By John Walsh

Last updated at 12:38, Thursday, 29 January 2009

Gateshead 2 Workington 1: A catalogue of disasters contributed to Workington’s impressive winning sequence ending at Gateshead’s International Stadium.

Jonny Wright

Perhaps not the force that destroyed Barrow, Gainsborough and Stalybridge in successive matches Reds nevertheless deserved to bring home a point from their high-flying hosts.

But skipper Dave Hewson was stretchered off, midfielder Anthony Wright limped off and top scorer Jonny Wright was sent-off on a night of set-backs.

In addition Jonny Wright had what appeared to be a perfectly good goal disallowed when it would have given Reds a vital 2-1 lead.

The injuries, of course, will interrupt preparations for Saturday’s big FA Trophy tie with Wrexham at Brough Park as Hewson is almost certainly a non-starter and Anthony Wright is rated only 50-50.

Jonny Wright will be able to play but his automatic three-match ban will see him miss crucial Blue Square North game with AFC Telford (home), Solihull (away) and leaders Tamworth (away).

The dangers of having to operate with just a wafer-thin squad were emphasised at the International Stadium as Reds could have to go in against Wrexham with only two substitutes.

The first set-back for Reds came on 11 minutes – followed a minute later by the opening goal as they re-organised.

Skipper Hewson was crudely challenged by Wayne Phillips as he broke down the right and the end product was a stretcher-bound journey to the dressing room. A gashed ankle and a swollen foot, with the possibility of ligament damage was the after-match verdict for the unluckiest of players.

Workington fell behind a minute later. They cleared the initial corner but when the ball was played back in Armstrong rose virtually unchallenged to head powerfully past Collin.

For quite some time Workington seemed affected by the loss of their captain in such distressing circumstances and it was Gateshead who were forcing the pace through the game’s second quarter.

More disruption followed for Reds ten minutes before half-time when Anthony Wright limped off with a thigh strain and he is reported to be 50-50 for Saturday’s FA Trophy tie.

However, it was patched -up Reds, who came out in more determined fashion and within five minutes they had drawn level.

It was pretty basic stuff – route one as Collin hammered the ball down field. The Gateshead defence, which hadn’t looked comfortable earlier in the game, couldn’t deal with it and the energetic McLuckie got in between James Curtis and Carl Jones to collect and then fire past Musselwhite.

Workington found their rhythm and could so easily have taken the lead. Shaun Vipond curled in a free-kick from the left which cleared the Gateshead back-line and Jonny Wright came through late to take advantage of a slip by the last defender and force the ball over the line.

To the astonishment of virtually everyone on the ground – even the Gateshead people didn’t expect a flag – the referee’s assistant waved for a foul and the goal was chalked off. Just where the foul had occurred no-one was sure.

To add insult to injury Gateshead scored in their next attack. Workington were caught out by a threaded through ball from Gateshead’s best player Phil Turnbull and Novak did well to clip the ball back into the path of his skipper Kris Gate who couldn’t miss from two yards.

On 64 minutes Reds’ night of agony was virtually complete when Jonny Wright retaliated after he felt he had been elbowed by Curtis in an aerial challenge and was shown the red card.

Even down to ten men Workington had their moments. Substitute Andy Hardman fired one on the run from just outside the area that was goal-bound until taking a late deflection and only earning Reds an unproductive corner.

In testing, heavy conditions, however, the ten men became less threatening and in the final 15 minutes Collin had to make two excellent stops to deny Armstrong and Novak.

MATCH FACTS

Star man: Phil McLuckie

Reds: Collin, Hewson (Langford 11), Rowntree, May, Andrews, McLuckie, Vipond, Hopper, J. Wright, Arnison (Robinson 83), A. Wright (34). Sub (not used) Edmondson.

Referee: Warren Broadbent, Sunderland

Crowd: 463

First published at 11:27, Thursday, 29 January 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk