Gateshead see it’s not enough to dominate
Nov 28 2009 by Steve Brown, The Journal
HAVING bossed it yet lost it – again – Ian Bogie has warned his Gateshead side they must begin to convert domination into results, writes STEVE BROWN.
The Tynesiders entertain Crawley Town this afternoon, just days after controlling long spells of their defeat at third-placed York City. It wasn’t the first time. Bogie’s men have performed commandingly throughout periods in games against Blue Square Premier leaders Oxford United and second-placed Stevenage Borough, as well as at home to York, yet come away with nothing.
The same goes for games against Luton Town, Kidderminster Harriers and Altrincham, all top 10 teams.
So while today’s mission is to complete a league double over midtable Crawley – beaten 4-1 in August – Bogie wants to see his side learn the knack of winning when the going is good, bad or ugly.
“At York I was disappointed because it was an opportunity to beat a team who are probably sitting fourth in the league,” said Bogie, who this week added loan signings Clark Keltie, a midfielder, and Jon Shaw, a striker, from Rochdale.
“We keep coming away having done well against the top four or five but ultimately we get beat. We’ve dominated teams in the past but ultimately it’s all about results.
“York would say ‘We’ve beaten a decent Gateshead side without even playing well’, and without their top goalscorer.
“They’ve won ugly and that’s something we have to learn to do ourselves if we want to stay in this league. We have to make it count, whether we’re on top of games or not.
“We’ll go back to the drawing board, dust ourselves down and work hard again towards the weekend.
“We’ve got a home game against a team in Crawley who’ll be difficult opposition, so we have to move on.
“It puts a bit more pressure on the game when we should have taken something from Tuesday night. You go into your next game with more pressure on.
“Yes it’s a home game and whoever you play at home you’ve got to expect to win. We’re no different.
“It’ll be a tough game because they’ll be smarting from when we beat them heavily, 4-1 at their place.
“We’ll have to show grit and determination, that’s what Steve Evans’ team will bring to the table.
“But if we perform like we did in the final third on Tuesday we’ll get nothing from the game.”
