JIM McCluskie's first game back in charge of Rossendale United ended in defeat.

And following an indifferent display he will be in little doubt about the difficulty of the job in front of him.

Both sides struggled in the freezing conditions on a bumpy playing surface. Flowing football was at a premium and possession was wasted but the bulk of the chances fell to the home side.

Former Burnley player Mark Rasmussen opened the scoring for Gateshead when his shot took a wicked bounce to deceive Dale stopper Mark Andrews.

Dale's Steve Cunningham then put the ball in the back of the net only for an assistant referee's flag to wrongly rule his effort out for offside.

Brian Welch tested the keeper on a couple of occasions in the second half.

But Gateshead still threatened on the break, with Chris Fitzsimmons producing a tremendous saving header to flick the ball away from ex-Claret Anthony Shandran before James Curtis saw his effort scrambled away by Greg Challender.

Norton and Brooks both went close to levelling the scores in the final 10 minutes, but Shandran fired in an unstoppable shot in the final minute to wrap up the points for the Tynesiders.

GATESHEAD ...2

ROSSENDALE UNITED ...0