Storey tells the tale behind Gateshead’s improvement in National League relegation battle

Gateshead defender Louis Storey revealed some open conversations have inspired his side to two wins over the last five days.

Mike Williamson’s men emerged with three points from Saturday’s visit to Aldershot Town and backed up that win with another against Dagenham and Redbridge at the International Stadium on Tuesday night. Although far from a regular goalscorer, Storey showed a clinical touch with two first-half headers to put the Heed in control and they secured the points when captain Greg Olley rounded of a fine move with a neat finish midway through the second-half.

The result has taken Gateshead out of the National League relegation zone and extended their unbeaten run to five games in all competitions as they show signs of hitting form at the right time. Storey hailed the ‘energy and desire’ of his team-mates and revealed ‘something clicked’ ahead of the weekend win at Aldershot.

The former Newcastle United academy defender told The Echo: “I owed the boys one or two because I’ve been here 18 months and I’ve not come close to scoring a goal.

“It was nice to score but the overriding feeling is more about the extra contribution to the cause and that’s what I’m all about. I honestly thought from minute one, we were on the front foot, we were attacking the game and I thought the boys were brilliant. We pushed them with our energy and our desire to play our way. It’s a huge win, three goals, three points, a clean sheet, six points from the last two games and that’s just massive for us.

“Before Saturday (at Aldershot), something clicked from a mental point of view with the boys. We had a few workshops, a few meetings about how we can be on the front foot for longer, how we can kill off games when we have the upper-hand so the last two games have been massive for us in that sense.”

Gateshead are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they look to secure a place at Wembley for only their second time in their history when Barnet will visit the International Stadium in the semi-final of the FA Trophy.