Cambridge United 2 Hughes 51, Donaldson 71
Gateshead 1 Lester 80
Cambridge United Smith - Roberts, Miller (c), Coulson, Taylor - Champion, Berry (Chadwick 65), Hughes, Donaldson - Elliot (Cunnington 76), Sam-Yorke (Dunk 45) Booked Champion, Cunnington Subs not used Bonner, Chambers
Gateshead Bartlett - Baxter, Magnay, Curtis, Clark (c) - Chandler (Lester 69), Turnbull, Oster, Larkin (Hatch 58), Maddison (O'Donnell 58) - Marwood Booked Maddison, Oster, Clark Subs not used Walker, Ramshaw
Attendance 19,613 at Wembley Stadium Referee Peter Banks
Kick-off 4pm. Live on BT Sport.
GALLANT Gateshead narrowly missed out on a return to the Football League after 54 years following a 2-1 defeat to Cambridge United in the Conference playoff final at Wembley.
Veteran striker Jack Lester scored with 10 minutes left to give the Heed hope of forcing extra time but the Us survived seven minutes of stoppages to hang on.
It was a bitterly disappointing way to end a campaign which had begun with one point out of 15 and yet still finished in the club's first ever visit to the National Stadium.
Nevertheless, Gary Mills' men can be proud of the way that they never gave in on a scorching hot day in the capital.
Backed by around 7,000 fans who had made the long trip down from Tyneside, Gateshead made a nervous start as former Heed forward Ryan Donaldson went close for Cambridge.
The Tynesiders were then almost their own worst enemy as Marcus Maddison, already booked for an early dive, escaped a second caution for a rash tackle.
And, by then, the most experienced man on the pitch - former Everton and Sunderland midfielder John Oster - had also gone into the book for bringing down Donaldson.
Gradually, though, Gateshead felt their way into the half, aiming to tire their opponents in the heat with a sharp, possession game.
But, with Cambridge happy to sit in and soak up the pressure, Heed had fashioned little in the way of chances with Jamie Chandler's long-range effort going straight to Adam Smith.
An improvement was needed in the second 45 and, in fairness, Gateshead began the half on the front foot as James Marwood let fly - but again the ball went straight to Smith.
Cambridge then forced a corner - and, with it, the lead - as Donaldson's cross evaded goalkeeper Adam Bartlett and left the unmarked Liam Hughes to head in from barely a yard.
It was time for a change up front with centre-forward Liam Hatch brought on for Colin Larkin, and Marwood moved out to the right wing. JJ O'Donnell also replaced Maddison and Lester was soon on for Chandler.
Hatch immediately gave Gateshead much more presence up front but the Tynesiders' delivery from the wings was not at its best. Meanwhile, Donaldson was proving a constant menace for the Us.
The Geordie had already scored twice for Cambridge at Wembley in March in a 4-0 win over Gosport Borough in the FA Trophy Final.
And, having won another free-kick after a challenge by Ben Clark on the edge of the Gateshead box, the 23-year-old capped another man of the match performance by bending the ball around the wall and just inside the post.
Two goals down, Gateshead were really up against it now - and yet Mills' side continued to stick to their principles, plugging away by dominating the possession.
On 80 minutes, Heed finally got their just reward as the three substitutes combined. O'Donnell crossed for Hatch and, though his header was saved, the ball fell straight to Lester to ram home the rebound.
Gateshead were back in it - and Marwood almost equalised with a shot which brought a fingertip save from Smith.
But the Heed's momentum was almost immediately disrupted by a bad injury to Us captain Ian Miller who left the field in agony having ruptured his Achilles.
Nevertheless, the delay left Gateshead with plenty of time to complete the comeback and force an extra 30 minutes - and there was always a feeling that a huge chance would fall the Heed's way.
It did and it fell to 'Mr Gateshead' himself, Jamie Curtis. Up from the back in his 505th game for the club, he sadly could not direct his header on target - and that was indeed the very last chance.
Gateshead had given their all but left themselves with too much to do.
Overall, though, the season can surely only be regarded as a success. The first Wembley appearance in the club's history only came about from a belief instilled by Mills that, arguably, was not previously there.
After all, Curtis himself had booked his wedding for this weekend - before hastily having to rearrange it for this coming Wednesday.
No doubt, the 32-year-old had hoped to walk down the aisle having got Gateshead into the Football League - but, in the words of the Rolling Stones, you can't always get what you want.
What the Heed do have is a chairman, Graham Wood, with ambition and a manager, Mills, with bags of self-belief.
Gateshead may have missed out this time - but, if they keep that combination, a return to the Football League should not actually be that far away. Ho'way the Heed!
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