GARY MILLS could have taken charge of his last game as Gateshead manager – and it ended in defeat at Barnet.

Mills has been granted permission by the Heed to talk to Wrexham and an unnamed Football League club over taking on a new role, which would leave the Tyneside club searching for a boss over the summer.

And if that happens then the 53-year-old’s frustrating final season in charge not only ended in missing out on a Conference play-off place it also ended in a 2-0 defeat in North London. He was non-committal on his situation after the game.

Barnet clinched the title with a comfortable victory after Portuguese winger Mauro Vilhete headed them in to the lead in the 26th minute and Gateshead rarely threatened after that.

Vilhete rose unchallenged to turn in a precise Sam Togwell free-kick which was not dealt with properly by the visiting defence.

The same player extended the lead five minutes after the restart when he bundled over the line from close-range when Gateshead struggled to deal with Togwell’s corner.

Gateshead had a couple of chances late on but Barnet were deserving winners to clinch the Conference title and leave their opponents frustrated with finishing in tenth.

Gateshead: Bartlett, Baxter, Curtis, Clark, Pattison, Chandler, Gillies (Shaw 57), Finnigan, Sainte-Luce, Rodman (Ramshaw 46), Rankine. Subs (not used): Allan, Orrell, Dixon.

YORK CITY boss Russ Wilcox is already planning a summer of change after being reminded of his side’s shortcomings during a home defeat to Newport County.

After securing Football League status for a further year over the last few weeks, the Minstermen let their standards drop at Bootham Crescent on Saturday when Newport returned to South Wales with the points.

Second half goals from David Tutonda and Lee Minshull did the damage to prevent York from winning a fourth straight game in League One and that provided Wilcox with a reminder of the task he has at hand.

He told the York Press: “Nothing gets camouflaged now. That could have happened if we had won the game but we know that we have to do some surgery over the summer to make us better.

“Newport had some good players and game changers out on the pitch and that’s why they’re at the top end of the table. We want to be there too if we possibly can and want to bring in quality players to help us do that.

“The game told us what we already knew and why we are near the bottom. We’ve been there all season and just been pushing for survival, so we’ve got to sit down and see how we can move the club forward.”

Things might have been different had Jake Hyde not seen his penalty saved in between Newport’s goals but Tutonda (49) and Minshull’s (75) strikes did the damage to leave York pointless.

York: Ingham; McCombe, Lowe, Zubar, Halliday, Coulthirst, Penn (Platt 87), Summerfield, Coulson (O’Hanlon 77), Miller (Ilesanmi 68), Hyde. Subs: Mooney, Montrose, Meikle.