When Easington’s game was called off last night, I definitely wanted to do a new ground today. I looked at trains to this game, Doncaster Rovers and Bradford City – three grounds I hadn’t done. Doncaster was the cheapest of the three options, but that was still over £50 return so I wasn’t doing that. Katie Wallace and Lee Stewart were originally going to Hexham in the Northern Alliance, but decided to do this last night and so I went with them. The only time I’ve ever watched Salford was when they played Hartlepool United in the FA Cup at Victoria Park in December 2015. Obviously, the ground at Salford has developed a lot in recent years and I quite like how it is at the minute. The outside of the ground is quite impressive, and it’s very tidy on the inside. Down both flanks are seated stands, and there are covered terraces behind both goals. What I found best was the programme and admission prices. At £10 for adults, they are definitely the cheapest in the National League. £10 is what most Evo-Stik Premier clubs charge! The programme is superb. It’s possibly the best non-league programme I’ve seen. It’s only £2 and has 64 pages with some very good content. And it has a good cover. We entered as away fans but there wasn’t any segregation. Most of the Gateshead fans congregated behind the goal where they entered the ground, but you are free to wander round the whole ground. All of the food in the ground (unless it was segregated) is behind the terrace where the home fans stand and there is a fair bit of choice. If I was to pick a couple of ways they could improve, one would be to have a scoreboard. And, they need a better entrance to the pitch for the players. At the minute, it’s just a few of them crowd/queue barriers you see (similar to some Northern League clubs in that sense). But, I’m told they’re currently building more changing rooms behind the dugouts and then they’d have a tunnel onto the halfway line.
Match report:
Gateshead claim good point at Salford
Gateshead came from behind to claim an impressive point in a 1-1 draw at Salford City on Saturday afternoon.
Danny Lloyd’s penalty put Salford ahead in the 28th minute, but Scott Boden pulled Gateshead level just before the break.
No further goals in the second half meant the points were shared.
In Ben Clark’s first game in charge of Gateshead, Scott Barrow and Lewis Maloney came into the side to replace Tom Devitt and Elliot Forbes.
Following a quiet start, it was Gateshead’s Robbie Tinkler who had the first shot of the afternoon. A corner was cleared as far as the former Middlesbrough man, but his driven effort was way too high.
Good defending from Mike Williamson blocked Lloyd’s effort as Salford had their first chance, and Boden headed the resulting corner narrowly wide of his own goal.
As the first half matured, Salford were seeing more of the ball, but they weren’t creating a great deal. Gateshead stopper Aynsley Pears was forced into a save to prevent Matt Green in the 23rd minute, before Boden fired a good chance over at the other end after being picked out by Tinkler.
In the 27th minute, Salford were awarded a penalty. Green burst into the penalty area before being brought down by Pears. Lloyd took responsibility from the spot, and he sent Pears the wrong way to but the Ammies ahead.
Gateshead immediately went in search of a response, and it almost came through Maloney. The former Middlesbrough man took aim from 25 yards, and his dipping effort forced a good save from Chris Neal.
Barrow and Maloney both had further Gateshead efforts come to nothing, before Barrow had another shot deflected behind for a corner.
Gateshead’s equaliser came only a couple of minutes before the break. Patient build up play from Gateshead found Tinkler and his cut back found Boden who stabbed home at the near post.
Following the break, a couple of early balls into both boxes were dealt with, before a Rory Gaffney effort was sliced well wide.
Just after the hour mark, Liam Nolan played Lloyd in for the hosts but his effort could only find the side netting.
Gateshead then registered a couple of shots. Firstly, Maloney fired high and wide, before Boden’s low drive forced a routine save from Neal.
An array of substitutions slowed the game down, and although Salford were seeing the majority of the ball late on, they didn’t do much with it.
Deep into injury time, a Salford free-kick found Nolan at the back post, but his effort was crucially blocked by Fraser Kerr.
That proved to be that is Gateshead held on for an impressive point.
Full-time: Salford City 1-1 Gateshead
Next up for me is possibly East Durham Blue Belles vs Bishop Auckland Ladies Development tomorrow.
Salford City: Neal, Wiseman, Touray, Hogan (c), Piergianni, Green, Lloyd (Glynn, 80′), Walker, Nolan, Pond (Rooney, 69′), Gaffney (Rodney, 86′)
Unused subs: Muscatt, Crocombe
Gateshead: Pears, Kerr, Williamson, Mellish, Barrow (c), Tinkler, Hunter, White, Maloney, Rigg (Salkeld, 82′), Boden
Unused subs: Foden, Thomson, Devitt, Forbes
Admission: £10 adults, £5 concessions
Programme: £2
Attendance: 2,055 (111 from Gateshead)
Bottle of Coke and Galaxy bar: £2.50
Teamsheet: Free
Referee: Peter Gibbons
Connor's Football Travels 