Second half goals from Alex Kirk and Lewis Simper weren’t enough to secure a fantastic turnaround over Gateshead, with goals from Luke Hannant and Jack Roles punishing Sutton United late on.
Gateshead took the lead after just 16 minutes when Roles sent a low effort past Jack Sims, having previously gone close just minutes earlier before getting the better of the Sutton goalkeeper at the second attempt, and the hosts doubled their lead through Jevon Malcolm with an exquisite effort nine minutes before the break.
Will Davies gave the U’s a lifeline in stoppage time though when he slid the ball beyond Harrison Bond, injecting some much needed momentum in Sutton’s side which resulted in Kirk levelling the score just five minutes after the restart when he poked home the rebound of a vicious initial effort from Besart Topallaj.
And Sutton took the lead moments later in unbelievable fashion, with a clearance falling as far as Simper 35-yards from goal, before sending an outstanding half-volley into the top corner with Bond having no chance.
The U’s lead lasted just 17 minutes though, with Hannant producing a remarkable half-volley of his own that flew into the top corner to equalise for the Heed, and preceded Roles’ second goal of the game to complete a turnaround for the hosts, as the Heed midfielder combined nicely with Malcolm who’s initial effort was blocked back into the path of Roles, who produced some some tricky footwork that allowed him space for a shot, and proved enough to steal the three points from Sutton’s grasp.
Defeat at the Gateshead International Stadium sees the U’s make it three games in a row without a win, but they will have taken heart from their performance and will have a chance to rectify their form on Saturday with the visit of Braintree Town.
Two changes to the starting lineup saw captain Tyler French regain his place in the backline in place of Jack Taylor, who missed out on the squad entirely due to illness, while Siju Odelusi returned to the XI in place of Ryan Jackson, with a reshuffle that saw Dillon De Silva replace the latter at wing-back with Lewis Simper plugging the gap in attacking midfield.
It was the hosts who produced a brighter start to proceedings with Roles testing Sims early on, forcing the U’s number one into an outstretched save from 20-yards.
This proved to be a warning sign for the visitors, with Gateshead bossing much of the possession early on as they looked to secure just a second win of the new year. A rare chance did fall to Sutton as Davies brilliantly flicked a long ball onto Simper, setting him away down the middle as he raced towards goal unchallenged, but could only shank his effort over the crossbar.
And he would have proved to rue this miss, with Roles getting the better of Sims at the second time of asking when he found space just inside the box to take aim, before picking his spot and arrowing a low drive into the bottom corner to open the scoring.
This was followed by another promising opening for the Heed, with Roles driving through the middle unchallenged before sliding the ball though to Tyrell Sellars-Fleming, who eventually got crowded out before he could pull the trigger. Gateshead kept the chance alive through Ben Worman though, who’s delivery from the right flank was too close to Sims who was able to gather.
The Tynesiders clearly had the upper hand though and went close again through a hat-trick of chances for Malcolm, first racing forward before firing a dangerous drive just wide, before jinking inside and out to make space for a shot, with which he drove low and hard and forced Sims into a good stop.
It was third time lucky for the Heed’s number 45, with Malcolm burying a powerful effort from the edge of the box that gave Sims no chance to double their advantage shortly before the break.
Sutton will have thought they were gifted a lifeline when Jack Wadham found himself free to poke the ball home after De Silva’s cross took a wild deflection off Robbie Tinkler, but the referee had already blown up for a foul on George Shelvey, an incident which would bring his evening to an early end.
Substitute Bond was immediately called into action, getting down well to deny Simper’s low drive, shortly before the Fourth Official indicated six minutes of added time.
And this gave the U’s a lifeline, with Davies doing well to make space for a shot before sliding the ball beyond Bond with half the time gone, halving the deficit on the stroke of half time.
There was even just enough time for Sutton to produce one more opportunity, with De Silva finding himself in acres of space on the right flank. The Sri Lanka international got the ball under control before jinking inside, but found himself crowded out as he wound up to shoot with his eventual effort being deflected into the gloves of Bond, seeing the visitors enter the break with a narrow disadvantage.
A double change at the break made Steve Morison’s intentions clear as day, with Alex Woodyard and Odelusi being replaced by Ashley Nadesan and Josh Coley to inject some energy into the frontline.
And this had the desired effect, with Sutton drawing level just minutes after the restart when a fierce effort from Topallaj stung the gloves of Bond, but he could only parry as far as Kirk who poked the ball home to equalise.
Sutton then took the lead in spectacular fashion, with Simper picking his spot before firing a powerful half-volley from nearly the halfway line to give Bond no chance.
With the visitors now in the ascendancy, Gateshead will have been keen to kill their momentum as Roles struck over the crossbar shortly before Branden Horton drilled the ball across goal with no one there to get on the end of it, and Sutton almost made them pay with a fourth goal when De Silva raced away before seeing his low effort stopped by Bond.
Gateshead did soon level though, with Malcolm seeing an effort tipped behind by Sims, and eventually led to Hannant doing his best to match Simper’s effort with an outstanding first-time volley of his own following the resulting corner, with Roles turning the game on its head for a second time when he fired the ball past Sims with ten minutes to go to break the hearts of the 83 Sutton fans who made the 600-mile round trip from South London.
Gateshead: Shelvey (Bond 42’); Tripp, Tinkler, Jones, Hannant, Horton, Roles, Booty, Worman (Humbles 67’), Malcolm, Sellars-Flemming (McGowan 88’)
Sutton United: Sims; French, Kirk (Sandat 87’), Topallaj; De Silva, Woodyard (Nadesan 46’), Odelusi (Coley 46’), Vaz; Wadham, Simper; Davies
