It was three points, a clean sheet and a rise of eight places in the National League for Altrincham after their midweek trip to Tyneside. They finished the evening tenth but, had they lost, they would have been 20th!

An excellent, dominant first half from Altrincham saw them deservedly lead 2-0 at the interval, and it could have been more. The Heed failed totally to pose any threat and lost the corner count 1-7, their only flag-kick being needlessly given away by Altrincham in added time.

Altrincham took the lead in the 12th minute from their fourth corner of the match. Keaton Ward's one-two with Kahrel Reddin saw the latter's cross from the right volleyed home by Lewis Banks.

Alty dominated possesion but the second goal did not arrive till the 35th minute when Tylor Golden surged up the left and received the ball back from Knowles before cutting inside, once he had got into the left of the box. From there the Alty left-back slotted a low shot into the far corner with his right foot.

The second half saw Altrincham comfortably retain their lead and, indeed, go close to adding to their lead, especially in the closing stages after Gateshead had had Pani sent off for a second yellow card offence on James Gale.

SCORERS:

• 12 mins: Lewis BANKS (Gateshead 0 ALTRINCHAM 1)
• 35 mins: Tylor GOLDEN (Gateshead 0 ALTRINCHAM 2)

REFEREE: Mr Aaron Bannister

ATTENDANCE: 696 (48 in away section)

TEAM NEWS:

For this encounter with Gateshead at the International Stadium, the Robins made three changes.

Baines and Osborne made their first starts of the season, and Golden returned as both Crawford and Reed dropped out of the squad and Barnes moved to the bench

Altrincham remained without goalkeper Ross and defenders Sass-Davies and Cooper, none of whom have been fit enough to be named in a matchday squad in the current season.

LINE-UPS:

GATESHEAD (White shirts, black shorts and socks) : 1. Tiernan Brooks, 2. Callum Johnson, 3. David Ferguson, 5. Kenton Richardson (c), 6. Will Flint, 7. Kain Adom, 14. Frank Nouble, 20. Fenton John, 21. Kyle Hurst, 26. Connor Pani, 32. Harry Chapman. Subs : 8. Max Sheaf, 17. Josh Home, 33. George Shelvey, 23. Ethan Fitzhugh, 31. Ben Williams, 35. Callum Bone, 39. Oli Thompson.

ALTRINCHAM (Black and yellow shirts, yellow shorts and socks): 30 Luke Hutchinson, 2 Lewis Banks (c), 34. Dan Sassi, 4. Lewis Baines (c), 23, Tylor Golden, 6. Elliot Osborne, 8 Isaac Marriott, 11. Jimmy Knowles, 20 Kahrel Reddin, 10 Keaton Ward, 9 James Gale. Subs: 7. Olly Crankshaw, 14. Matty Kosylo, 16. Remi Raymond, 24. Sam Barnes, 17. Lucas Weaver, 27 Louie Fallon, 40. Charlie Kirk.

After other ENL matches the night before, Alty went into this match in 18th place whilst Gateshead lay eighth. Both clubs had lost key players over the summer, with the Heed also losing their manager.

It was a damp night on Tyneside for a match which attracted just 696 spectators, 48 of whom had entered the away supporters' section.

REPORT:

Altrincham kicked off the game and soon won their first corner, in the third minute, through a Banks cross. Taken from the right by Ward, the deep corner was met by Sassi whose shot was blocked, producing a second corner (4 mins). Again, Ward's deep corner found Sassi but, this time, he headed the effort well clear of the crossbar.

With rain falling, Altrincham were dominating both possession and territory as a fourth corner was won. This arrived when a fine run by Reddin led to a cross to Gale who was blocked by a defender, off whom the corner resulted.

Taken, once again by Ward from the right, he played a one-two with Reddin before crossing tha ball which the incoming Banks volleyed impressively into the net to make it 0-1 (12 mins).

Gateshead's first serious foray forward did not arrive till the 16th minute when, on their left, Ferguson got forward but his progress was halted by a fine tackle by the impressive Banks.

Nevertheless, Altrincham were still in overall control and, soon, a fine passing movement, started with a superb pass by Osborne to Reddin, culminated in a low cross from Banks which, somehow, avoided Gale and Knowles in the goalmouth (18 mins). More crisp passing from the visitors ensured the hosts stayed on the back foot.

A fine ball then set Reddin free in the left of the box but he hesitated rather than shooting immediately and a corner was the outcome rather than a goal (26 mins).

This fifth corner saw the uncertain Brooks, in the home goal, mis-punch the ball upwards; it landed only just behind his own crossbar, conceding corner number six (27 mins).

Altrincham should have been further ahead but another chance went onconverted when Reddin's impressive run and shot bounced off Brooks whose block was involuntary rather than planned (29 mins).

The one-sided match proceeded past the half-hour mark. At last, Alty converted their superiority into a second goal with a fine move on the left. The overlapping Golden was played in by Knowles and the Alty left-back cut into the box before firing a superb low shot, right-footed, across the keeper and into the far side of the net (35 mins).

Still, there was barely a response from Gateshead as Reddin earned his side its seventh corner of the first half (39 mins).

It should have become 0-3 to Alty before the interval as Reddin and Banks got Knowless free in the box but his mis-control wasted a clear chance to score (43 mins).

The referee indicated one added minute, presumably for the two goal celebrations, and that almost proved costly for Altrincham. Banks and keeper Hutcinson got mixed up over dealing with a simple rolling ball and a needless corner was conceded, the only flag-kick of the half to Gateshead who had not remotely threatened to win one from their own play in the preceding 45 minutes.

But Alty survived the corner before the half-time whistle signalled a chorus of boos from the home support which had been outsung throughout the half by the 48 fans from Altrincham.

A two-goal lead did not flatter Altrincham after one of the most one-sided forty-five minutes that they are likely to produce in the rest of the league season.

Gateshead responded to their porr first half by making two changes; Home and Sheaf replaced Flint and John respectively. No doubt animated by manager Alun Armstrong's half-time talk, the Heed began to show a little more attacking purpose than they had displayed before the break.

But Alty remained a threat with three attacking crosses in two minutes from Knowles, Gale and Reddin keeping the home defence on its toes (51 mins).

Gateshead did then win a corner but, again, it derived from an Alty error, this time a mispass by Osborne which allowed Nouble to get forward (56 mins). But Altrincham then almost added a third goal when Ward fed the skilful Reddin, who made space before drawing a good save from Brooks, diving to his left to tip the ball out for a corner (59 mins).

Reddin was soon threatening again but, as he powered forward, he was fouled by Pani who was booked (60 mins). Knowles headed the resulting freekick over the bar.

At the other end a dreadful effort from 30 yards flew extrememly wide of the Alty goal where Hutchinson had yet to be tested (63 mins). At the other end a Knowles effort was not much better than his opponent's after good play from Ward had fed hime.

Alty's ninth corner of the game was won by yet another incursion by Reddin at which point Barnes replaced Baines in the Alty backline. Alty's captain had been playing his first match iof the season since injury so was game-time was being monitored (67 mins).

Alty remained in control as Reddin shot wide (68 mins) but then Gateshead finally did force Hiotchinson into action as Hurst forced a decent save from the young loanee (69 mins).

ALtrincham made changes on 73 minutes as wingers Knowles and Reddin were replaced by Crankshaw and Kirk respectively. Gateshead had shown little sign of getting back into the game and their hopes were dimidhed further when Pani got himself a second yellow card for pulling back Gale (75 mins)>

Gateshead made another change on 81 minutes as Chapman was replaced by Fitzhugh. And the stoppages continued when Alty brought on Weaver and Kosylo for Gale and Ward (84 mins).

The tannoy now announced second-half substitute Sheaf as the home Man of the Match, though Adom might have been an equally deserving candidate who had played the full game.

Williams replaced Ferguson in the 90th minute to complete the substitutions before five added minutes were played during which Alrincham should have added to their tally.

The best chance came when Weaver's miscue was just kept in play at the bye-line by Crankshaw but, from the acutest of angles right of goal, the winger could only hit the post (90+3 mins).

And then a 25 yarder from Crankshaw was parried by the keeper to Weaver who delayed his shot and was blocked off (90+5 mins).

This was a comprhensive victory for Altrincham and their best ninety-minutes of the season to date. The returns to the starting line-up of Baines and Osborne after injury were also encouraging signs for the ongoing season.

The win lifted Alty a remarkable eight places to tenth in the table.