Report

Consett made it three pre-season wins out of three as they came from behind to beat National League side Gateshead 4-1 at Belle View Stadium.

The first chance of the afternoon fell the way of the hosts after four minutes as Ali Alshabeeb’s right-wing cross found a trialist striker at the back post, but he skewed his effort wide.

Five minutes later Consett had another chance as left-back Adam Male’s cross picked out Andrei Vasile-Ardelean, but his header bounced the wrong side of the far post.

So it was against the run of play that the young Heed side took the lead on 14 minutes after a slick move down the right which saw Connor Smith’s low cross met by Mason Fawns to finish from close range.

Consett responded well, to going behind, and continued to create chances. Luke Carr was too high with a 25-yard free-kick after he was fouled, while Calvin Smith’s overhead effort from a Carr corner drifted harmlessly wide.

But on 25 minutes Consett were level when Jake Stafford played a superb long pass out of defence which sent Ali Alshabeeb clear, and he kept his cool to finish past the keeper from 12 yards.

Gateshead, whose team consisted mostly of youngsters, had enjoyed plenty of possession, but hadn’t shown much as an attacking force. That changed in the 35^th minute when Consett keeper Kyle Hayes had to get down well at his near post to save from a trialist.

Six minutes before half-time the Steelmen took the lead, when Luke Carr picked up a loose ball 30 yards out and fired a venomous left-footed strike in off the post.

It remained 2-1 to Consett at half-time, but Gateshead thought they had levelled nine minutes into the second half when centre-back Kostas Dabizas – the son of former Newcastle player Nikos – had the ball in the net, only for the ‘goal’ to be chalked off for a foul on the keeper.

Four minutes later Consett too had a ‘goal’ ruled out when Carr’s free-kick from the left was headed down at the back post and a trialist finished from point-blank range, but the effort was ruled offside.

Gateshead then had an amazing let-off when right-back Jermaine Metz reached the byline and laid the ball on a plate for Ardelean, but instead of a tap-in, the striker somehow managed to put the ball back in the direction it had come from.

A torrential downpour sent many of the healthy crowd of 378 scampering for cover, but the rain didn’t affect the players, and Hayes had to be on the alert twice in a couple of minutes, saving first from Connor Smith at his near post, and then from Greenfield at full stretch as Gateshead enjoyed their best spell of the match.

Midway through the half Consett made a wholesale substitution, bringing on five players, and within a few minutes one of them had made an immediate impact.

Striker Michael Brown chased a ball into the penalty area and was sent tumbling by Dabizas. When referee Andrew Kitchen pointed to the spot, Luke Carr stepped up to make it 3-1 with an audacious ‘Panenka’ chipped penalty which sent the keeper the wrong way.

Two minutes later it was 4-1 as Carr turned provider for Michael Brown, who slammed the ball home from his teammate’s precise pullback.

Consett could have had more goals as the game entered its closing stages, as Carr, Brown and Ardelean all had efforts well saved, while substitute Sam Carson almost grabbed a consolation for the Heed in the dying stages, but Hayes was there once again to deny him.

Consett: 1 Kyle Hayes, 2 Jermaine Metz (sub Trialist 3 65), 3 Adam Male (sub Alex Johnson 65), 4 Jake Stafford (sub Calvin Smith 65), 5 Trialist 1 (sub Arjun Purewal 65), 6 Arjun Purewal (captain) (sub Ross Wilkinson 30), 7 Ali Alshabeeb (sub Trialist 4 65) , 8 Calvin Smith (sub Dan Hawkins 46), 9 Andrei Vasile-Ardelean, 10 Luke Carr, 11 Trialist 2 (sub Michael Brown, 65)

Gateshead: 1 Matt Bancroft (sub Tom Thebe 82); 2 Ben Garrity, 3 Sam Gibson, 4 Kostas Dabizas (sub Luke Brown 82) , 5 Trialist 1, 6 Shaban Mohammed (sub Dan Stephenson 61), 7 Connor Smith (sub Sam Carson 82), 8 Danny Greenfield, 9 Trialist 2 (sub Scott Robson 46), 10 Trialist 3   , 11 Mason Fawns (sub Dan Cranston 61).

Referee: Andrew Kitchen

Attendance: 378