball for long periods, Harrogate found it hard to create much by way of clear-cut chances.
Bailey Hobson’s attempt at picking out the top corner missed the target, before a visiting defender arrived in the nick of time and cleared the danger after Hmami met Will McGowan’s cross from the right at the far post.
A bit more bravery and a lot more final-third quality was needed in the second period, however the game had only just got back underway when disaster struck.
Jameson launched a huge, wind-assisted clearance kick from just inside his own box and debutant Watson stood and watched 15 yards off his goal-line as the ball bounced over his head and into the net.
The feeling around Wetherby Road that it was maybe going to be one of those days intensified four minutes later when Shawn McCoulsky was played through on goal and failed to beat Jameson one-on-one.
But, with 53 minutes on the clock, an equaliser did materialise.
Hmami, who scored with a deflected effort just minutes after coming off the bench for his debut during Friday’s 3-1 defeat at Aldershot, once again struck with the aid of a touch off an opposing player.
Having cut inside and onto his right foot, the former Halifax attacker’s shot from almost 25 yards out took a nick off a defender and looped over the despairing dive of Jameson and into the far corner.
Although Gateshead did venture forward on a few more occasions than they had done in the opening half, the remainder of the contest saw Town remain firmly in the ascendancy.
McCoulsky bent a strike wide of the far post having done well to engineer himself a sight of goal on the left-hand side of the penalty area.
Substitute George Thomson then forced Jameson to dive at full stretch and push his well-struck volley behind for a corner.
From the resulting Thomson set-piece, Archie Baptiste looked to have powered Weaver’s side into the lead, but although his back-post header beat Jameson, it was cleared from underneath the cross-bar by a perfectly-positioned Heed man.
A second and decisive goal would however arrive in the 90th minute.
Thomson swung in another dangerous corner-kick delivery from the right, which veteran skipper Burrell met at the front stick, glancing the ball off Boatswain’s shoulder and into the top corner.
Victory lifts Town up to fifth place in the National League standings, where they sit on a total of 10 points after five rounds of fixtures.