On Saturday Gateshead made it six wins on the bounce, to stay two points clear at the top of the North Hockey Men’s League Division 2 East, beating rivals Sunderland in the local derby.  This won’t go down as one of their greatest displays, but after a flat first half Gateshead managed to out gun Sunderland in a goal ridden second 35 minutes. Gateshead weren’t helped at losing some key players before the game, with Honour hurting his hip in practise and Ramsay having to play a bit part from the bench due to illness on the day.
 
The weather has been kind to the hockey league so far in November and when Sunderland hit the game off on Saturday the sun was in the sky and the pitch was wet from rain the night before; the conditions were perfect for a great game of hockey.  Unfortunately this is not what we got and the first half bore testament to this.  The first 35 minutes were of frustration for Gateshead as Sunderland set out there stall to not get outnumbered by Gateshead at the back.  Sunderland made sure they always had large numbers of players behind the ball and invited Gateshead to try and break them down. Any time Sunderland won the ball at the back they tried to hit their pacey forwards hard and fast on the counter attack.  This tactic worked well, with Gateshead limited to only a handful of penalty corners and a mazy dribble by Traynor, which ended with him beating the keeper Wilkinson and pushing the ball into the side of the goal. At the other end of the pitch McEwen was called into action several times, as the pace of Sunderland’s forwards caused Gateshead problems. Luckily for Gateshead McEwen was in fine form and kept Sunderland from taking the lead.  As the half time whistle went Gateshead realised that they had been drawn into a messy affair and were not playing their own brand of hockey.
 
The second half was in complete contrast to the goalless first half with seven goals in total being scored.
Right from the off Gateshead made a conscious effort to get in the faces of the Sunderland players, hounding them down and giving them as little time on the ball as possible.  This worked for about 5 minutes until Sunderland sneaked through the Gateshead press and bumped their way up into the Gateshead “D” and the ball was knocked around McEwen and into the Gateshead goal, by Dench.
This was not the start Gateshead had talked about at half time. As Gateshead got the game restarted it took only another 5 minutes until they had drawn level, from another untidy goal.  Carruthers through an aerial just inside the Sunderland half which was never fully controlled by the Sunderland defence on their 25 yards line. Hardy poked the ball through to White, who in turn slapped the ball over the sliding Wilkinson crisply into the Sunderland net.
Sunderland held their nerve and hit straight back at Gateshead with some strong challenges and a goal for their endeavours.  This time Gateshead tried to clear their lines with an aerial from the back but Hardy was adjudged to not be 5m from the receiving Sunderland player and thus a foul was given.  This was taken quickly and after a series of failed tackles the ball spilled to Ali Campbell who slotted the ball home, putting the visitors once more ahead.
Gateshead battled back and grabbed a second equaliser from a penalty corner drag flick, dispatched by Collins. The penalty corner was won after a marauding run from Bland down the right flank, zig zagging his way through gaps in the Sunderland defence until he found a foot inside the “D”. Collins low flick into the bottom corner was not his first of the season and he is fast becoming a penalty corner specialist.
This spurred Gateshead into life as they continued to apply pressure on the Sunderland defence. All this hard work paid off a short time later when captain Jervis Fleming ran the length of the pitch to receive a pass from White, spin on the spot, and release a flick over Wilkinson high into the Sunderland goal.  For the first time in the game, Gateshead had now found themselves ahead.
Sunderland started to look like they were on the ropes, as Gateshead created a two goal cushion, through another penalty corner, this time scored from Traynor.  Fleming surged forward after a one two with Traynor in the centre of the pitch, spun 360 degrees around an advancing Sunderland defender and then cooly found a foot inside the “D”.  This time Gateshead played a right switch and after Fleming laid the ball back into Traynor he swept the ball in one motion and flicked the ball into the top right hand corner of the net.
Gateshead managed to hold out for a critical win, but it was not all smooth sailing as Sunderland got back up of the canvas and scored a goal of their own, and a second for Dench.  This made it a nervy end to the game for Gateshead, with Sunderland even having a chance to level at the very end of the game when Gorman conceded a late penalty corner.
 
Although not impressive, a win is a win and Gateshead picked up another three points, helping them get one game closer to going into the winter break at the top of the table. Next week Gateshead face Leeds Adel Carnegie at home and will hope for another three points and maybe even a good performance too.