A disappointing display by Altrincham saw Gateshead take all three points at a wet J. Davidson Stadium. Inevitably the goal was scored by Marcus Dinanga who Alty off-loaded to Gateshead after a mixed two years at Moss Lane.

The goal came after 34 minutes when Wearne was allowed to run up the middle and he fed Dinanga. The striker took a couple of touches before hitting a strong shot across Byrne from left of goal.

• 34 mins: Marcus DINANGA (ALTRINCHAM 0 Gateshead 1)

Altrincham made four changes from their last league outing as the suspended James Jones as well as Jordan Hulme, Elliot Osborne and Lewis Baines dropped out of the starting list. Into the atarting eleven came Sinclair, Oyedele, Hugill and Perritt

Only four subs were mustered which was partly accounted for by there being the maximum five allowed being named in the starting line-up. So there was no involvement for loanees Aaron Bennett and Luke Burgess, but Egli Kaja was also an absentee, presumably injured again.

Remarkably the starting eleven today included just one player who had played as an Altrincham employee in the opening game of this season in August; Josh Lundstram

Gateshead had games in hand, not to mention an FA Trophy Final to look forward to, and with a match on Wednesday at Eastleigh they had a busy schedule ahead.

ALTRINCHAM (Red & white striped shirts, black shorts and red socks): 1. Oliver Byrne, 34. Miles Welch-Hayes, 30. Harry Perritt, 5. Kyle Ferguson, 28. Maxi Oyedele, 2. Eddy Jones, 8. Josh Lundstram (c), 4. Isaac Marriott, 35. Tyrese Sinclair, 29. Regan Linney, 39. Joe Hugill. Subs: 10. Elliot Osborne, 9. Jordan Hulme, 18. Ben Pringle, 21. Matt Gould

GATESHEAD (Sky blue shirts, claret shorts and socks): 1. Filip Marschall,2. Robbie Tinkler, 6. Louis Storey, 3. Ethan Pye, 17. Connor Pani, 44. Stephen Wearne, 18. Edward Francis, 33. Callum Whelan, 11. Adam Campbell (c), 42. Kamil Conteh, 9. Marcus Dinanga. Subs: 31. James Montgomery, 8. Owen Bailey, 10. Greg Olley, 12. Dan Ward, 15. Aaron Martin

Whereas Alty had lost their semi-final in the FA Trophy in disappointing circumstances during their last home game, Gateshead arrived buoyed by winning their semi to book a place at Wembley. Moreover the Heed, who had flirted with relegation earlier this season as they came to terms with losing their two top scorers to Notts County, went into this match unbeaten in eight games.

On a pitch that was particularly wet on the main stand side after some torrential showers in the run-up to this match, Altrincham kicked off towards the away end.

A needless first-minute foul by Sinclair gave the visitors the impetus to enjoy the better of the opening stages.

Indeed, Alty were fortunate not to fall behind when Campbell's ball was nodded down by Dinanga for Conteh to hit a fierce shot which Byrne did well to block (4 mins). And from the resulting corner, Alty were caught out by a short-corner routine which culminated in a low ball going across the goalmouth which was, fortunately for Altrincham, unconverted by the visitors (5 mins).

For Alty, Sinclair was looking the most lively and he now got to the byline but his cross only found the Gateshead keeper (8 mins).

But Gateshead soon won another corner following an uncharacteristic Eddy Jones error. Following this, rain was lashing down as Alty upped their game after their shaky start.

Sinclair fed Oyedele whose shot deflected for what seemed to be a corner but was deemed to be a goalkick (11 mins). And soon afterwards, a fine interception by Lundstram led to a Sinclair shot which this time really earned a corner (15 mins).

After the referee had lectured Ferguson and Storey, whose mutual jostling bordered on the ridiculous, and had even led to Byrne coming forty yards out of his goal to get involved, Whelan was booked (19 mins).

Indeed play, overall, was pretty scrappy at this stage.

The game improved as Wearne, Dinanga and Campbell combined for Dinanga to get in a shot which Byrne saved comfortably (26 mins). At the other end Linney was set running at goal but a poor touch saw the ball run to the keeper. However, Linney followed through and caught the keeper, earning himself a booking (27 mins).

Sinclair showed great skill to bring down a Byrne long ball and get in a shot, but his effort was off-target (28 mins). Play now stopped for treatment to Pye who, after lengthy treatment, did resume.

What proved to be the decisive moment of the game arrived when former Torquay loanee Wearne was allowed to advance up the middle and feed Dinanga. The former Alty man took a couple of touches which took him a little more left of goal and which seemed to have lessened his chance of scoring. But Dinanga let fly with a strong shot across Byrne which went into the far side of the net to give his side the lead (34 mins).

It almost got worse for Alty when a cross from the left was met by an unchallenged header from Pani which hit the bar (36 mins).

Play immediately switched to the other end where Oyedele and Sinclair combined, with the latter's effort being blocked, but the ball ran free to Hugill at the back post. From a handful of yards out the Manchester United loanee seemed certain to score into an empty net but he somehow managed to clip the crossbar instead (37 mins).

Just as the sides had swapped strikes against the bar inside a minute of each other, they then shared penalty appeals inside a similarily short period of time.

First, Pani went down before Sinclair, at the other end, seemed to be taken out near the penalty spot but Mr Atkinson was unmoved in both instances (40 mins).

Soon Gateshead threatened again as Whelan fed Campbell whose effort was missed by Byrne after an apparent deflection but the ball, fortunately, drifted narrowly wide, for a corner. The corner was cleared out to Campbell, whose well-struck shot went out for a corner amidst more appeals for a penalty for Gateshead, this time for alleged handball (42 mins).

As Gateshead threatened again, Byrne had to make a good save at the cost of another corner.

Linney raised Alty spirits a liitle when he dribbled his way to earn his side a corner (44 mins). Three added minutes were proclaimed durng which Lundstram got on the end of a cross to earn a corner (45+1 mins).

Although Sinclair earned an even later corner, Altrincham reached the break still a goal behind after failing to convert any of several decent chances to equalize.

Pye had been injured in the first half and he was replaced by Bailey for the second half as Gateshead kicked off towards their sodden fans in the away end.

Following his close-range miss before the break, Hugill again misfired as he took a poor touch following good approach work by Sinclair and Welch-Hayes (47 mins).

Next Alty went close again, through Linney's header which cleared the bar (50 mins) before Oyedele found himself in the book for a foul on Francis (53 mins)

For the second time in five minutes, Byrne put a kick straight into touch (55 mins) before Storey was booked for bringing down Sinclair (58 mins).

The Alty keeper then made an important block with his legs as he came out to meet Campbell who had been set free by an excellent aerial flick up the middle by Dinanga (59 mins).

At the other end, Marriott's good work led to a chance for Linney but he put his chance narrowly wide of the back post (62 mins). Olley then replaced Conteh for the visitors (64 mins).

When Oyedele did well to get forward despite a blatant foul, he fed Sinclair, who fired disappointingly over the bar. Mr Atkinson did not go back and book the offender though he was to have ten names in his book by the end of the afternoon (66 mins).

As Alty enjoyed some dominance their failure to hit the target manifested itself once more as Linney gave Hugill a presentable chance but the Manchester United loanee got his shot all wrong (67 mins). It came as no surprise when Jordan Hulme replaced Hugill soon afterwards (70 mins).

The chances kept coming, however. The next opportunity came when Marschall cleared the ball to Sinclair, who fed Linney to his left but the keeper made good his error by saving with his legs. When the recycled ball gave Linney a header, the striker headed over the bar (76 mins).

Tinkler became the next player to be booked when he tripped Oyedele (79 mins).

With only two outfield options left on the bench, Alty brought on Osborne rather then Pringle for Oyedele (81 mins). Gateshead were successfully running down the clock before Bailey became the fourth of the Tynesiders to be cautioned (85 mins)

Not to be outdone, Alty levelled the yellow card count at 4-4 when Hulme was booked for dissent after he had been pulled up for a foul born of frustration (89 mins).

As rain and hail now lashed down and the sky went dark, the lack of floodlights made for a wintry scene.

With Altrincham failing to create any chances, Dinanga won his side a corner as the game went into six additional minutes. There was still time for two more Gateshead bookings, Olley for dissent (90+3 mins) and finally Francis (90+5 mins) for barging over Sinclair.

From the resulting freekick from just outside the box, on the byline right of goal, Perritt got in a header which only just cleared the bar before the final whistle sounded.

So, Alty were unable to avoid a disappointing defeat which left them thirteenth in the league table.