Magnay hails goalscoring duo as Gateshead edge seven-goal thriller against Sutton United
There was a dramatic win for Gateshead as they came out on top in a seven-goal thriller against Sutton United on Tuesday night.
Gateshead manager Carl Magnay described Luke Hannant as ‘an inspiration’ after his wonder goal kickstarted a remarkable comeback in Tuesday night’s dramatic home win against National League rivals Sutton United.
The Heed appeared to be coasting to all three points as January signing Jack Roles netted his first goal for the club and Jovan Malcolm doubled the lead with a clever finish to put his side with just ten minutes remaining in the first-half. However, Will Davies pulled a goal back for the visitors ahead of half-time before an equaliser from Alex Kirk and a stunning long-range effort from Lewis Simper turned the game on its head by the hour-mark.
The lead remained in place until there were 76 minutes on the clock as wing-back Hannant came to the fore in incredible fashion with a powerful volley from the edge of the area as he punished the visitors for failing to deal with a cross into their area. That set a platform for on-loan Crawley Town midfielder Roles to double his tally with ten minutes remaining and help the Heed move on from Saturday’s home defeat against Altrincham in the most remarkable fashion.
Speaking to The Echo after the game, Magnay said of Hannant: “I don’t care about his goal, I don’t. It’s who he is that I love about him and what he brings to this squad on an off the pitch. He’s an inspiration to his team-mates, he’s relentless with his mindset, he’s relentless with his detail and he always wants to give his best. If I had 11 Luke Hannants, we would win the league comfortably. Those moments when he produces the goal, we’ve seen it before, he’s into double figures, he’s just an unbelievable player and I’m fortunate to manage him. He’s a dream to coach because you don’t have to give him detail, he knows. He goes and actions that week-in, week-out.”
Magnay also praised the impact two-goal hero Jack Roles has made during the early weeks of his loan spell at the International Stadium. After agreeing to join the Heed for the remainder of the season in January, Roles bagged his first goals for the club in Tuesday night’s win as he continues to show just why his new manager was so delighted to secure his services.
Magnay said: “With Rolesy, at the minute we need control in games so technically, he’s very good in those buildup phases alongside Regan. As the game unfolds, and where we are quite light at the moment in the ten positions, we wanted to have him higher up the pitch in the second-half and his quality in and around the box, it paid dividends.”
There was one major negative for Magnay as goalkeeper George Shelvey hobbled out of the action during the first-half with a suspected hamstring injury. Former Sunderland youngster Harrison Bond came on in his place and could now be handed a start in Saturday’s visit to Solihull Moors as Republic of Ireland Under-21 stopper Tiernan Brooks is not yet ready to return to contention. Magnay is already without the services of nine senior players and he admitted he is no longer surprised when he received further bad news on the injury front.
“It doesn’t look good, it looks like a hamstring injury,” explained the Heed boss. “I’m never surprised now and I just take these hits from an injury perspective. We take confidence and trust in young Bondy, he’s really dedicated and hungry for his opportunity. He’s not just there to make up the numbers, he really believes he can play and now he will get an opportunity.”
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