'Ruthless' Gateshead praised by Magnay after Maidenhead win

Carl Magnay described Gateshead as ‘ruthless’ as they eased to a 5-0 win at National League rivals Maidenhead United on Saturday.

After seeing their visitors reduced to ten men with just 15 minutes on the clock when Kevin Lokko saw red for a last-man challenge on Owen Oseni, the Heed wasted little time in making the most of their numerical advantage as Jacob Butterfield fired them in front with a stunning free-kick just moments later. Ben Worman helped Magnay’s men extend their lead before half-time when his cross was bundled into his own net by a home defender before Regan Booty extended the advantage seven minutes after the restart.

Callum Whelan grabbed a fourth goal on the hour-mark as the Heed roared out of sight and Butterfield put the seal on a fine away day display when he grabbed his second goal of the afternoon with just under 25 minutes left on the clock. Speaking after the game, Magnay reflected on an impressive performance and stressed his side’s professionalism ensured they made light work of facing ten men.

He told The Echo: “We are really pleased because it was a dominant performance. In the first ten mins we dealt with a lot of aerial bombardment but you could see our body language was right and the intent was there to do what we had to do. We controlled the game and we were always in a good position to hurt them. Yes, the red card helped but we punished them.

“Ruthless is the word but not just with the goals, it was with all of our actions. You could see our intention, players protecting the middle of the pitch, the quality of movement and passing. People say it’s difficult to play against ten men - and it is - but we made it easy for ourselves.”

The Heed are back in action on Tuesday night when Rochdale are the visitors to the International Stadium before they hit the road once again as they face Braintree Town next Saturday.