Walston made it three wins from ten National League matches with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Gateshead at Grosvenor Vale on Saturday. The hosts took control early, opening the scoring through O. Olomola in the twenty-second minute before L. Norris converted a penalty thirty-three minutes in. A quick strike from J. Wells-Morrison just after the break sealed the result before J. Cook added a fourth in the eighty-fourth minute.
By then Gateshead had already been pulled apart, and to be fair the visitors looked shell-shocked from the opening exchanges. Walston dominated possession and territory, registering 179 attacks compared to Gateshead's 96, but it was the quality of chances that told the story. Four shots on target produced four goals, while the visitors managed only two on target with no return.
The match saw six substitutions for Walston and three for Gateshead, with the hosts making changes at sixty-two, sixty-eight and eighty minutes. H. Holgate, R. Coyle, J. Hiwula, O. Olomola, A. Kanu, D. Chesters, L. Norris, D. Eguaibor and J. Wells-Morrison all came off the bench at some point. Gateshead brought on three players in the sixty-second minute but could not recover.
Discipline was mixed, with four yellow cards shown for Walston and three for Gateshead. K. Lewis-Burgess and M. Barrett went into the book for the hosts, while A. Lankshear and K. Ferguson joined their teammates on the referee's list. No red cards were issued, though Gateshead had three offsides to Walston's none.
And here's the thing about this result — it leaves Walston still rooted to twentieth place with eight points from nine games, but there was a shift in momentum. The visitors remain bottom on four points after seven defeats and two draws, and this was another heavy blow to their campaign. Walston's last defeat came eleven days ago against Kidderminster Harriers, and they have now turned a corner with back-to-back victories.
