Magnay proud of Gateshead conduct after emotional FA Trophy tie with Farsley Celtic

Carl Magnay revealed his pride at Gateshead’s conduct after they came through an FA Trophy third round tie with Farsley Celtic on an emotional night at the International Stadium.

Just seven days earlier as the two sides played a rearranged fixture just 72 hours after their original meeting was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, Farsley captain Lewis Turner suffered a suspected cardiac arrest on the pitch and later revealed he had his life saved after receiving CPR from Heed medic Fraser Bell. The former Scarborough Athletic is now recovering at home and is preparing to spend Christmas with his young family and a club statement stated there will be further updates over their skipper in the near future.

In the absence of several senior squad members, Farsley head coach Pav Singh handed senior debuts to seven players under the age of 18 and they threatened a shock when Dylan Youmbi fired them in front from the penalty spot after he had been brought down by Heed defender Robbie Tinkler with just four minutes on the clock. Gateshead belatedly awoke from their early slumber and took a two-goal lead into half-time as Ben Worman, Regan Booty and Tyrelle Newton all found the net. Jovan Malcolm added to the tally in the second-half but it was academy products Oli Thompson, Lucas Lowery and Christian Lynn that took centre-stage as they all added their names to the scoresheet to help the Heed to an 8-1 win that set up a home tie with Boston United in the next round.

For Magnay, the night was about more than football as the Heed boss revealed his pride over how his players and staff have acted with respect and class during a challenging seven days for them and their opponents.

He told The Echo: “It was a strange night and credit to Farsley because it was a young team that came up here tonight. I am proud of the way the club has conducted ourselves over the last week and I have told the players too. I spoke to Lewis at Farsley, he’s been overwhelmed by the messages of support from our staff and players at Gateshead. We have really thrown our support behind him and we wish him well. I was really proud of that because we work with a great group of human beings and they have really shown that over the last week.”

Magnay also praised the Gateshead supporters after they remained in the Tyne and Wear Stand after the full-time whistle to ensure the Farsley side were given a standing ovation as they left the pitch. The Heed boss felt the gesture was the least the visitors deserved after they produced a spirited performance in difficult circumstances.

“It has brought everyone together and that gesture at the end from the supporters was lovely to see. Those young lads at Farsley, some will make it and have great careers, others may not - but our fans have made sure this will be a night they will always remember. It’s not nice to be beaten in that manner. However, they were a credit to their club, they worked hard, they started better and they kicked us into gear and I had to make my way down from the stand to make sure our players were at it. It’s huge credit to the young Farsley boys for that.”

For Gateshead, the story of the night also revolved around young players as a number of academy products caught the eye. Oli Thompson, a relative veteran at the age of 19-year-old after making senior debut just under two years ago, scored twice and produced a lively display after being asked to play in two different positions by Magnay. Academy products Lucas Lowery and Christian Lynn grabbed their first senior goals and there was a first-team debut for Callum Bone coming off the bench to replace Tyrelle Newton with 20 minutes remaining.

The impact made by the Heed youngsters delighted Magnay as he stressed the importance of the link between the first-team setup and their youth ranks.

He said: “It’s important to highlight this because I’ve had good dialogue with Alun Armstrong in the college and I’ve wanted to create and establish a strong relationship with them. From my scouting days, I’ve known a lot of the players that have gone into the college programme and they are good players. Tonight we have shown some little snippets from the three of them that were involved and Carter Milmore has also been involved in recent weeks too.

“It’s great to have that relationship and to give them opportunities to be in and around the senior lads. They’ve come in and impacted on the scoreline and that’s a real positive for us because they have come in a given us some real quality and energy. I mean absolutely no disrespect to Farsley but it wasn’t really the day to assess our senior players because they’ve done the job they had to do - so tonight is all about celebrating our young players and obviously paying respect to Farsley after what happened last week.”