Positives:
The switch to 4-4-2 at half time which opened up the match and made victory possible.
Superb character was shown to fight back from an unthreatening first half performance.
Dan Bachmann’s string of excellent saves.
Five out of five in the shoot-out.
Possibly Manny Smith’s best performance of the season – and that’s saying something!
Another superb Connor Jennings goal.
Steve Tomassen’s solidity at right back – he made a number of key interventions in the first half particularly.
Bright performances off the bench from Robbie Evans and Joe Clarke.
Jay Harris kept battling away, taking the game to Gateshead.
Negatives:
Bachmann feeling his thigh injury again, although hopefully it isn’t anything to worry about.
The first half saw us reactive rather than proactive.
Gateshead opened us up a little too easily for spells in the second half.