HEREFORD 0
GATESHEAD 1
Dinanga 77
FIFTY-two years to the week since Ronnie Radford’s right foot played a major part in downing Newcastle United at Edgar Street, Gateshead gained a measure of revenge for the North-East.
Marcus Dinanga’s strike, although rather less spectacular than Radford’s, was none the less significant for his side who are now just two victories from Wembley.
“We’re really pleased,” said Gateshead boss Rob Elliot. “Hereford are a good team and there’s a good atmosphere here.
“We dominated the game but Hereford defended really well.
“But we got there in the end with Marcus coming on and showing a bit of quality to get us through to the next round.
“When you can bring a player on like Marcus Dinanga then you’re in a good position.”
National League Gateshead dominated the first half, playing down the Edgar Street slope to the extent that Harrison Bond in the visitors’ goal was rarely troubled.
Luke Hannant was the first to threaten for the away side, powering in a long-range drive which was confidently fielded by Bulls keeper Curtis Pond.
With Gateshead largely in the ascendancy, a Hannant cross was only partially cleared before Lirak Hasani fired into the side-netting.
Pond, however, had to be on top of his game in the 25th minute, reacting quickly to turn an effort from Hasani behind for the first corner of the game.
The home stopper was a spectator moments later, however, when a longrange effort from Connor McBride thudded against an upright and then went behind.
As the interval approached, Hereford, –whose only previous effort had been a wildly inaccurate effort from Alex Babos – finally threatened through Jason Cowley, whose shot was deflected behind for a corner by
Louis Storey. The second period started in a similar vein with Dajaune Brown’s weakly-hit shot dribbling through to Pond.
Ben Worman’s drive from the edge of the
