Gateshead game and reaction

Blyth lost 3-0 to Gateshead in Saturday's pre-season friendly at Croft Park.

Early in the first half play was fairly even but Blyth came close to taking the lead when a neat through ball from Daniel Maguire found Alex Nicholson who saw his first time shot blocked by goalkeeper Sam Johnson. Michael Richardson then fired high over the Gateshead bar as Blyth took the game to their opponents.

Both sides made a large number of changes after the interval and it was the Heed who scored within a minute of the restart with Reece Styche firing home from close range. Gateshead's Paddy McLaughlin missed a sitter only minutes later before the Heed's dominance told when Mitch Brundle made it 2-0.

Despite their best efforts, on 70 minutes, Blyth went three down following a Danny Johnson effort.

After the game Blyth manager Tom Wade commented: "I hate being beaten even in friendlies, it hurts. However I thought we conducted ourselves very well in the first half when some of our play was excellent, outplaying Gateshead in spells. We're trying to develop a style of play based on good passing football here at Croft Park and it showed.

"In the second half both sides made loads of changes and they had more strength in depth and looked really strong. But, they're full-time and a bit fitter than us at this stage but we're not far away from where we need to be in that respect."