Saturday brought Gateshead a trip south on the A1 to Doncaster.  Gateshead came into the game sitting two points clear at the top of the league, while Doncaster in contrast were languishing near the bottom.  The game however ended in defeat for Gateshead, who will rue the chances they missed and the mistakes at the back that they made.
 
Gateshead started the game off playing into the sun and although they started the game off, they never really got started themselves.  Doncaster had the possession in the opening 5 minutes of the game, as Gateshead struggled to hold onto the ball and it wasn’t long until Doncaster had taken the lead.  Doncaster picked up the ball on the right-hand side of the pitch just outside Gateshead’s 25 yard line and drove in field being shielded by the Gateshead defence.  As the Doncaster player reached the top of the Gateshead “D” he tried to spin strong and hit the ball on the turn but miss hit the ball right of McEwen’s goal mouth.  However Gateshead’s concentration had shut off and the ball was knocked into the back of the net by one of three unmarked players standing at the back post.
This seemed to waken up Gateshead who finally found some joy in possession with the ball and started to play like they were the team at the top of the league.  Gateshead dominated the rest of the half, with Doncaster barely managing to force any sustained amount of play in the Gateshead half.  White levelled the scores mid way through the first half, working his way into the Doncaster “D” and smashing home a reverse stick shot past the Doncaster keeper.
While Gateshead managed to have all the rest of the play in the first half they couldn’t manage to score another goal and take the lead.  White had two more good chances saved by the glove of the keeper and other chances for Gateshead came and went.  Gateshead would come to later regret missing the chances they let slip.
 
Doncaster started the second half off and again Gateshead had most of the possession, with Doncaster playing on the counter attack. The way the play mapped out nevertheless ended up suiting Doncaster better and within 10 minutes of the restart they had taken a 2 goal lead, after some slack Gateshead defending.
Gateshead mustarded up the strength to fight back and within the same amount of time had brought the scores level again.
After Collinson had battled hard to win another Gateshead penalty corner, Gateshead finally executed a routine, with Grant drag-flicking the ball into the bottom left of the goal. It wasn’t long before the 3rd came with Fleming driving the ball through the centre of the field and after a quick interchange of passes from White and Hardy, Hardy found Tom Clarkson at the back post to slot the ball home.  This was a well deserved goal for the youngster who had battled hard throughout the game.
Gateshead pushed for the winner, which should have came as Doncaster went down to 9 men at one stage, after two poor successive challenges.  Gateshead couldn’t take advantage of this, trying to force the killer pass and in turn often losing possession.  Gateshead themselves then lost Grant to a poor challenge of his own and had to weather the storm as it was now Doncaster’s turn to have the advantage in numbers.
With only a few minutes to go Doncaster won a free just inside the Gateshead 25yard line which was taken quickly and the ball was crashed into the Gateshead “D”.  The ball hit a Gateshead foot and a penalty corner was given, against the protests of the Gateshead players that the ball had been directly hit into the “D”.  Doncaster’s first penalty corner attempt broke down but Carruthers was unlucky and was only able to clear the ball into Fleming’s shin, giving Doncaster another try.  This time the corner routine broke down again but they were able to find an opportunity to shoot and win the game.
 
This win helps push Doncaster up into mid-table and knocks Gateshead off the top of the league table, as Lincoln won to move a point clear at the top.  Gateshead face Durham City next week at home and will need to get back to winning ways quickly.