Carl Magnay frustrated after Gateshead’s defeat to York City

After Good Friday ended in a 3-1 victory to York at the Gateshead International Stadium, it meant that City had done the double over their Vanarama National League counterparts from the North East.

Gateshead had led early on in the game when Luke Hannant had powered a strike past Harrison Male, but an equaliser prior to half-time from Ashley Nathaniel-George, and goals for Junior Luamba and Malachi Fagan-Walcott, meant that York were able to head home three points better off.

Magnay believed that his Heed team went toe-to-toe with City, but that his team lacked the same level of quality in the final third, and spoke on the two contrasting styles of play between the two sides.

“We went toe-to-toe with a very good side, a team that has been settled for long periods of the season,” Magnay told club media.

“They have a specific way they want to play and I’ve watched a lot of teams, including us when we went to them, that maybe give them a little bit too much respect.

“We want to really try and impose ourselves and get in their faces, I felt we were having success in doing that.

“Just over the course of the game and in those critical moments, they took those critical moments better than we did, we looked like we weren’t able to sustain that intensity throughout.

“There’s loads to be pleased about, loads we can take from the game, it’s building in the game from two wins.

“We’re gutted not to get anything from the game, but there are positives we can take from it.”

Hannant’s strike had come after Jovan Malcolm had struck the post, with the Gateshead man unmarked inside the area and able to pounce on the loose ball.

A handling error from Heed goalkeeper Tiernan Brooks allowed Nathaniel-George to poke the ball beyond multiple covering defenders, seeing City head into the break level.

The match was turned on its head once Ollie Pearce dragged the ball back to the oncoming Luamba, who slid past Brooks.

With their 2-1 lead intact, Fagan-Walcott expertly settled the nerves when rounding Brooks from Nathaniel-George’s clever cross.

Magnay vented his frustrations after match, but couldn’t fault the work rate from his players, other than their end product.

The Gateshead manager added: “Frustration is a good word.

“I felt like the effort and the application that the boys put into the game deserved more, however you can’t win games on effort alone.

“Between both boxes it was fairly even, both sides played some good stuff, but they were more clinical and had better quality in key moments in the final third.

“Our decision making was poor in critical moments, and that didn’t allow us to take the game away from them.

“The goals that we conceded, without being too critical, individuals can do better.

“We had a lot of success in the first-half, it was high tempo, aggressive, we wanted to stop them from playing higher up the pitch.

“It was maybe a case of as the game went on, a lot of players have been out for a long time so we maybe couldn’t maintain that intensity for the full 90 minutes.

“Our decision making and end product just wasn’t quite there.”