It was a warm afternoon at Wembley, one win a piece in head to heads in the league so a fiercely competitive game was on the cards.
The game didn't take long to get going, And Greg Olley looked to put the Solihull defense under pressure early on, but his shot was met with a solid block from Clarke.
Gateshead tested the Solihull defense once more as wingback Luke Hannant was found in acres on the right hand side. He whipped the ball in low and hard across the face of goal, where Dajuane Brown was arriving to throw himself at the ball. But the cross just evaded him and went out for a goal kick.
Gateshead kept moving the ball well utilizing their extra man at the back, meanwhile Solihull looked like they could threaten on the counter attack.
Solihull worked the ball well out onto the right hand side finding Shade who cut back inside, only to see his shot blocked and turned behind for a corner. The resulting corner found the head of Alex Whitmore, but he couldn’t direct his shot goalwards.
Gateshead then looked to get back in the game through their right hand side once more, Luke Hannant put a beautiful ball in finding the head of Fracncis who was arriving at the far post, but it was well defended and turned behind for a corner.
Boateng was then played through for Solihull but his shot was straight down the throat of Montgomery who held it comfortably. Quickly after Hannant again was found in room wide on the right, but flashed it across goal and behind for a goal kick.
The biggest chance of the half fell for Greg Olley who was found by Wheelhan with an exquisite pass. He faked a pass to Brown to create room for the shot, but the ball ended up just wide of the left post.
47 minutes in and Gateshead deservedly had the lead. Graysons ball over the top found Brown in behind, who did well to keep the ball in play. He rolled the ball back across the face of goal, where Regan Booty came charging in to make sure he got to the ball first to turn it into the net and take the lead in the tie.
And that was the last kick of the first half, so Gateshead were ahead at the break.
Solihull looked to strike first, it was Shade who was played in behind the defense on the right hand side. He laid it across the area towards Beck who couldn’t get a clean contact on the ball and it was sliced behind for a corner. The resulting corner was fired in towards the near post, where it fell kindly for Clarke to have a strike forcing Montgomery to get down smartly to his right hand side to keep Gateshead in front.
Gateshead then went up the other end in search of a goal to double their lead. Whelan flicked the ball round Clarke who stuck a leg in and looked to have caught the Gateshead man. But the referee waved away the penalty appeals.
It was then Solihull's turn to test the Gateshead defense, Sbarra was found in acres of space wide on the left hand side of the penalty area. He pulled it back to Boateng who thought the net was about to bulge. And it would have done if it wasn’t for some heroics from the Gateshead goalkeeper James Montgomery, who was diving away to his left hand side to keep the Gateshead lead intact. But it felt like only a matter of time until Solihull found the equalizer.
However it was Gateshead who threw the next punch, it was a hopeful ball into the channel that Alex Whitmore got to first. But he made a mess of it and presented it to Brown who looked to lift the ball over the keeper and into the net, but he got it all wrong and it went out for a goal kick.
Gateshead carried on with their spell on the ball and Francis unleashed a strike from 25 yards out, forcing a smart stop from Nick Hayes who parried the ball away from danger.
Solihull Moors were suddenly back in the game, a delightful ball was played in by Newton from the left hand side found the head of the Solihull marksman Mark Beck who made no mistake from 6 yards out and fired Solihull back into the game.
Just a minute later Sbarra was played in by Warburton, he was bearing down on goal from 40 yards out. He took the ball to the edge of the penalty area where the goalkeeper Montgomery was lurking. But Sbarra couldn’t find the back of the net, and ended up dragging the shot just wide of the left hand post.
Gateshead were next to threaten the goal, the ball came in low from the left hand side. Nick Hayes got a hand on it but it fell straight to the Gateshead forward Brown, who could only kick it straight back into the arms of the goalkeeper.
It was end to end stuff and now it was Solihull's turn to threaten the goal. Shade went on a mazy run on the right hand side and handed the ball to his captain Osborne who was on the edge of the penalty area to strike to the ball goalwards. But it ended up trickling just wide of the left hand goalpost.
It carried on as an end to end game, as Gateshead's chance fell to Kieron Evans. It was a lovely ball from Brown to find Evans on the edge of the penalty area who fired to ball straight and Goalkeeper Nick Hayes who was out to smother the one on one.
As we entered extra time Solihull were about to take the lead for the first time in the game, Shade squared the ball towards Mark Beck who was brought down by Louis Storey inside the penalty area. Referee Sam Allison took an age to make his decision, but eventually pointed to the penalty spot. Up stepped Mark Beck who calmly fired the ball hard into the right hand side of the goal, into the side netting. And Solihull had the lead for the first time in the game.
It carried on as an end to end game as Gateshead attacked once more. Evans found himself in some room on the right hand side and crossed onto the head of Dajaune Brown, who couldn’t divert the ball goalward and ended up looping over the crossbar.
Into the second half of extra time and Gateshead had an equalizer up their sleeve. Francis whipped the ball across onto the head of Tom Allen. He headed it back across goal for Dajaune Brown to nod the ball into an empty net, and we were headed for a penalty shootout.
Penalty shootout
Solihull
Scored
Missed ( over the bar)
Missed ( Straight down the middle ,Saved)
Scored
Scored
Scored
Missed ( Over the bar)
Missed ( crossbar)
Gateshead
Missed (saved onto post by Hayes)
Scored
Missed ( Saved middle)
Scored
Scored
Scored
Missed ( Saved Nick Hayes)
Scored
Solihull had lost a second shootout in as many weeks, with both players that missed in last week's shootout missing again. It was a fiercely contested game with just a point separating the two sides in the National League, and it showed with the game going to penalties. But Gateshead won the shootout and lifted the 2024 FA Trophy. Ecstasy for Gateshead and heartbreak for Solihull but Gateshead are champions.
Writeen By Charlie Prescott
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