ALDERSHOT TN 3, GATESHEAD 0

ALDERSHOT ended a run of three draws and stretched their unbeaten record to seven games with an emphatic home victory over Gateshead on Saturday.

It was a frantic end-to-end contest up to half-time, desperately in need of a touch of finesse, and the outstanding Iffy Allen provided it soon after the restart.

Bernard Mensah’s raking crossfield pass picked out Allen on the left, with no obvious route to goal, but the tricky forward slipped his marker and curled an instant shot inside the upright before keeper Dan Hanford could react.

A superb goal was topped off with a dizzying series of somersaults.

The goal steadied the home side nicely and Gateshead’s hitherto solid defence looked suspect against Aldershot’s pacy, well-structured attacks.

It had been a different story in the first half. After four minutes, Gallagher placed the ball in the net as, simultaneously, the flag went up for offside, but that was the closest Aldershot came to scoring against a well-organised defence.

Indeed, Neil Aspin’s side should have taken the lead on 12 minutes when Wesley York, capitalizing on a mistake by Will Evans, sprinted clear from halfway and with only Jake Cole to beat, dinked the ball the wrong side of the post.

When a good opportunity did come along, Matt McClure and Mensah tried to be too intricate inside the box and the visitors got the block in.

Cole was relieved to see an angled left-foot shot from Mitch Brundle fly narrowly wide, but Aldershot thought they should have had a penalty when Hanford appeared to take Allen’s legs rather than the ball in a goalmouth melee.

Adam Bromley earned the ire of the home fans for not pointing to the spot, but 10 minutes after Allen’s choice goal had broken the deadlock, the referee had a more straightforward decision. McClure, released by Gallagher, was palpably tripped by James Bolton inside the box and McClure got up to blast home an unstoppable penalty.

Gateshead, to their credit, came back strongly, winning a series of corners, and the Tynesiders should have pulled at least one goal back.

Danny Johnson, soon after going close from a free-kick, missed the best chance to get his side back in contention. Following a quickly-taken corner, Russell Penn put in a great cross and Johnson failed to hit the target with a free header smack bang in front of goal.

York should also have done better with an unchallenged header as Aldershot defended their lead not too convincingly at times.

The icing on the cake came deep into injury time as the Shots launched a classic counter-attack.

Allen, although hobbling badly after a hard-running shift, still managed to release Josh Wakefield down the right and with Gateshead defenders streaming to get back in position, he crossed calmly for fellow substitute Charlie Walker to stroke the ball into the net.

“It was quite a few levels up from last Saturday’s performance, which is what we were looking for,” said Gary Waddock, the Shots manager. “If we play like that, we give ourselves a chance in any given game. The work the players have put in during the week has paid off today. You only get the rewards when you work hard.

“Teams who play against us are always going to have chances because of the way we play – we’re open, but we’ve got a clean sheet.”

Aldershot: Cole; Alexander, Evans, Reynolds. Arnold; Gallagher, Bellamy; Fenelon (Walker 70), Mensah (Conroy 78) Allen; McClure (Wakefield 85). Subs (not used): Rendell, Smith.

Gateshead: Hanford; Hogan, M Smith, Bolton; Brundle (Styche 62), Mafuta (Jones 64), Penn (Oates 79), McLaughlin G Smith; D Johnson, York. Subs (not used): S Johnson, Bell. Booked: Mafuta.

Referee: Adam Bromley.

Attendance: 1,647 (28 away).

Aldershot are away to York City this Saturday. On Tuesday, the Shots host Forest Green, currently second in the table.