Saturday lunchtime football is back with a Gateshead side who have a 700-mile round trip to Somerset to contend with the visitors to Huish Park this weekend.
FORM…
YEOVIL TOWN
The Glovers have been in good nick to start the season. Two games against very good opposition which includes the title favourites, has given fans something to talk about and the potential this squad has against similar opponents to themselves.
In a the first game back to Huish Park it looked to be all rosey as Yeovil took the lead through Stephen Walker. The game got a lot harder for the when defender Joe Gubbins was given a second yellow, and the Glovers couldn’t hang on once again in stoppage time when Harvey Bunker equalised in the sixth minute of added on time. The game finished 1-1.
Now I’m not one to dismiss the obvious parallels of Yeovil’s first two games, with two late goals being conceded. And of course we can look at it and talk about how we could be on six points instead of two, but we would also have bitten someone’s hand off if we had been offered two points after two games against opponents who dominated us last season.
What has really impressed is the style of football that has been implemented, and if that continues this team will only become more dangerous.
GATESHEAD
The story of Gateshead’s summer is very similar to that of our last opponents, Carlisle United, at Huish Park. The Tynesiders got the rough end of that stick with manager Rob Elliot leaving in the summer and taking his entire backroom staff and the heart of the defensive unit with him to Cumbria.
His replacement in the manager’s office is former Sunderland tough-tackling midfielder Lee Cattermole and results in their opening fixtures have not been too disastrous considering the upheaval. An opening day defeat at Eastleigh was followed by a 2-0 home win over managerless Woking last weekend – with ex-Glover Kyle Ferguson on the team-sheet – and then a 1-1 draw with an impressive Nottingham Forest Under-21s side in the National League Cup on Tuesday night.
In terms of style, there’s a bit less of the risk-taking of playing out from the defence which was a hallmark of Elliot’s reign which ended with a miraculous escape from relegation last season, and an injection of the steel which personified Cattermole as a player.
With so many outgoings at the International Stadium, the new manager has had to work quickly to get bodies in the door this summer. Winger Michael Spellman, formerly of Sunderland’s academy, is one who impressed against Woking last weekend. He made 40 appearances for Newport County in League Two last season.
KEY PLAYERS…
YEOVIL TOWN – STEPHEN WALKER
With the start of a new season, come getting to know new players and Stephen Walker is one of them. The forward came with a reputation of scoring goals and that’s what the Glovers have missed since Rhys Murphy’s first stint.
Not to put any pressure on Walker but that’s the sort of striker he needs to follow if Yeovil have any chance of making the playoffs, and after last week’s showing he looks more than capable. It was in the 1-1 draw with Carlisle, that the former Crewe man showed what he can do, as he latched onto a Ryan Jones through ball and converted comfortably. Now that might not seem a lot to most, but to a Yeovil fan it’s like seeing rain for the first time after a two month drought.
GATESHEAD – ALEX LANKSHEAR
With last seasons defence being ripped apart, Gateshead needed to reinforce the backline, and they have done more than reinforce it with Lankshear. A product of the Arsenal academy, the left-back has made a big impact since going the side from Boston United. Not only did he score last time out, but more importantly for a defender he kept a clean sheet. Now that might not be amazing to some but he did all that on his debut.
In all aspects, the 23-year-old performed well, from his defensive duties, winning all his aerial duals, to the more attacking side of the game with 67% accuracy on his crosses. The Glovers will certainly have their work cut out keeping him quiet at both ends of the pitch. But if they can handle him, they may stand a chance of getting something out of the game.
THE GAFFER…
Gateshead’s new coach Lee Cattermole will be no stranger to watchers of the Premier League over the past 20 years. One of the most robust of defensive midfielders, he started his career at Middlesbrough but is best known for his time at Sunderland where he made more than 200 appearances.
This is his first frontline managerial role having had a spell coaching the Under-18s at Middlesbrough and then a very brief spell on the coaching staff at Bristol Rovers at the end of 2024. He joined under Matt Taylor who was sacked by The Gas four days later with Cattermole and fellow coach David Horseman given the caretaker managerial role, but he left the club before he had the chance to take charge of a match with Indigo Calderon being appointed.
His initial comments suggest Cattermole is keen to build on the foundations left at the International Stadium by Rob Elliot, but expect there to be an added feisty-ness to his side – and on the touchline.
LAST TIME WE MET…
How can we forget the last time these two sides faced each other at Huish Park. Bank Holiday Monday last August and Mark Cooper’s Glovers found themselves 3-0 up at half-time and seemingly cruising, but when the visitors’ Kyle Hurst pulled one back a minute in to the second half, there was a sense of dread among Yeovil fans. The capitulation in the second half was the stuff of nightmares with Gateshead coming back to win 4-3 deep in to second half injury time.
The return fixture on Tyneside back in March also ended in defeat with the Glovers on the wrong end of a 2-1 final scoreline. Second half goals from Gateshead’s Keaton Ward and Yeovil old boy Mark Beck did the damage that day.
DON’T I KNOW YOU?
There is likely to be two faces in the Gateshead defence on Saturday who are likely to be remembered by Yeovil supporters. Central defender Kyle Ferguson made 34 appearances for the Glovers last season before being one of a number released from Huish Park in the summer. The Scotsman warmed up for his return to Somerset with the second goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Woking. Don’t say it.
The other ex-Glover in the visitors’ squad may be less well known. Jack Robinson made 19 appearances during a loan spell at Huish Park in the 2021/22 season whilst still in the Middlesbrough academy. He has since turned up at both Carlisle United and Hartlepool United before missing the whole of last season through injury. The 25-year-old turned up at Gateshead in pre-season and earned a one-year contract having impressed on trial.
THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE…
Richard Aspinall will be taking charge of the lunchtime kick-off in Somerset this weekend. He has some interesting connections with our opponents, check out Ben’s article – here.