Clark anxious to make amends for first leg mistakes

Gateshead captain Ben Clark intends to atone for having involuntarily played a part in Darlington's second half comeback last week. Quakers came from 2-0 behind to win the FA Trophy semi-final first leg 3-2 at The Northern Echo Arena. The teams meet again today at the International Stadium with Clark, a former Hartlepool centre-back, eager for a better showing. "I was disappointed with my second-half performance," he said. "I set myself high standards and I let myself down, giving the free-kick away for their second goal, then (Liam) Hatch got in front of me for his header. So I want to put that right. "We were very disappointed by the way we played second half but we haven't dwelled on it too much. "We had a little conversation on Monday and looked at the goals we conceded, and we know they weren't good enough. "It was disappointing that they didn't have to work too hard to score. It was sloppy play by us, more than anything else." Clark will be partnered at the back by James Curtis if the towering defender can recover in time from a groin strain that kept him out of the previous two matches with Quakers. Ten days ago the sides drew 2-2 at the International Stadium, while Darlington won the league encounter between the teams 2-0 at the Arena back in October. But Gateshead are much-improved since then and Clark added: "We're very confident, we know on our day we can beat anybody. It's a one-off game. "The games we've played against Darlington this season have been quite tight, bar the first one. There's nothing between the teams now and it should be a good game. "We'll be looking to do what we did in the first half for the full 90 minutes." Clark was at Pools when they played at the Millennium Stadium in the 2005 League One play-off final, but did not play in the defeat by Sheffield Wednesday. With playing at Wembley the prize for today's winners, he said: "It's up there with the biggest games I've ever played. It's a fantastic incentive to go and play at Wembley. Not many footballers at our level can say they've done that. "It's not easy to put it to the back of your mind, but you've got to. You can't afford to play the occasion. "Every footballer wants to play at Wembley, it'd be a fantastic day out. It would be a massive day for the town, the club, the chairman, the management, all of the supporters and for the players, so it's going to be a fantastic occasion on Saturday. "By all accounts there's going to be a big crowd there, a good atmosphere, which would be fantastic for both teams. "It's obviously a massive game with a massive incentive but we've just got to do as we've been doing all season."

Source: Northern_Echo