Pre-match there are plenty of sore heads, which most opt to medicate with a free pint being offered by the Fog on the Tyne pub to the first 100 Truro fans who show up.
Gateshead have the lowest average attendance in the National League, but play in a 11,800-capacity stadium designed to also host athletics events and gigs.
The home stands are almost entirely empty, the temperature has dropped, and teeth are chattering on the away terrace as Truro kick off.
The away attendance is 185, higher than usual, partly swelled by those enticed by the novelty of the journey and the presence of a few neutral groundhoppers wanting to be part of history.
Truro are uncharacteristically electric when the match begins. They deservedly lead after five minutes through Dominic Johnson-Fisher. After two more goals are narrowly disallowed, they double their lead just before half-time through defender Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose father Mark and brother Alex played for England during their careers.
At half-time the away end is bedlam.
But after the break Gateshead improve and score twice to equalise, the second goal coming in the 70th minute through striker Frank Nouble, who played in the Premier League for West Ham at the start of his senior career.
Truro have a golden chance to win it in stoppage time, one-on-one with the keeper to beat, but Luke Jephcott puts his finish wide.
“I’d have taken a point before kick-off, I suppose,” says Sharon Hinds, a decades-long fan who also played for the club’s women’s team.
“I’d be lost without coming to matches. We’ve been tiny for so long but feel like giants now. We’re a proper family that takes care of each when things are hard. It’s beautiful, really.”
Leave a Reply