South Shields striker departs on a month-long loan deal

The striker becomes the third Mariners player to move away from the 1st Cloud Arena on a temporary basis after defensive duo Blair Adams and Dillon Morse joined Gateshead on similar deals last week.

The prolific striker joined South Shields from Southport ahead of the 2019/20 season and went on to score 23 goals in 37 appearances during his first year on South Tyneside.

The 26-year-old continued his fine form in front of goal this season by finding the net seven times in his first 14 games of the campaign to help the Mariners reach the FA Cup first round and challenge for promotion once again.

However, with the Northern Premier League season currently on hold due to Covid-19 restrictions, Gilchrist has now returned to the National League North for a month as he looked to help the Minstermen in their push for a return to non-league’s top tier.

He told the Minstermen website: “Coming in as a striker you are always expected to try and score goals and people look at your goalscoring record.

"It’s good if I can come in, do well and contribute with the goals and try and get a couple of assists as well.”

The striker could make his debut when Steve Watson’s side travel to AFC Telford United on Saturday and could feature in City’s first ever game at their new LNER Community Stadium when they host Curzon Ashton on the last weekend of January.