Gateshead boss credits Hartlepool United for cutting edge in narrow Suit Direct Stadium success

Williamson watched on as his side conceded a late goal for the second straight week at the beginning of the new National League campaign, dropping three points in total in the process.

Gateshead imposed themselves well at the Suit Direct Stadium in terms of possession, with Williamson suggesting his side dominated proceedings, without really hurting Hartlepool in front of goal after falling behind early in the game thanks to Emmanuel Dieseruvwe’s close finish.

The Heed were handed a lifeline when Josh Umerah received his marching orders early in the second half as Robbie Tinkler capitalised on their man advantage to level the scores not long after the hour.

But despite their possession and tidy interchange around the edge of the area, Gateshead were stung late in the game as the 10 men of Pools were able to break and snatch a late winner through Dieseruvwe to leave Williamson and his side empty-handed on their trip back to Tyneside.

“It feels a similar nature to what we had last week which makes it more disappointing,” said Williamson.

“Ultimately, I feel as though last weekend and this weekend we’ve dominated huge areas of the game except the scoreboard, which is obviously the most important part.

“There’s huge positives to take, we’ve just got to make sure we are learning our lessons because at the minute we feel as though those moments have gone against us and we need to make sure we’re learning and we force that to start going our way so that we’ll pick up three points.

“But the ease it looked like they got the ball in the back of our net was something that we need to look at, but it’s from the front to the back. It’s all of us.”

Hartlepool’s apparent willingness to allow Gateshead to have plenty of the ball after taking the lead may have been a surprise to most inside the Suit Direct Stadium, with Pools, seemingly, keen to look to hit Williamson’s side on the break.

But the Heed boss has credited John Askey's team for their cutting edge in front of goal after Dieseruvwe’s late winner.

“Not really,” Williamson said when asked if he was surprised by Hartlepool’s approach to the game in allowing Gateshead to dominate possession.

“They’re a big club and they’ve got really good players and players that spent last season in the league.

“They’ve got experience, they’ve got good footballing knowledge and we were solely focusing on how we go about it and how we do.

“I think you’re allowed to play to the extent that your opponents will let you, but they did a job and you’ve got to say they deserve the three points because they scored more goals and in the moments in both boxes, they were better than us. So we’ve got to accept that.

“It’s early but the fact is we need to learn from our mistakes and we need to rectify that and put it into practice.”