For 201 days, Dean Brennan‘s Barnet remained undefeated at the Hive Stadium, having lost to Boreham Wood in the playoff eliminator at the tail-end of last season.
However, Rob Elliot‘s Gateshead side arrived fresh off a 6-0 dismantling of Dorking Wanderers, and have continued to thrive in the post-Mike Williamson era.
The Heed were largely dominant throughout the first half but failed to take any of their chances. Kyran Lofthouse, Greg Olley and Billy Chadwick were all denied by the crossbar or the post – denying the visitors of an advantage at the interval.
The deadlock was broken by the visitors only three minutes into the second half, with Stephen Wearne capitalising on some poor defending from the Bees, finishing off Regan Booty‘s free-kick.
The former Grimsby Town midfielder added a second 20 minutes later, firing home from close range having been set up excellently by Lofthouse on the right wing.
The relentless schedule of the National League continues to show, as the Heed next travel back down to playoff contenders Solihull Moors on Tuesday night.
Having lost two successive games, Barnet still remain in 2nd, but will hope to return to winning ways with a televised home fixture against Oldham Athletic on Wednesday.
Story of the match:
Brennan made two adjustments to the XI that lost to Chesterfield last weekend, opting for Finley Potter and Ben Coker in place of Jerome Okimo and Callum Stead.
Meanwhile, Elliot made three changes to the side that dominated against Dorking. The interim manager handed a debut to defender Mamadou Jobe, who signed on loan from Cambridge United in the week.
Luke Hannant and Callum Whelan were also preferred to Ed Francis and Connor McBride, while top scorer Marcus Dinanga was named on the bench.
The hosts started well, forcing the Heed to turn over the ball with a high press. Idris Kanu had a huge opportunity to open the scoring in under three minutes, but he couldn’t keep his volley from sailing over the bar.
The 23-year-old was running the show for the Bees, but they were unable to test Archie Mair in between the sticks.
However, the Heed were also effective in their pressing, catching out Laurie Walker off a goal-kick, but the former Stevenage ‘keeper denied Billy Chadwick from exploiting the error.
The closest opportunity of the first half came on the 25-minute mark, with Barnsley loanee Kyran Lofthouse dancing through five black and amber shirts from the halfway line, only to see his effort rebound off the crossbar.
The former Woking full-back is yet to score for Gateshead, having penned a loan deal after moving to League One outfit Barnsley in the summer.
Chadwick scored a hat-trick against Dorking last week, and if not for Walker may have had a first-half hat-trick against the Bees. The 23-year-old was initially slid through on goal and forced Walker into a great save, before Lofthouse’s ball across goal was fired into the side netting at the back post by the Stockport County loanee.
Skipper Greg Olley was next to come close for Gateshead, driving his effort onto the post, having intelligently turned away from his marker at the edge of the box.
However, the Bees were opened up through a set piece three minutes into the second half. A free-kick from Booty was chested goalwards by Jobe in the penalty area, leaving Wearne to fire into an empty net after the Barnet defence failed to clear their lines.
The 22-year-old arguably should have made it two minutes later. Kanu’s ball back in search of Collinge was intercepted by the goalscorer, rushing into a two-on-two counter attack, but Wearne was unable to test Walker with his effort.
The hosts did enjoy a positive spell, with substitute Dale Gorman forcing Archie Mair into an excellent save off a quick counter-attack. A series of corners were contested well by Danny Collinge, but he was denied by the thinnest of margins, shaving the far post, preventing the Bees from levelling the score.
Just as Brennan’s side were finding a way through, the visitors inflicted a sucker punch. Lofthouse blitzed past Coker on the right wing, driving down the goal line to set back into Wearne, who slotted the ball into the opposite corner to double the deficit.
Dinanga’s impact from the bench could’ve made for an even bigger scoreline, but ‘The Bear’ flashed his effort wide of the bottom right corner with his first touch of the game.
Both Callum Stead and Gary Hooper were hurled on in search of finding the back of the net for the hosts, but as the game entered injury time, desperate attempts from Anthony Hartigan and Harry Pritchard summed up Barnet’s frustrating day on goal.
Having endured a rough start to his life in the interim manager role, Rob Elliot now has back-to-back wins to his name, and faces yet another tough test in Birmingham on Tuesday.
Player of the match:
Kyran Lofthouse – Gateshead
Despite Stephen Wearne making the headlines for his two goals, the right-wing back was the best player on the field. Providing both pace and incredible technical ability, he made it both hard for Idris Kanu to create opportunities, and for Ben Coker to defend him while attacking.
The former Woking defender was denied a ‘Goal of the Season’ contender by the crossbar, but his assist for Wearne in the second goal earned the plaudits of both his coach and Dean Brennan, stating that ‘[Lofthouse] was the best player on the pitch by an absolute mile’.
