Rochdale got their promotion push back on track with a 2-0 win at Enterprise National League strugglers Gateshead.
Dale – who saw their five-match league winning run ended by Hartlepool and also went out of the FA Trophy to Tamworth on penalties – took the lead in the 32nd minute through debutant Manny Duku following a swift counter-attack.
Gateshead, on a run of 10 successive league defeats, went close to an equaliser just after the hour when Levi Amantchi’s close-range header struck the crossbar.
The visitors, though, made sure of the points with three minutes left when Ryan East fired in a cross from Tobi Adebayo-Rowling.