#bradleydack

[johndailyupdate]

Tony Mowbray confirms that the player has torn his ACL.

Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has reported that Bradley Dack has sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that will hold him out of play for the near future.

[fan-of-mulligan]

FOM BLOG: GILLINGHAM 2 - 1 BARNSLEY

My Thoughts on Gillingham V Barnsley……………..

I left My House at 12.40PM and I made sure I had the following things on me,,,(Money, Keys, My Samsung Galaxy S2, My Season Ticket, My Fleece-Jacket, Spare Lids, My Gillingham Bag with Pads and Pens, My Gillingham Scarf, Gloves, A Packet Of Polo’s and A 500ML Bottle of Coca Cola), I had double checked I had everything I wanted on me and before turning My MAC off, I had also checked to make sure that the trains were running properly, as I had to get a taxi to Priestfield Stadium for the home game against Swindon Town the previous Saturday.

Typically it has to start raining as I leave the front door - it always rains on a match day - and I started making my way down to Rainham Train Station and I spoke with Simon , and Simon mentioned that Gillingham are duo a win against Barnsley, as the last time that Gillingham won against Barnsley was a 3-0 win back in 2001 and Iffy Onoura and Marlon King were on the score-sheet that day, also, Barnsley’s seven match winning run has to come to an end eventually.

I double checked with Simon about the penalty incident involving Ryan Jackson against Swindon Town and Simon thought it was a penalty and he also thought that had the conditions been kinder the previous Saturday, then Rory Donnelly’s effort that hit the post would of gone in as the wind took the ball away from goal at the last moment, I also mentioned that Burton Albion should re-name the song “1-0 to The Arsenal” to “1-0 to The Burton Albion” as Burton Albion have got an incredible defensive record, But Simon was confidant that Gillingham would get a win against Barnsley.

I made my way down to Rainham Train Station as I walked along Broadview Avenue, then walked past St Margarets School and I crossed the main road and walked through Rainham Precinct and I arrived at Rainham Train Station at 13.10PM, and I brought My Return Ticket to Gillingham for £3.80 and The 13.15 Train had just pulled in to Rainham Train Station, and I put my ticket through the barriers and just made it on to the train as the doors were closing.

As I got on the train, I updated My Facebook and Twitter Accounts with the following comment - On my way to Priestfield Stadium as Gillingham take on a in-form Barnsley Side, here's hoping Gillingham can pick up all three points today - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!! - I arrived in Gillingham at 13.20PM and made my way to Priestfield Stadium and I arrived at the ground at 13.30PM, and I went into The Ticket Office to queue up and I brought My Ticket for Oldham Athletic Away for £22.

Danial was behind me in the queue and I wasn’t sure if prices increased on the day for Oldham Athletic and Danial brought one ticket for Oldham Athletic and two tickets for the match against Barnsley, Danial asked me how I was getting to Oldham in a week’s time, I mentioned that Diane was contemplating driving to Oldham Athletic, but we might be getting the coach as Oldham, Rochdale and Bury are all close together and there all long distances to drive to as well, I also mentioned to Danial that even when it is sunny in Oldham that it is still freezing, so it would be a good idea to wrap up warm, Danial has plenty of thermo’s and a fleece-jacket so he will be fine, Oldham now have four stands at Boundary Park, so we might be behind the opposite goal rather then the usual stand where away supporters are housed.

As Danial left the ticket office I said “ C Ya” before going into The Club Shop, I spoke with Lisa and Casey as they got to watch West Ham United V Liverpool in A FA Cup Replay for £35 - which is a really good price - and the atmosphere was amazing according to Lisa, and I am sure the roof came off Upton Park when Angelo Ogbonna scored in the final minute of extra time to send West Ham through into The Fifth Round of The FA Cup.

I brought My Match Day Programme for £3 and I saw Diane with Ethan and Diane said that because she has had to replace a tyre on her car that she won’t be able to drive to Oldham Athletic the following Saturday, and with the length of the journey combined with the fact that it will probably be the two of us, it means that we may well be paying £35 - £40 each for fuel costs and we have found it very difficult to get someone to travel with us via car in the past, and not many supporters hang around the team coach before and after the game to speak to the players, even when we have local away games like Colchester United and Peterborough United Away, there are not many fans there getting autograph’s and photo’s with the players, in-fact opposition fans are getting there photo’s taken with our players, understandable at Walsall as Jimmy Walker is such a legend at The Bescot Stadium, but some fans collect autograph’s regardless of who the player is - I know Stephen collects player autographs - but some fans get autographs of players regardless if they have played for there team or not.

I mentioned to Diane that The Training Course / Work Placement I am going to just isn’t providing us with any skills or the required training which would make an employer hire you for work, there is me and someone else in the reception area and we’re basically just sitting there and manning the reception area and that’s it, we’re allowed to use The PC for personal use, just as long as someone is in the reception area to stop people walking in and out, but some people do this anyway without signing in or out and this is very frustrating, but not as frustrating as going somewhere where you expecting some sort of training and your just sitting there doing nothing, the people at this placement are good people, but training the two of us is low on there list of priorities as the building needs a lot of refurbishment.

Diane asked me - what will I do for The Fleetwood Town Game - I mentioned that I am not in for training on A Tuesday for that match and even if I was, I would still be going to Fleetwood Town, I don’t want to be missing any matches and I did book on Kings Ferry for that match as well, I just hope that The Kings Ferry Coach for Fleetwood Town is better then the coach we had for Blackpool, as the coach we used for Blackpool had no legroom, no net behind the seats to put newspapers in, and even more shocking, no plug sockets for phone chargers, I was surprised about the no phone chargers because Blackpool Away was a long trip, and to not have a plug socket for phone chargers was very poor.

Ethan was getting inpatient and bored and wanted to go inside so Diane said that she will meet up with me after the game, I said the trains were running properly this time and I thanked Diane for offering me a lift back home after the game, I mentioned that I would be going to The Chippy and I will make my way home once I am back in Rainham, As Diane and Ethan went round to The Gordon Road Stand Entrance, I got speaking with Matt and Matt asked me if I had seen Soccer AM as Jimmy Bullard and Bradley Dack were both on there, I mentioned that I saw that clip on The SKY Sports Website as I don't watch Soccer AM, Bradley Dack's efforts on goal were very poor, but one thing that did impress me was Jimmy Walker's performance between the sticks, and if ever Glenn Morris or Stuart Nelson pick up an injury, then Jimmy Walker is more then capable as a third choice goalkeeper, I asked Matt if he heard the clip with Justin Edinburgh speaking about Tottenham and Gillingham, and Matt had heard that interview on Talk Sport as well.

Matt decided to go in while I waited around for Gary until 2.10PM before deciding to go inside the ground and through turnstile number seven - some pre-match superstitions need to be maintained - and I stood by the advertisement board with Lisa, Kasey, Sharon and Colin.

Kasey was confused about player nationalities on FIFA and why some players have more then one country as there nationality, I mentioned that players could play for the country that there GrandParents were born in, and with World War 2 in 1939 to 1945 - I am sure many civilians moved to safer countries and took up that nationality, on a footballing front, Zinedine Zidane was Algerian but played for France, while Tony Cascarino wasn’t eligible to play for The Republic Of Ireland, although International Football has different rules for a players nationality, one example I can think of is that Cesc Fabregas could qualify to play for England as he would have been an English Citizen having played in England between the ages of sixteen and twenty one, but players playing for England are rarely called up on a citizenship basis.

I was speaking to Colin and he was telling me that someone next to him with his two children was basically commentating throughout the entire match and would basically say that Ryan Jackson should of crossed the ball instead of passing the ball and how Josh Wright took one for the team, I did ask if the language was appalling, but that wasn’t the case and it was just constant pointless commentating, and one bloke a few seats along from Colin, his mum would turn up and watch Gillingham play for the past forty years will now not come back to watch Gillingham play because a few lads kicked the back of her seat - disgusting and out of order - I mentioned that Rose was at Doncaster Rovers and looked liked Rose was making a recovery, but she wasn’t at The Swindon Town Game the previous Saturday and I was unsure if Rose was at The Barnsley Game, Sharon asked me to pass on a get well soon message to Rose and I sent Rose A Message on Facebook.

Eventually we saw Gillingham’s Team News on Twitter and Gillingham Lined Up As Follows,,,,,,,, Stuart Nelson, Aaron Morris, John Egan, Max Ehmer, Bradley Garmston, Josh Wright, Emmanuel Osadebe, Doug Loft, Bradley Dack, Rory Donnelly, Dominic Samuel SUBS: Glenn Morris, Adam Chicksen, Jake Hessenthaler, Jermaine McGlashan, George Williams, Elliott List and Luke Norris - Me and Colin both agreed that George Williams will get on at some point hence his signing on loan until the end of the season from Fulham the day before, I agreed with Colin that Adam Chicksen hasn’t impressed as much as he did in his previous loan spell, which may well be a complement and shows how far Gillingham have progressed over the past year, Adam Chicksen is more of a defenders defender and with Ryan Jackson not in the eighteen man match day squad, then we will need Bradley Garmston to do most of Gillingham’s creating down the left side of the pitch.

Colin and Myself were talking about a few things Gillingham Related from the closing of The Ticket Office - which is only open as usual on a match day - Phil and Charlotte are no longer in the Media Department, the lack of content on the Social Media Side of things, and while our focus should be what is happening on the football pitch, what happens off the pitch is equally as important, but our focus turns to the match against Barnsley and with Burton Albion winning 1-0 against Chesterfield on Friday Night, then it is crucial that Gillingham do the same-thing and pick up all three points against Barnsley.

I agreed with Colin on his disagreement with those saying we should be grateful that Gillingham are fourth in League One and we would of all taken this at the start of the season, and yes we would of taken this at the start of the season, but at the same-time, Gillingham need to capitalise on this season by winning promotion because opportunities like these don’t come around very often and at the very least Gillingham need to secure a playoff spot, but promotion into The Championship is the only way that Gillingham can hang on to Bradley Dack and John Egan.

You only have to look at Leyton Orient, Sheffield United and Swindon, Leyton Orient were in The League One Playoff Final in 2013 / 2014 and there now in League Two, Sheffield United and Swindon Town reached the playoffs last season, and now both clubs are eighth and fourteenth in League One, OK Sheffield United can still reach the playoffs this season, but missing out on promotion doesn’t necessarily mean that your going to be challenging for promotion again next season, especially if Bradley Dack and John Egan were to both leave the club in the summer.

I took to my seat ready for kick off as both teams appeared out of the tunnel, I moved one seat along so that Andy could put his bag on my seat rather then on the floor, at least Referee Darren Bond didn’t make both teams switch ends, meaning that Gillingham kicked towards The Brian Moore Stand in The First Half and Barnsley kicked towards The Rainham End, that means that both teams will kick towards there own supporters in The Second Half.

FIRST HALF

And Gillingham create the first clear cut goal-scoring opportunity in the third minute of the match as Max Ehmer dispossess Marley Watkins high up the pitch down the left side and Doug Loft has time to take a touch, turn and play the ball forward to Dominic Samuel, who takes a touch and plays the ball out-wide to Bradley Garmston and Bradley Garmston's first time cross is headed over the crossbar by Rory Donnelly, who couldn't get over the ball to header the ball on target, but this was an encouraging start from The Gills.

Three Minutes later and Barnsley created there first goal-scoring opportunity of the match as Stuart Nelson makes the first save of the game, Kevin Long has a throw on deep in Barnsley's final third down the left side and Kevin Long throws the ball centrally to Alfie Mawson, who plays the ball out-wide to James Bree, and James Bree plays the ball back to Alfie Mawson, and Alfie Mawson plays a long ball down-field for Lloyd Isgrove to chase, but Bradley Garmston wins the initial header, but the ball falls kindly to Lloyd Isgrove, who shields the ball back to Josh Brownhill, and The Barnsley Midfielder skips past Bradley Garmston's challenge before playing the ball inside to Marely Watkins who goes on a skillful run going past both Josh Wright and Max Ehmer before firing a low shot on target which is saved and then gathered by Stuart Nelson at the second attempt – thankfully Marely Watkins was forced wide which made it very difficult for him to beat Stuart Nelson at his near post.

Two Minutes later and Bradley Garmston is penalised for his challenge on Marely Watkins and Barnsley have a free kick in a promising position on the pitch, Conor Hourihane goes across to take the resulting free kick and Conor Hourihane has whipped in a dangerous in-swinging cross which Kevin Long headers wide of the far post, but Referee Darren Bond awards a corner kick, but our protestations were with Referee Darren Bond for not awarding Gillingham a free kick for blatant shoves on Max Ehmer and Rory Donnelly, Conor Hourihane goes across to take the resulting corner kick and Conor Hourihane's corner kick to the near post was poor and initially cleared by John Egan, and Rory Donnelly does extremely well to win a throw on off Adam Hammill down the left side of the pitch, and then Rory Donnelly showed quickly thinking to throw a quick throw on down the line for Bradley Dack to run on to and Bradley Dack is taken out by James Bree and now Gillingham have a free kick in a promising area on the pitch.

Bradley Dack and Doug Loft both stand over the resulting free kick, and Bradley Dack whips in a dangerous cross towards the far post and Dominic Samuel headers the ball into the side netting, although had Dominic Samuel managed to open the scoring by headering the ball on target, then Dominic Samuel's effort would have been ruled out for offside as the linesman down The Medway Stand Side of the pitch had raised his flag to signal offside.

So all in all a very interesting opening ten minutes of the match as Rory Donnelly and Dominic Samuel have both failed to hit the target, and Marley Watkins has forced Stuart Nelson to make the only meaningful save of the match so far, One thing I had noticed in the first ten minutes is Max Ehmer's lack of confidence when it comes to distributing the ball as there were a few times where Max Ehmer has kicked the ball long and out of play as Max Ehmer is more of a defenders defender then a ball playing centre half, John Egan and Max Ehmer do remind me of Garry Richards and Simon King, and that defensive partnership between Garry Richards and Simon King secured Gillingham promotion in 2008 / 2009, and hopefully John Egan and Max Ehmer can do the same for Gillingham this season.

Thirteen Minutes into the match and Doug Loft tries an up and under approach that almost pays off as Doug Loft's long ball over the top almost picks out Dominic Samuel and Rory Donnelly, but Kevin Long just about does enough to header the ball out of play for a corner kick, unfortunately Gillingham don't take advantage of the set play as Bradley Dack's corner kick to the near post is initially cleared by James Bree, but Bradley Dack could try again and Bradley Dack whips in a much better cross second time round, but Adam Davies gathers the ball and then quickly distributes the ball out-wide to Marley Watkins, who has plenty of space to run into, but Max Ehmer does the sensible thing by conceding the foul and taking one for the team – I was surprised that Max Ehmer wasn't booked for that challenge on Marley Watkins, but that foul by Max Ehmer broke up any possible counter attack that Barnsley could of created from that move.

I wish Stuart Nelson did this more frequently for Gillingham, sometimes we just have every player except Dominic Samuel inside our penalty area, when ideally, Gillingham want two players on the wing and Dominic Samuel through the middle and one player on the edge of The D, I do think that Stuart Nelson needs to distribute the ball quicker, but I also think that Gillingham need players in positions to enable Stuart Nelson to quickly distribute the ball.

Seventeen Minutes into the match and Barnsley pile on the pressure as Barnsley combine nicely down our left side as Lloyd Isgrove, Josh Brownhill and Marely Watkins all keep possession of the ball nicely, and when Josh Brownhill quickly distributes the ball out-wide to Adam Hammill, The Barnsley Winger takes a touch and skillfully goes past Emmanuel Osadebe and Aaron Morris and Adam Hammill's chipped cross to the far post is headed away from goal by John Egan and Bradley Garmston's clearance is charged down and ricochets off Sam Winnall and Josh Wright does really well on the stretch to divert the ball through to Emmanuel Osadebe, who takes a touch and Emmanuel Osadebe attempts a half volley down the line which is almost executed to perfection, but Rory Donnelly couldn't keep the ball in play, but you had to applaud Emmanuel Osadebe for almost pulling off an sensational pass.

A minute later and Justin Edinburgh and David Kerslake were both talking to the substitutes to warm up – only three substitutes can warm up together at the same-time – and in The Twentieth Minute, Bradley Dack almost picks out Rory Donnelly with an excellent through-ball, but Kevin Long tracked Rory Donnelly's run and shielded the ball back to Adam Davies and The Barnsley Goalkeeper eased the pressure building on his side by picking up the ball, so we're twenty minutes into the match and the score-line is still goal-less, and with Barnsley in such fantastic form and with Gillingham being the top goal-scorers in League One, I cannot see this match ending goal-less, although I am sure I said that the previous Saturday and somehow Gillingham V Swindon Town ended with an 0-0 score-line.

A minute later and Barnsley win an controversial free kick which angered every Gillingham Supporter inside Priestfield Stadium and Referee Darren Bond was on the receiving end of some very strong words from Justin Edinburgh who was furious with that free kick decision, prior to that free kick being awarded there was a prolonged period of play as James Bree plays the ball back to Alfie Mawson, who kicks the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer wins the aerial challenge to header the ball back into Barnsley's half of the pitch, James Bree's header is more up and under then height and distance, but Sam Winnall plays a one touch layoff into Josh Brownhill's path, and Josh Brownhill has the strength to retain possession of the ball despite Doug Loft's attempted challenge and Josh Brownhill plays the ball short to James Bree, who threads the ball through to Lloyd Isgrove, who plays the ball back into Sam Winnall's path, who had Bradley Garmston running toe to toe with him and Sam Winnall losses out and his pass is blocked by Emmanuel Osadebe, but Referee Darren Bond awards a free kick.

I didn't think that was a free kick and Justin Edinburgh's reaction in the technical area suggests that he didn't think that was a free kick either, Barnsley took a quick short free kick as Conor Hourihane played the ball short to Adam Hammill who tee's himself up and Adam Hammill's low shot is deflected off John Egan and out of play for A Barnsley Corner Kick – the visitor's continued to pile on the pressure as Conor Hourihane's in-swinging corner kick is headed up and under by Max Ehmer, and Adam Hammill and Bradley Dack were both challenging for the loose ball on the edge of Gillingham's Penalty Area and Bradley Dack had lost his footing, but even on the deck, Bradley Dack acrobatically kicks the ball out of play for a throw on.

Barnsley created another meaningful goal-scoring opportunity from the resulting throw on, as Aidan White and Adam Hammill combine nicely from the throw on with Emmanuel Osadebe and Aaron Morris matching up two verses two down the right side of the pitch, Adam Hammill manages to shrug off the challenge from Aaron Morris, and Adam Hammill checks back inside and whips in one of those cross / shots which can go all the way through into the far corner of the net, or someone diverts the ball goal-wards and scores themselves, thankfully neither Max Ehmer or Sam Winnall got a touch on the ball and Stuart Nelson was well positioned to gather the ball with ease, but Barnsley do look the more likely side to score.

Stuart Nelson takes his time before deciding to kick the ball long down-field and Rory Donnelly cannot control the high bouncing ball and Kevin Long wins the aerial battle against Dominic Samuel and Conor Hourihane cushions his header out-wide to Aidan White, who was very fortuitous to still retain possession of the ball after Bradley Dack's challenge, and Aiden White plays the ball inside to Conor Hourihane, who plays the ball forward to Adam Hammill, and The Barnsley Midfielder switches the ball to the right flank to James Bree who had aches of space to run into, and James Bree whips in a cross to Sam Winnall on the edge of Gillingham's Penalty Area, and Sam Winnall tee's himself up to attempt the acrobatic over-head kick, but Sam Winnall's audacious effort fails to hit the target and doesn't test Stuart Nelson between the sticks.

Barnsley's five man midfield off Adam Hammill, Conor Hourihane, Josh Brownhill, Lloyd Isgrove and Marley Watkins is causing Gillingham a lot of problems and this is when the diamond midfield formation has it's disadvantages, especially when we're missing Ryan Jackson at right back, and you either go to three in defence to keep the two up-front and play five in midfield, or Gillingham revert to a 4.2.3.1 formation, because with Brennan Dickenson, Jermaine McGlashan, George Williams and Elliott List all capable of playing in the wide area's, Gillingham do have the players to line up with a 4.2.3.1 formation very effectively.

Twenty Four Minutes into the match and Barnsley win a very soft free kick in my opinion, Stuart Nelson kicks the ball long down-field, and Rory Donnelly and Kevin Long both climb up for the header which Kevin Long wins and The Barnsley Centre Back falls to the deck and wins a comical free kick, Kevin Long takes far too long to take the resulting free kick which angers and frustrates every Gillingham Supporter before Kevin Long eventually clips the ball out tom James Bree on the right side of the pitch, James Bree takes a touch to control the ball and tries to pick out Sam Winnall with a ball over the top but Josh Wright is well positioned to header the ball out for a throw on.

But despite those goal-scoring opportunities from Sam Winnall and Adam Hammill on two separate occasions, it is Gillingham who open the scoring after twenty five minutes as Dominic Samuel scores a typical poachers goal, and it is from this throw on where Gillingham break the deadlock, James Bree throws the ball to Sam Winnall who retains possession of the ball despite pressure from Josh Wright and Bradley Dack, and Sam Winnall's pass back to James Bree wasn't the best, but James Bree keeps the ball in play, but his pass inside is anticipated by Rory Donnelly in Barnsley's half of the pitch, and Rory Donnelly threads the ball through to Dominic Samuel who takes one touch to control the ball and another touch to roll the ball underneath the advancing Adam Davies, and Dominic Samuel showed great composure to give Gillingham the lead because Sam Long was bearing down on The Twenty One Year Old Striker on loan from Reading.

I thought that goal was against the run of play because Barnsley have created a succession of chances through Marley Watkins, Sam Winnall and Adam Hammill, but Dominic Samuel has scored his sixth Gillingham goal in sixteen appearances, replicate that run throughout the rest of the season and Dominic Samuel will score twelve goals in thirty two appearances which will be really good going, I have spoken to A Number of Reading Supporters on Twitter and I have constantly been telling Reading Supporters what a top striker they have currently got, as Reading Supporters were bigging up the signing off Deniss Rakels on transfer deadline day, I sent a few tweets off to Reading Supporters to say what a top striker they have got in Dominic Samuel.

That goal lifted the atmosphere inside Priestfield Stadium and was precisely what Gillingham needed after dealing with a sustained level of pressure from Barnsley, but twenty eight minutes into the match and Referee Darren Bond controversially awards a free kick to Barnsley even though Bradley Garmston intercepted the ball from Sam Winnall's feat, now Josh Brownhill was shaping up to shoot and thankfully Josh Brownhill's low free kick ricochets off the wall and Gillingham can start the counter attack from here as Bradley Dack plays the ball out-wide to Bradley Garmston who has the pace to go past James Bree, and it looked liked for a moment that Bradley Garmston should of crossed the ball earlier, but Bradley Garmston's cross is blocked by James Bree and Gillingham have a corner kick on the half an hour mark – go on Gillingham, make it 2-0 - was my response.

Unfortunately Bradley Dack's wasted any advantage Gillingham could of gained with another woeful corner kick as James Bree clears the ball away from danger at the near post, I felt that perhaps Doug Loft or Josh Wright should try taking a corner kick and Gillingham should have Bradley Dack in Barnsley's Penalty Area anticipating any knock down's or second balls, but Gillingham created a much better goal-scoring opportunity from the resulting throw on as Bradley Garmston throws the ball to Dominic Samuel on the left side of Barnsley's Penalty Area, and Dominic Samuel lays the ball off to Doug Loft who strikes a first time effort just wide of Adam Davies's right hand post, good effort from Doug Loft and from my angle I thought that effort from Doug Loft was on target.

Referee Darren Bond gives two shocking Refereeing decision's in The Thirty First and Thirty Third Minute's respectively, in The Thirty First Minute I thought it was shocking that Rory Donnelly was penalised for what was a perfectly timed challenge on Conor Hourihane and Barnsley only have to go to the floor to win a free kick, and just to infuriate us further, Sam Winnall jumps all over Aaron Morris's back as Aidan White clips the ball down the line and nothing was given for that shocking climbing offence, and yet in The Thirty Third Minute, Max Ehmer rugby tackles Sam Winnall to the ground and somehow Gillingham won a free kick when Barnsley should have been awarded a free kick – we will take that decision all day, because some of the fouls awarded against Gillingham in this match have been appalling.

I would love to see technology and in-particular, the tennis hawkeye challenge system introduced into football where Manager's are given 2-3 challenges a match and these challenges can be used to over-rule a referee's decision and a panel of video referee's will review the footage and either agree with the referee's call or disagree completely and these challenges can be used for penalty / no penalty, foul / no foul, corner kick / no corner kick, red card / no red card and I think this will improve the game, some would say that the video footage could slow the game down, but sometimes The Referee and Linesman can take ages to make a decision and still make the wrong call, also, Referee's have a split second decision to make a decision, the game is faster now and the additional referee's in The Europa League was dreadful – perhaps Referee's would use the video technology themselves to be sure that they have made a correct or in-correct decision.

Also, there is no point reviewing the footage after the game and rescinding a red card, especially if the wrong red card has already decided the outcome of the match in favour of the team who had eleven players on the pitch, you want the technology to be available during the match to enable referee's to make correct decisions, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Snooker, Cricket and Tennis all have forms of technology involved in there sports, but football has no technology at all, which is something I believe has to change.

Thirty Four Minutes into the match and Emmanuel Osadebe is fouled by Aiden White and this time Referee Darren Bond does award Gillingham a free kick – queue sarcastic cheers from The Gillingham Supporters – Doug Loft and Bradley Dack both stand over the resulting free kick down Gillingham's Right Side of the pitch and Bradley Dack leaves Doug Loft to take this, and Doug Loft's curling free kick was on target but easy for Adam Davies to save, I know what Doug Loft was trying to do with that free kick as Doug Loft was trying to put enough pace and curl on the ball to place the ball into the top left corner of the net, but the power and placement needed to be a lot better then that to beat Adam Davies from that distance.

Two Minutes later and in The Thirty Sixth Minute and Max Ehmer has to make an sensational interception to prevent Adam Hamill's cross from reaching Marley Watkins and Max Ehmer was able to react to the second ball by kicking the ball away from danger, I don't think Max Ehmer is comfortable playing as a ball playing centre back and he does take the least risky of approaches, and we saw prime examples of that in the opening ten minutes as Max Ehmer would kick the ball long down the flanks, but Max Ehmer is an unbelievable defenders defender as Max Ehmer will win the ball in the air, intercept the ball and make crucial blocks – like the block he made against Swindon Town in the first half the previous Saturday – but two minutes later and it was Barnsley's central defender making an crucial interception as Doug Loft whips in an sensational cross, and Kevin Long headers the ball clear as both teams are pushing for a goal before half time, a goal for Barnsley will see the visitor's equalise before the break, but a goal for Gillingham will see The Gills double there advantage and go 2-0 up.

Both teams are going for it before half time, Aidan White tries to cut inside and skip past Aaron Morris but Aaron Morris intercepts the ball at the expense of a corner kick, thankfully Barnsley completely wasted the resulting corner kick as Conor Hourihane's corner kick to the far post is over-hit and goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, and in The Fortieth Minute, Gillingham look to create another good attack down the left side of the pitch as Doug Loft plays Bradley Garmston through on the over-lap, but Bradley Garmston gets crowded out by James Bree who shields the ball out of play for A Barnsley Goal-Kick.

A minute later and Gillingham are pushing for that crucial second goal as Josh Wright – in Barnsley's Half of The Pitch – squares the ball to Doug Loft who hears the “man on” chant and shields the ball from Marley Watkins, and Josh Wright uses the outside of his right foot to play a fantastic pass to Aaron Morris on the right wing, and Aaron Morris's first touch was superb, and with his second touch Aaron Morris whips in an sensational cross which is headed clear by Alfie Mawson and the ball bounces high meaning that Doug Loft is forced to try and header the ball to Bradley Garmston, but James Bree anticipates what Doug Loft is going to do and volleys the ball high and long down the pitch and Josh Wright losses out to Marley Watkins, but Bradley Garmston was slow to anticipate the path of the ball, meaning that Marley Watkins could pass the ball back to Lloyd Isgrove, who plays a first time pass through to Marley Watkins who steps over the ball, and Sam Winnall has the awareness to play the ball through to The Barnsley Midfielder, but Marley Watkins return pass doesn't pick out Sam Winnall, and Stuart Nelson gathers and dives on top of the ball to relieve the pressure building on to Gillingham's Goal.

Tempers do come to a head in The Forty Fourth Minute as Dominic Samuel is pulled back by Sam Long and Josh Brownhill jumps into Bradley Dack when challenging for the loose ball and Rory Donnelly decides to take Adam Hammill out and I was convinced that Rory Donnelly was going to be sent off for the intent rather then the challenge itself, this challenge saw players come to a head and Emmanuel Osadebe acted as peace-keeper as Barnsley's Players were losing there heads, but Barnsley escaping punishment for the two challenges prior to Rory Donnelly's challenge on Adam Hammill was very irritating – I said to Andrew straight away that I would substitute Rory Donnelly at half time now that he has only got away with a yellow card, as I thought that could have been a sending off offence – after all, this is how Doug Loft was sent off against Burton Albion in our only home defeat of the season.

Adam Hammill – who is getting booed by every Gillingham Supporter – has the final meaningful effort on goal before half time, but Adam Hammill blasts his effort well over the crossbar, and that was it, and Gillingham go in at half time winning 1-0 through Dominic Samuel's goal, ironically that goal came against the run of play, but it is the goal that separates both teams at the moment.

HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 1 – 0 BARNSLEY

I wrote down my notes in my notepad and I mentioned Rory Donnelly intercepting the ball and threading the ball through to Dominic Samuel, who showed great composure to roll the ball underneath the advancing Adam Davies to give Gillingham the lead, I wrote down Max Ehmer being an defenders defender because Max Ehmer has won a lot of aerial challenges and made some crucial interceptions – like that interception to prevent Adam Hammill's cross from reaching Marley Watkins.

Stuart Nelson has gathered Marley Watkins attempted pull back to Sam Winnall, saved and gathered Josh Brownhill's effort while Adam Davies has made an simple save to prevent Doug Loft from scoring from a free kick down Gillingham's Right Side of the pitch, neither goalkeeper has been extended into any meaningful saves of note, both teams have created several goal-scoring opportunities, but I cannot think of one top top save that Stuart Nelson or Adam Davies have had to make.

Barnsley's five man midfield off Adam Hammill, Conor Hourihane, Josh Brownhill, Lloyd Isgrove and Marley Watkins is causing Gillingham a lot of problems and this is when the diamond midfield formation has it's disadvantages, especially when we're missing Ryan Jackson at right back, to be fair to Aaron Morris he has done a solid job defensively at right back, but Aaron Morris doesn't have the pace or athleticism to run up and down that right flank in the same-way that Ryan Jackson runs forward or tracks back.

Colin disagreed with my assessment that Rory Donnelly could have been sent off for that challenge on Adam Hammill, speaking about the challenges that went unpunished prior to that challenge from Rory Donnelly, although Colin felt that it was good to see Dominic Samuel back on the score-sheet again, as Dominic Samuel's performances haven't hit the same heights in the last two games, but Barnsley are a threat and they have had there chances, despite the fact that Stuart Nelson hasn't had one meaningful save to make.

I would take Rory Donnelly off for either Luke Norris or George Williams, Gillingham have plenty of attacking options on the bench with Elliott List, Jermaine McGlashan, Luke Norris and George Williams, that Justin Edinburgh can afford to take Rory Donnelly off, I can see Referee Darren Bond sending someone off and I just think it would be risky to keep Rory Donnelly on the pitch.

SECOND HALF:

The Twenty Two Players who started the match came back on to the pitch for the start of The Second Half as neither Justin Edinburgh or Caretaker Managerial Duo Tommy Wright and Paul Heckingbottom made any half time substitutions, personally, I felt that Rory Donnelly would of been substituted as his challenge on Adam Hammill was a reckless one - now Gillingham should of had a free kick prior to that incident - but the challenge from Rory Donnelly could have seen Gillingham down to ten men - Andrew felt that Justin Edinburgh may well wait until the hour mark before substituting Rory Donnelly, as Luke Norris and George Williams may not be fit enough to play for forty five minutes plus additional time.

Barnsley were the team quicker out of the traps as John Egan is forced to concede the first corner kick of the second half just an minute after the re-start, and an dangerous in-swinging cross from Conor Hourihane is headed clear by Max Ehmer - who once again has made an exceptional defensive header - but the pressure still builds from the second phase as Sam Winnall checks the ball back to Marley Watkins, who has whipped in another dangerous cross, John Egan and Sam Long both climb high in a aerial challenge and that aerial collision see’s both players hit the deck and Referee Darren Bond has to stop play as both players require treatment - why Barnsley Supporters were appealing for a penalty we were not sure - but when two players climb up for a aerial challenge and both players are going for the ball, you cannot expect a foul to relieve the pressure on the defending team, or a penalty to be awarded.

Thankfully Sam Long and John Egan were both OK to carry on playing, had John Egan needed to come off then Aaron Morris would move in at centre back and Jake Hessenthaler at right back would be the most likely option that Justin Edinburgh would have available to him, to Adam Chicksen playing at right back was another alternative option - Adedeji Oshilaja should return to Gillingham on a ninety three loan spell very soon, and hopefully Oshilaja does return to Gillingham because we’re very light when it comes to defensive options.

Forty Nine Minutes into the match and Aaron Morris does brilliantly to win the ball off Adam Hammill and shield the ball but Referee Darren Bond infuriates every Gillingham Supporter inside Priestfield Stadium by awarding Barnsley a free kick, the delivery from Conor Hourihane is decent but then so is Max Ehmer’s aerial interception and Emmanuel Osadebe’s clearance actually turns into a decent pass for Dominic Samuel to run on to, but the ball runs through for Adam Davies to pick up, but for some reason, The Barnsley Goalkeeper is outside his penalty area and is forced into a rushed clearance over The Gordon Road Stand, I thought that this was very strange because Adam Davies could of picked the ball up inside his penalty area, but by coming outside his penalty area, Adam Davies puts himself under pressure and his clearance along with his decision making is very unconvincing.

Gillingham created the first clear cut goal-scoring opportunity in The Fifty Third Minute, and had Dominic Samuel doubled Gillingham’s advantage then Gillingham would edge ever closer to picking up another three points at Priestfield Stadium, John Egan plays the ball back to Stuart Nelson, who takes far too long clearing the ball as Sam Winnall is closing down on The Gillingham Goalkeeper, and Stuart Nelson slips and his clearance into the centre of midfield is very unconvincing, and Alfie Mawson wins the ball ahead of Doug Loft in the centre of midfield, but Alfie Mawson’s pass is picked up by John Egan, who passes the ball forward into Emmanuel Osadebe’s path before Marley Watkins can make an challenge.

Emmanuel Osadebe shields the ball from Lloyd Isgrove and plays the ball back to Aaron Morris, who plays a clipped ball down the line which is headed clear by Sam Long and Adam Hammill helps the ball on to Sam Winnall, but once again John Egan is in the right position to get to the ball first, it is just a real shame that John Egan’s clearance down the line goes out of play for A Barnsley Throw On.

But it is from this resulting throw on that Gillingham create the first goal-scoring opportunity of the first half, as Lloyd Isgrove’s long throw down the line is won in the air by Josh Wright and Emmanuel Osadebe is quick to react to the second ball, and Emmanuel Osadebe threads the ball through to Bradley Dack who lets the ball run through his legs to Dominic Samuel, but Josh Brownhill slides in to make an crucial interception, but that interception from Josh Brownhill plays the ball into Rory Donnelly’s path and Rory Donnelly threads the ball through to Bradley Dack on the right side of Barnsley’s Penalty Area, and Bradley Dack cuts the ball back inside to Dominic Samuel, and Dominic Samuel’s first time effort on goal goes wide of Adam Davies’s left hand post - a very good move from The Gills and if only that effort had hit the back of the net.

Three Minutes later and Bradley Garmston is back on his feat after a strong challenge on Conor Hourihane and Bradley Garmston is moving very awkwardly, and I am hoping that Bradley Garmston hasn’t suffered an re-occurrence of the hamstring injury he picked up in our 2-1 win against Peterborough United, Adam Chicksen is on the bench if Justin Edinburgh needs to make a like for like substitution, but with Aaron Morris at right back and Adam Chicksen at left back, we cannot expect either player to bomb forward and track back with the same levels of pace and athleticism that Ryan Jackson and Bradley Garmston have got.

Fifty Nine Minutes into the match and Gillingham have a great chance to make the score-line 2-0, Bradley Garmston plays the ball through to Rory Donnelly, who plays the ball down the line to Doug Loft, who has made an excellent third man run, Doug Loft attempts to back-heal the ball to Rory Donnelly, but Doug Loft’s attempted back-heal is blocked, but Doug Loft is quick to react to get to the second ball first and cutting inside, Doug Loft is urged to shoot from everyone in The Rainham End, but Doug Loft tee’s up Rory Donnelly, and Rory Donnelly fails to hit the target with a long range effort from distance - it hasn’t been Rory Donnelly’s day, and with that yellow card he picked up in the first half, I think that Justin Edinburgh must be considering substituting Rory Donnelly, as Luke Norris, Elliott List and George Williams are all attacking options that are available on the bench.

Before the goal-kick can be taken by Adam Davies, Barnsley make a double substitution as Josh Scowen and Ashley Fletcher replace Josh Brownhill and Lloyd Isgrove in what is a move by Tommy Wright and Paul Heckingbottom to get Barnsley back into the match, From the resulting goal-kick, Adam Davies’s long kick down-field is headed clear by John Egan and James Bree and Josh Scowen winning the next two aerial challenges and Marley Watkins kicks the ball off Emmanuel Osadebe, and that ricochet takes the ball out of play for A Barnsley Throw On deep in Gillingham’s Final Third down the right side of the pitch, Aidan White’s throw on is thrown short to Adam Hammill, who works his way into an decent crossing position and Adam Hammill’s in-swinging cross is headed clear by Max Ehmer - who once again has anticipated where the ball is going to be and is in the right place at the right time - unfortunately Gillingham switch off from the resulting throw on as Aidan White throws the ball to Conor Hourihane on the right side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Conor Hourihane’s first time shot is fired across the face of goal and into the bottom right corner of the net and there is nothing Stuart Nelson can do about that, but the defending from Gillingham was dreadful and prior to that equaliser, Gillingham had there chances to make the score-line 2-0 - now Gillingham have been pegged back in a match The Gills really have to win.

But having been pegged back to 1-1, Gillingham went down the other end and re-took the lead a minute later, Bradley Dack plays the ball back to John Egan from the re-start and John Egan kicks the ball out-wide to Rory Donnelly, who manages to header the ball to keep the ball in play, but Marley Watkins cushioned header picks out Josh Scowen, who retains possession of the ball nicely for Barnsley and Josh Scowen squares the ball to Aidan White, who is being closed down by Emmanuel Osadebe and Aidan White plays the ball out-wide to Adam Hammill, who tries to play the ball through to Aidan White, who makes an under-lapping run inside, but John Egan is alert to the danger and gets to the ball first and knocks the ball long down-field, and Dominic Samuel headers the ball on into Bradley Dack’s path, and Bradley Dack needs a few touches to control the ball before threading through a first time pass to Rory Donnelly on the right side of Barnsley’s Penalty Area.

And Rory Donnelly’s shot across the face of goal is parried by Adam Davies straight into Bradley Dack’s path and Bradley Dack puts the re-bound into the back of the net to give Gillingham the lead less then an minute after conceding the equaliser, shocking goalkeeping from Adam Davies because The Barnsley Goalkeeper either has to divert that effort from Rory Donnelly away from goal or held on to the shot, because it wasn’t the cleanest of strikes from Rory Donnelly, but there is Bradley Dack to anticipate the re-bound, and that goal is precisely what Gillingham needed.

After that goal had been scored, Justin Edinburgh is forced to make his first substitution of the match as Bradley Garmston cannot run off the challenge he made on Conor Hourihane and Adam Chicksen comes on to play for the final thirty minutes, not ideal to see Bradley Garmston substituted and I really do hope that substitution is to ear on the side of caution and nothing serious, with Adam Chicksen being more of a defenders defender, hopefully Adam Chicksen can help Gillingham see out the rest of this match and earn an valuable win.

Sixty Six Minutes into the match and Ashley Fletcher follows through on Max Ehmer with an very late and very dangerous challenge which infuriated every Gillingham Supporter inside Priestfield Stadium, Justin Edinburgh was furious with Referee that Ashley Fletcher escaped any retrospective punishment from Referee Darren Bond, because The Barnsley Midfielder should have been shown a yellow card, thankfully Max Ehmer was back on his feat, however Emmanuel Osadebe required some treatment as the young midfielder was starting to feel cramp in the back of his hamstring, thankfully Emmanuel Osadebe was OK to continue playing, but I think that Justin Edinburgh should consider bringing on Jake Hessenthaler to freshen things up in midfield, and Jake Hessenthaler is much better defensively then Emmanuel Osadebe and Gillingham need to see the rest of this match out.

And having re-taken the lead in The Sixty Third Minute, Gillingham could of established an two goal lead five minutes later in The Sixty Eighth Minute, Alfie Dawson's long kick down-field see's John Egan win the aerial challenge up against Sam Winnall, as both players challenge for a high bouncing ball and Aaron Morris is quick to react to the second ball ahead of Adam Hammill and kick the ball high into the air and Emmanuel Osadebe wins the aerial challenge ahead of Josh Scowen in the middle of midfield, Emmanuel Osadebe was fouled by The Barnsley Midfielder, but Darren Bond waves play on as Josh Wright has possession of the ball and Josh Wright threads the ball out-wide to Rory Donnelly on the left wing and Rory Donnelly threads the ball through to Doug Loft on the left wing – as Doug Loft has made an very effective third man run – and Doug Loft's low cross picks out Dominic Samuel, but Dominic Samuel is unable to add to the goal he scored in the first half, as Dominic Samuel mis-kicks the ball and Barnsley are able to clear there lines.

A brief stoppage in play allows both teams to take a breather, players can take on vital fluids and Justin Edinburgh can relay further instructions to his players, and likewise Tommy Wright and Paul Heckingbottom can do the same-thing for Barnsley's players – big twenty plus minutes here for both Gillingham and Barnsley – and looking across to the substitutes bench, I felt that either Jake Hessenthaler on for Emmanuel Osadebe, or Luke Norris on for Rory Donnelly would be my choices for Gillingham's second substitute, I couldn't see Justin Edinburgh doing an double substitution, just in-case someone was to pick up an injury late on in the match.

Barnsley are pressing for the equaliser and the visitors created an very good goal-scoring opportunity in The Seventy Third Minute, Barnsley are looking very strong in the wide area's as Adam Hammill and Conor Hourihane double up down the left side of the pitch as Conor Hourihane threads the ball down the line to Adam Hammill, and The Barnsley Winger checks the ball back Conor Hourihane, and Conor Hourihane's dangerous in-swinging cross is headed partially clear by Max Ehmer, but only as far to Ashley Fletcher, who's first time volley flashes wide of Stuart Nelson's right hand post and fails to hit the target, and a minute later Gillingham concede a terrible corner kick as Adam Chicksen's horrendous back pass to Stuart Nelson is over-hit from the halfway line and Stuart Nelson is unable to prevent Barnsley from winning a very cheap corner kick – if Barnsley score an equaliser from this then I am going to be furious – thankfully the cheap corner wasn't captialised on as Stuart Nelson is able to gather Conor Hourihane's high and hanging corner kick and that catch from Stuart Nelson relieved a lot of pressure building up on to our goal.

But what really impressed the most was what Stuart Nelson did next, an over-arm throw out to Dominic Samuel who is the only Gillingham Player not to track back for the resulting corner kick and Dominic Samuel passes the ball back to Josh Wright, who switches the play to Doug Loft on the left, Doug Loft does extremely well to retain possession of the ball and a fortuitous ricochet see's Doug Loft maintain possession when he should of lost out to James Bree, and Doug Loft whips in an dangerous cross which is driven into the heart of Barnsley's Penalty Area and neither Dominic Samuel or Rory Donnelly can get a telling touch to divert the ball goal-wards.

Adam Chicksen hasn't impressed in this latest substitute appearance, if that was Bradley Garmston in that same scenario then Bradley Garmston would try to beat his man on the outside and use his pace go past a player, Adam Chicksen isn't slow by any means, he just hasn't got the same levels of athleticism that Bradley Garmston and Ryan Jackson have got in abundance.

But having given away a cheap corner in The Seventy Fourth Minute, Adam Chicksen more then makes up for it four minutes later with an goal saving interception, Barnsley are clearly targeting Gillingham's right side as Emmanuel Osadebe is suffering with cramp and fatigue and Aaron Morris isn't a natural right back and Adam Hammill and Conor Hourihane again combine nicely for the visitor's, and instead of checking the ball back from Conor Hourihane's pass, Adam Hammill's cross from the byline is superb and Sam Winnall's header should have seen Barnsley level the game up at 2-2, but Adam Chicksen manages to make a goal saving interception, and Barnsley only have a corner kick when I thought they had equalised.

Conor Hourihane's in-swinging cross from the resulting corner kick is headed clear and away from danger by Max Ehmer, who has made countless aerial interceptions throughout the entire match and Josh Wright reacts to the second ball first to kick the ball further down field and further away from Gillingham's Goal, The Attendance at Priestfield Stadium was announced as 5,887 – with 380 from Barnsley – the poor weather conditions and the fact it is Gillingham Verses Barnsley isn't going to attract the casual or floating supporter to Priestfield Stadium, with League One being a very northern league this season, we're not going to get high attendances for home games this season.

A Minute later and Referee Darren Bond over-ruled his own linesman and awarded Gillingham a throw on on the halfway line, and in The Eighty Sixth Minute, Barnsley make there third and final substitute as Otis Khan is on for Marley Watkins, and Gillingham make there second substitution of the match as Jermaine McGlashan comes on for Emmanuel Osadebe as Emmanuel Osadebe's race is run, and the young midfielder is unable to continue having made his first starting appearance since the 2-0 win against Rochdale on The Twenty Fourth of November.

It doesn't look like that George Williams is going to make his debut for Gillingham having signed for Gillingham on a youth loan until the end of the season from Fulham the day before, I thought at the very least we would have seen George Williams play for fifteen to twenty minutes for Gillingham against Barnsley, maybe if the score-line was more comfortable and the match was won with twenty minutes remaining then George Williams would of got on and made an late substitute appearance, but Justin Edinburgh is going to keep that third substitute spare, just in-case someone were to pick up an injury.

Two Minutes later and in The Eighty Eighth Minute and John Egan does exceptionally well to intercept the ball from Adam Hammill, as Barnsley looked to catch Gillingham out on the counter attack but John Egan's interception prevents Gillingham being counted on, however, all that interception does is deny Barnsley a clear cut goal-scoring opportunity as the visitor's were still able to get a shot off on goal as Barnsley take up the shoot on sight policy, which almost pays off for them as Adam Hammill's drilled effort from distance is deflected just wide by Bradley Dack, and that deflection was needed, as I thought that Adam Hammill's shot was going to find it's way into the bottom right corner of the net.

Gillingham are so deep that we're just inviting pressure on to our own goal, we're basically saying to Barnsley – come on then, have a shot – and that is precisely what Barnsley are doing, thankfully the delivery from Conor Hourihane from the resulting corner kick is high, over-hit and goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, and while the ball is out of play, The Gillingham's Sponsor's Man Of The Match Award is awarded to Josh Wright, who has put in an exceptional performance in the middle of midfield, Josh Wright plays a pivotal role in-front of Gillingham's Back Four with well timed interceptions and his reading of the game is exceptional, I am glad that Justin Edinburgh has finally realised that Josh Wright has to play the entire ninety minutes, because substituting Josh Wright against Doncaster Rovers and Wigan Athletic has cost Gillingham five points.

The pressure is still building on to Gillingham's Goal as Josh Wright is penalised for his foul on Adam Hammill and Josh Wright concedes this free kick right on the very edge of Gillingham's Penalty Area and it must have been very close to the eighteen yard line, Conor Hourihane steps up to take the resulting free kick and Conor Hourihane's free kick is driven into the wall and the follow up effort from Aidan White is dragged wide of Stuart Nelson's left hand post.

There was a gasp in the air when five additional minutes of added time were added by The Fourth Official, five subs equals two and a half minutes, two goals you can another minute, so I could understand four minutes being shown, five felt excessive in my opinion, but with Gillingham defending so deep we're just inviting pressure on to our own goal, if we can just push the team ten yards higher up the pitch then that would help a lot.

Gillingham do finally press further forward as I chant “No Foul, No Foul” to Dominic Samuel as Dominic Samuel closes James Bree down with some brilliant centre forward play, looking at the bench, and while I realise that an additional substitute would add more additional time on top of the five minutes of added time, Luke Norris for Rory Donnelly would be my substitute, just so that Gillingham can stick the ball up top, and we can protect Rory Donnelly from being sent off, what I thought was very strange was that Barnsley haven't had one player booked and Ashley Fletcher's challenge was very reckless on Max Ehmer, and I did think that Barnsley went to the floor a bit too easily.

Ninety Three Minutes into the match and Conor Hourihane again tries his luck from distance and Max Ehmer on the stretch was able to deflect the ball wide of Stuart Nelson's left hand post, the resulting corner kick from Conor Hourihane is headed clear by John Egan and Alfie Mawson has possession of the ball on the halfway line, but pressure and preservence from Jermaine McGlashan forces Alfie Mawson to pass the ball back to Adam Davies, and The Barnsley Goalkeeper has plenty of time and space to knock the ball long and Ashley Fletcher flicks the ball on and Adam Chicksen takes no chances and headers the ball out of play for a throw on.

From the resulting throw on Barnsley could of equalised as James Bree throws the ball centrally to Josh Scowen, and The Barnsley Midfielder has far too much time and space on the ball to whip in a high and hanging cross towards Sam Winnall and Stuart Nelson's punch takes the ball away from The Barnsley Striker and Josh Wright is in the right place to kick the ball clear and away from danger, but the danger isn't away completely as Barnsley create one more goal-scoring opportunity from the resulting throw on as Adam Hammill throws the ball back to Conor Hourihane, who whips in another dangerous cross and again Gillingham are not putting any pressure on the ball, and Josh Scowen's header towards goal from the edge of the penalty area fails to hit the target – although it has to be an sensational header from Josh Scowen to beat Stuart Nelson from that distance.

And after five minutes of stoppage time, Gillingham managed to held out for a crucial 2-1 win against Barnsley and those three points are massive, especially as Walsall drew 1-1 away at Crewe Alexandra and Wigan Athletic drew 0-0 at home to Oldham Athletic, those results combined with Gillingham winning means that Gillingham now move back into the second automatic promotion spot.

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 2 – 1 BARNSLEY

Gillingham really do make hard work of it, that's what I said to Andrew, Sharon, Lisa, Bekah and Kasey, Gillingham cannot go 2-3 – 0 up and held on to a clean sheet and win the match comfortably or convincingly, but we're also at the stage of the season where points and not performances really matter, so if Gillingham can continue to win 2-1 between now and the end of the season then I will be really happy with that.

I made sure I had everything on me and Colin came up to me and said that we can be happy with that as Barnsley are a bogey team and they were in fantastic form prior to kick off and this was a massive test that Gillingham have passed with flying colours, I mentioned to Colin that I had brought my ticket for Oldham Athletic Away and I mentioned that the ticket office will be open after the match, Colin went to buy his ticket for Oldham Athletic, as there may well be a price increase for on the day prices.

I spoke with Diane after the game, but she couldn't hang around for as Ethan wanted to go, but Diane mentioned that she would message me on Facebook about which coach she was going to book on as The Supporters Coach and Kings Ferry were both travelling to Oldham Athletic on Saturday and we needed to check the costs and what time both coaches were leaving from Woodlands Road and Priestfield Stadium respectively, unfortunately we had to accept that we cannot hang around the team coach at Oldham Athletic and that's one of the many advantages about travelling via car.

Diane took Ethan home while I waited to speak with Gary and I mentioned to Gary that you must of lost count of the number of points that Gillingham have won from drawing or losing positions, as once again Gillingham get pegged back to 1-1 and we imminently go down the other end and score, and against Peterborough United, Gillingham were losing 1-0 and we managed to win that game 2-1.

Everyone in NoirCat put this match down as a win – I know I did – so a lot of people will pick up points this weekend, and Gary jokingly said that Gillingham won as Stephen didn't turn up this week, Gary felt that there will be plenty of twists and turns before the end of the season, but our home form going back until the end of the 2014 / 2015 season and throughout the entire 2015 / 2016 season has been exceptional, one defeat and that was against Burton Albion, and although we lost against Yeovil Town on penalties, a penalty shoot-out is a lottery and I consider that match as a draw and not a defeat.

We spoke about Emmanuel Osadebe's substitution late on through a combination of fatigue and cramp, and the lack of reserve games or any confirmation of reserve matches taking place is very concerning, Gary mentioned that we only knew that Gillingham were playing against AFC Bournemouth because Bournemouth uploaded there Twitter Feed, I used to watch the reserves play at Priestfield Stadium on Wednesday Afternoon's with a 2PM Kick Off, it appears that Development Squad's are much more popular now, as there is no restriction on the number of substitutes, and you don't have to play Development Squad Matches at your own stadium.

I mentioned that I was going to Oldham Athletic the following Saturday and that it is always freezing at Boundary Park, Gary isn't going to that game, but he said that he will see me in two weeks time for The Chesterfield Game, Gary had to make a move so I said “C Ya in two weeks” I made my way to Gillingham Train Station and made it in time for The 17.40 train, I saw DaveyD on the opposite platform as I was on Platform Three, I would of called over, but DaveyD was speaking to a few Barnsley Supporters, after getting on The 17.40 Train, I rang home and Mum wanted A Fish-Cake and Chips and Sunderland had won against Manchester United so Dad and Stewart were not going to be happy.

After arriving in Rainham Train Station at 17.45, I got off the train and went to George's Plaice to get me and mum's dinner, I brought A Small Portion Of Chips with one Fish-Cake, and Two Jumbo Plain Sausages with a small portion of chips for myself, the chip shop was packed as quite a few people had the same idea as me – buy dinner from the chip shop – after paying £8 for both meals, I got A Taxi from Station Road to my house and I paid my £5 Cab Fare and I was back indoors and back in the warm, all the results went for Gillingham, but most importantly Gillingham picked up all three points against Barnsley, the same result against Oldham Athletic again this weekend will do nicely.

[fan-of-mulligan]

FOM BLOG: DONCASTER ROVERS 2 - 2 GILLINGHAM

I left My House at 7.45AM and I made sure I had the following things on me,,,(Money, Keys, My Samsung Galaxy S2, Spare Battery, My Fleece-Jacket, Spare Lids, Match Day Programme’s, Kent Messenger, Lynx, 500ML Bottle of Coca Cola, My Gillingham Bag with Pads and Pens, My Gillingham Scarf, Gloves, The Living On A Volcano Book, And A Packet Of Polo’s), after double checking I had everything on me, (including Diane’s Christmas Present) I walked from my house to The Cricketers Car Park and I arrived just before 8AM, and I gave Diane her Christmas Present and we were on our way to Doncaster Rovers.

Hard to believe that it is two weeks since our last Gillingham Match, which was The 3-0 win against Bradford City, as neither of us went to Wigan Athletic on The Thursday Night, Diane struggled to watch the game as the stream Diane was watching the game on had a lot of adverts which cut across the screen, I mentioned that I had paid for NOW TV and after initially struggling to set NOW TV up, I got it up and running and I was able to watch The Wigan Athletic Match with no problems.

Rob couldn’t make it to Doncaster Rovers and Diane asked Gemma, who didn’t want to go once Gemma found out how far it is to get to Doncaster Rovers, We have noticed that not many supporters hang around the players entrance for home and away matches or speak to the players, for home matches I am normally back home at 6.30PM and I have found out useful pieces of information by hanging around outside the ground, Diane managed to get her car fixed the day before and wear and tear are usually the main problems, Clutch and worn out tires probably being the main two and the break pads need changing being the third, but journey’s like Doncaster Rovers away really do add on the mileage.

But looking at the away matches remaining this season, Blackpool, Oldham Athletic, Fleetwood Town, Scunthorpe United, Southend United, Bury, Sheffield United, Rochdale and Burton Albion, the vast majority of these matches are going to be games we’re traveling to via coach, why Southend United isn’t on A Tuesday Night I have no idea, Blackpool is a ground I haven’t been to before and I know quite a few fans might try and make a weekend out of The Blackpool Game, but I am not sure if many places are going to be open in January, like Blackpool Pleasure Beech for example, ideally you want two drivers and 3-4 people in a car for the away games, but some fans travel via train, or go on coach, or live locally in the area, as we do have a few exile Gillingham Supporters, and some supporters don’t like traveling to away games either, and it has proven difficult in the past to get fans to travel with us via car.

Both The Supporters Coach and Kings Ferry were leaving at 9AM, by 9AM we were already through Dartford Crossing and on our way to Doncaster Rovers, leaving early allows for additional time for traffic problems, and also you can get something to eat and drink not inside the football stadium and we can see the players as well, and we hadn’t seen the players at a away game since The 1-0 away win against Crewe Alexandra back in October, so it had been a long time since we last seen the players away from home.

We stopped off at Watford Gap Services as Diane wanted to get something to drink at 10AM, I waited in the car as we didn’t stop off for very long and I already had a drink on me, once back on the road again, The Sat Nav decided to play up and took us off The M1 and we took ten minutes to get back on The M1 Again and carried on with our journey towards YorkShire.

Diane asked me what was the parking like around the ground and I checked Football Ground Guide on Diane’s Phone and there was plenty of parking places and parking costs £5 at the ground, there is also A LakeSide near by which should have plenty of food and drink outlets on sight, alternatively we could look around for places to eat and drink if there was nothing at LakeSide, Doncaster Rovers have got Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds United, Rotherham United, Bradford City, Huddersfield Town, Hull City and York City all on there doorstep and there are a cluster of clubs within a touching distance of Doncaster Rovers, five of the clubs I have mentioned are in The Championship, and obviously Doncaster Rovers want to get back up into The Second Tier as there would be ten local derby games a season.

As I mentioned that The Keepmoat Stadium is a new stadium, Diane was wondering if I knew anything regarding Mill Hill and I know that Gillingham are in possession of the land, but building a new stadium is going to require investment and the money from selling Priestfield Stadium would only partially pay for the new stadium, so someone is going to need to come in and be prepared to pay a additional ten to twenty million, what will be crucial for that new stadium is a new train station for The Mill Hill Site, because if the new stadium has it’s own train station, then a lot of supporters can travel to the ground via train, and road and rail links are essential, I think a stadium like MK Dons Ground is clearly the type of stadium that Paul Scally would want to build for Gillingham, a 30,000 stadium with good parking facilities and businesses built around the stadium.

Diane mentioned that there has been so much talk about a new stadium, and not just under Paul Scally’s stewardship as Gillingham Chairman, but back in The 1970’s and 1980’s, and you do wonder if a new stadium is ever going to happen now, as Gillingham have maxed out all the resources at Priestfield Stadium and a new ground with all the potential income streams and larger attendances is badly needed, the argument against a new stadium is that we fail to fill Priestfield Stadium now, but parking is so bad at Priestfield Stadium, and a new stadium isn’t so much about the attendances, but more about the off the field income, Brighton & Hove Albion, Cardiff City, Swansea City, Hull City and Reading have all raised there own profiles moving to a new stadium, with the large catchment area of Kent, then Gillingham can do the same.

Championship Football Next Season will have it’s own problems as well as the excitement of being in The Second Tier, we would need to heavily invest in the playing squad to give Gillingham the best chance to avoid relegation, what happens to Justin Edinburgh if we’re struggling as Steve Cotterill was sacked after winning The League One Title and The Football League Trophy with Bristol City last season, and also expensive ticket prices, Sheffield Wednesday charge as high as £52 for a adult ticket, QPR charge £37 for a adult ticket, most away games in League One usually cost between £20 and £25 pounds - except Millwall and Peterborough United who charged £26 and £28 pounds respectively, paying £25 for League One Football is going to look cheap compared to £50 in The Championship, so will Gillingham follow suit and dramatically increase ticket prices, and will Season Ticket Prices increase with promotion as well ???

And while the cost of achieving promotion is concerning, promotion is our best possible shot of hanging on to Bradley Dack and John Egan, both players have been exceptional for Gillingham over the past two season’s and Bradley Dack is getting all the praise and plaudits he truly deserves, but John Egan has been class for Gillingham in the heart of our defence, and that effort from thirty five yards against Colchester United which crashed against the top of the crossbar would of been goal of the season had that gone in, failure to go up will not only see these two leave, but look at what happened to Leyton Orient last season and Swindon Town this season, failure to go up does not necessarily mean your going to challenge for promotion the following season.

We arrived in Doncaster Rovers at 12.10PM and there were plenty of food outlets at LakeSide, so we stopped off in McDonalds to get something to eat and drink, I brought Nine Chicken Nuggets, Fries and A Large Coke for just over A Fiver, Diane brought A Coffee, A Chicken Fillet and Fries, we could see Doncaster Rovers Stadium from The McDonalds Car Park and we had plenty of time to spare, on the way in McDonalds wasn’t packed, but once we had finished eating it was starting to get busy, Saturday Afternoon and A Match Day so that isn’t surprising.

We made the short drive to The Keepmoat Stadium and we had to park in Car Park Three, I made sure I had everything I wanted on me, including My Gloves as it was freezing despite the sun being out, there were a few kids playing on the pitch which looked liked Doncaster Rovers reserve stadium as there was a small stand and athletics track around the pitch, it looked liked an under eleven’s game and there is no way the under eleven’s will be playing in a full sized goal, a full sized goal is eight foot high and eight yards wide, there were smaller goals being used as well as the main goal, I wonder if Gillingham were to do the same-thing if we were to build a new stadium and build a small pitch which can be used for reserve and youth team matches alongside the main stadium ???

We went into the club shop to buy our Match Day Programme’s for £3 and Diane mentioned that Doncaster Rovers Programme was very small, I tried to find The FanZine Seller as Doncaster Rovers are one of the few clubs to still sell a FanZine, I eventually found out from Three Doncaster Rovers Supporters that the person who runs The FanZine tends to do one every two to three months, Now Gillingham used to have A FanZine called The Brian’s Moore Head, and when The FanZine moved online, I did write an article for them, The Internet has killed FanZine’s, but many clubs still print them, but maybe not as regularly as they used too.

What was disappointing was how there was a barrier set up by The Team Coach and we couldn’t get close or interact with the players at Doncaster Rovers like we could at Crewe Alexandra, Bradford City and Rochdale, Peterborough United away was terrible last season, there were nine stewards setting up barriers and there were ten Gillingham Supporters and Stuart Nelson’s Mum by the team coach, and Gillingham had won 2-1 at London Road, some of these stewards just do not understand what it means to be A Football Supporter and the players made a mockery of the barriers by coming round the other side to speak to us on that occasion, I understand that people collect players autographs from opposition teams, but we couldn’t get close to our own players, Diane felt we would be better off speaking to the players after the game, and we also spoke to Malcolm Steadman for ten minutes before he had to go in and get the kit prepared for the up and coming game.

Eventually we found where The Ticket Booth was and I paid £23 for My Adult Ticket and we had just heard that the match was going to be delayed for thirty minutes as there was a power cut and I would connect a pedal bike to a power generator and pedal for ninety minutes to get the game on, Doncaster Rovers will also want the game on as they will have had to pay for Gillingham’s Travel Costs, our coach drivers driving hours and Doncaster Rovers will not want to pay those costs twice, Gillingham will have had to do the same for Doncaster Rovers in the reverse fixture.

Matt caught up with us and mentioned that Bradley Dack was going to Hull City and said there was a photo on Twitter, I had seen that photo and the person in the photo doesn’t even resemble Bradley Dack, I told Matt to be careful of those Transfer Profile Pages on Twitter as there transfer speculation is pure nonsense, I proved this a year a go when Me, Adam, Diane and Rob all tweeted The John Askey to Gillingham Rumour, in-fact here is the exact rumour I posted at the time - https://twitter.com/FOM_BLOG/status/551424707829182465 - Macclesfield Town Supporters were speaking about this rumour on there message-board, but the best bit about that rumour was that John Askey to be appointed as The Next Gillingham Manager appeared on The SKYBet Website at 50/1, that proves how unreliable SKYBet and Twitter can be at times.

The Match was back on at 3PM again and we were allowed inside the ground, I brought two 500ML Bottle’s of Coca Cola inside the ground for £4.40 - and they didn’t take the tops off the drinks, Doncaster Rovers had moved Gillingham Supporters from behind the goal into the far corner - which is where we sat last season - I decided that we should sit high enough to have a decent view of the pitch, but closer to the segregation dived so that we didn’t have the crossbar at eye level.

Eventually I saw Gillingham’s Team News on Twitter and Gillingham Lined Up As Follows,,,,,,, Stuart Nelson, Ryan Jackson, John Egan, Max Ehmer, Bradley Garmston, Josh Wright, Jake Hessenthaler, Aaron Morris, Bradley Dack, Rory Donnelly, Dominic Samuel SUBS: Glenn Morris, Brennan Dickenson, Doug Loft, Emmanuel Osadebe, Jermaine McGlashan, Elliott List and Luke Norris - The Eighteen Man Match Day Squad really does pick itself at the moment as Ben Williamson has signed for Cambridge United on a permanent deal and the squad looks really light in several positions on the pitch and I am expecting Justin Edinburgh to be active in the transfer market with four half season loan deals until the end of the season, and 1-2 players may well need to be loaned out to finance these loan deals as well, I personally think that Gillingham will re-sign Adedeji Oshilaja, one defensive midfielder, one forward thinking central midfielder and a target-man, there is also the possibility of Harry Lennon coming back should Jose Riga look to bring in his own players at Charlton Athletic.

Danial joined us and the first thing we spoke about was no pre-match music, no team announcement over The PA System, although the score-board in the far corner was working and the pre-match build up felt a bit different then usual, Danial added that The Supporters Coach left at 9AM and they stopped off at Peterborough Services before making there way to the ground and this was a stadium that Danial wanted to tick off.

Diane was surprised with the poor turnout from the home support, but with Sheffield Wednesday, Hull City, Huddersfield Town, Rotherham United and Leeds United in The Championship and Barnsley, Bradford City and Sheffield United in League One, there are a lot of clubs in YorkShire standing on each other’s toes, and Doncaster Rovers V Gillingham probably isn’t a match that will pull in the casual supporter.

Both Teams were out of the tunnel in time for kick off, no PA Announcement, no music as both teams came out of the tunnel, and will we see the old cards used for substitutions where cards are held up for the player coming off and for the player coming on ??? compared to the electronic substitution board ??? - hopefully the match doesn’t get abandoned halfway through and this match reaches it’s full conclusion.

FIRST HALF

Doncaster Rovers were kicking towards The Empty Corsan North Stand, with Gillingham kicking towards The Polypipe Stand, Gillingham Supporters were allocated in the far corner between The Corsan North Stand and The Main Stand, the low sun also meant the one hand salute to ensure that we can see what is going on, on the football pitch.

Gillingham made a dreadful start to the match as defensive error’s prove to be costly early on, Stuart Nelson had to dive on a loose ball on the right side of his penalty area, and moments later Cedric Evina breaks down the left wing for Doncaster Rovers and why Max Ehmer backs off and doesn’t stay toe to toe with Cedric Evina I have no idea, and had The Doncaster Rovers Left Back picked out a better cross, then Andy Williams would of been one on one with Stuart Nelson, and with the form that the Doncaster Rovers Striker is in at the moment, then he would of scored had Cedric Evina picked him out.

Ryan Jackson and Bradley Garmston are too high and too far forward, the quick turnover in possession of the ball see’s the opposition break and get down the sides very easily, especially as Doncaster Rovers are playing with Curtis Main behind Andy Williams with James Coppinger and Conor Grant on the wings, Cedric Evina is a very pacey left back, and Doncaster Rovers are going to have numbers in the wide area’s, and early on Me and Danial can tell that Bradley Garmston needs help, and Jake Hessenthaler and Max Ehmer are going to need to do a lot of covering for the young left back.

Seven Minutes into the match and Cedric Evina and Conor Grant combine down the left flank for the hosts and Ryan Jackson does extremely well to go toe to toe with The Doncaster Rovers Left Back and Cedric Evina’s cross is blocked by Ryan Jackson and Doncaster Rovers win the first corner kick off the match, Conor Grant plays the ball short to James Coppinger from the resulting corner kick, and James Coppinger eventually losses out to Bradley Dack and Aaron Morris as both midfielders double up on the experienced midfielder who has played over 430 times for Doncaster Rovers, and Bradley Dack immediately gets the ball forward to Dominic Samuel, but Paul Keegan manage’s to intercept the ball and looks to play the ball through to Curtis Main straight away, but Josh Wright intercepts the ball and neither team have created a noteworthy goal-scoring opportunity, Doncaster Rovers wasted the corner kick, and Gillingham failed to make the most of that counter attack.

Doncaster Rovers look a real threat down the right with Conor Grant and Cedric Evina whipping in one decent cross a piece and Max Ehmer and John Egan have won the initial headers, but Curtis Main and Paul Keegan are getting on the end of the second balls and it is taking Gillingham two, three attempts to finally get the ball clear, but at least we’re getting the ball clear and preventing Doncaster Rovers from taking the lead, but eventually one of those second ball’s will eventually fall to the feat of A Doncaster Rovers Player and they are going to smash the ball into the back of the net, and that is something I am very concerned about.

But ten minutes into the match and Gillingham do take the lead, Ryan Jackson takes a throw on down the right side of the pitch deep in Doncaster Rovers half of the pitch, and Ryan Jackson’s long throw is flicked on by John Egan, and Luke McCullough wins the initial header but it is a header with more height then distance, Aaron Morris’s first touch inside Doncaster Rovers Penalty Area is superb and Aaron Morris plays the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson, who has whipped in a sensational cross and there is Rory Donnelly at the far post to hit a sensational first time finish and there is nothing that Thorsten Stuckmann can do about that and Gillingham take the lead at The Keepmoat Stadium - a great goal by Rory Donnelly, and what makes the goal is Rory Donnelly’s movement, as Rory Donnelly peals away from Craig Alcock so that Rory Donnelly has the time to watch the ball and hit a sensational volley.

That is three in three for Rory Donnelly and his ninth goal of the season, and after those six goals in four matches, Rory Donnelly does seem to go on a goal-scoring run and he just needs the first goal to light a match and then Rory starts scoring goals for fun, I rate Rory Donnelly very highly and I always thought that Rory Donnelly would start this season slowly having played Development Squad Football for the past few season’s at Swansea City, but once Rory Donnelly got a run of games and got used to playing competitive first team football, then he was going to be a decent player for Gillingham and nine goals, with nineteen matches remaining after this game is a decent goal tally.

That goal from The Gills was the perfect response, because Doncaster Rovers have given Gillingham a few nervy moments at the start of this match and Darren Ferguson has done an excellent job since his arrival, taking Doncaster Rovers from battling against relegation up to the lofty heights of twelfth position in League One, a few Gillingham Supporters started singing - We’re Gillingham FC, we’re top of the league - after the last result against Wigan Athletic, the only time I am going to sing that chant is when Gillingham are 1-0 up after the full time whistle has been blown.

Doncaster Rovers had a chance to equalise in The Thirteenth Minute as Thorsten Stuckmann plays a short ball out from the back to Andy Butler, who has plenty of time and space on the ball before hitting a cross-field pass to Craig Alcock, who chests the ball down and plays the ball forward to Curtis Main, and The Doncaster Rovers Attacking Midfielder holds the ball up and James Coppinger and Craig Alcock had both made over-lapping runs, and James Coppinger’s cross from our left side of the pitch was poor and goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, once again Bradley Garmston gets caught too high up the pitch and Gillingham are struggling in wide area’s.

And a minute later Doncaster Rovers created a even better goal-scoring opportunity, again Doncaster Rovers look a threat in wide area’s and this time it is Ryan Jackson who us struggling to cope with Cedric Evina and Conor Grant, the two combine nicely down Doncaster Rovers Left Flank and Cedric Evina has whipped in a sensational cross into the corridor of uncertainty - which is low across the six yard box - and Max Ehmer had to improvise to clear the ball up into the air and Aaron Morris wins the second header and Bradley Dack doesn’t mess about and hoof’s the ball clear into Doncaster Rovers half - eventually Doncaster Rovers are going to score one of those crosses, and already Me and Danial were suggesting playing Rory Donnelly as a right defensive winger for 10 - 15 minutes to try and prevent Doncaster Rovers from getting in down the sides, because something needed to be done.

Five Minutes later and in The Nineteenth Minute, Doncaster Rovers create another decent goal-scoring opportunity and that goal from Rory Donnelly has woken the hosts up, Doncaster Rovers have a throw on just in Gillingham’s Half of the pitch and Craig Alcock throws the ball to Paul Keegan, who plays the ball back to Andy Butler, who needs to take a few touches before bringing the ball under control before playing the ball out-wide to Craig Alcock, who manages to run forward in possession of the ball before playing the ball short to Curtis Main, who plays a ball over the top which should of been dealt with by Bradley Garmston, but Bradley Garmston attempts to kick the ball with his right foot and makes a complete mess of it but Bradley Garmston at least prevents James Coppinger from getting a shot off on goal, and John Egan’s clearance was poor as Curtis Main chests the ball down, escapes the challenge from Jake Hessenthaler and Curtis Main’s effort on goal bounced awkwardly and only just wide of Stuart Nelson’s left hand post - COME ON GILLS - Was my response because Gillingham were getting lifeline after lifeline, because it is only a matter of time before Doncaster Rovers do equalise.

So we’re twenty minutes into the match and Gillingham have the lead with a sensational goal from Rory Donnelly, but Doncaster Rovers have grown into the match since going behind and Cedric Evina and Conor Grant down the left and James Coppinger and Craig Alcock down the right are giving Doncaster Rovers the advantage down both flanks and that third man run is very effective, Gillingham should have more players in the middle of the pitch, but Ryan Jackson and Bradley Garmston are caught so high, that Conor Grant and James Coppinger can get in behind Gillingham’s Defence - something needs to change, either a tactical substitution at half time to try and match Doncaster Rovers in midfield, or you change the formation with the current personal on the pitch.

Doncaster Rovers are building up a sustained period of pressure as the home side are starting to dominate proceedings, again Cedric Evina and Conor Grant have such a great understanding down that left side of the pitch for Doncaster Rovers, and Conor Grant threads the ball inside to Paul Keegan, who whips in a sensational cross to the far post and John Egan does extremely well to header the ball out of play for a corner kick, because Curtis Main had pealed off at the far post to  position himself to header that cross on target.

And Doncaster Rovers cause problems for Gillingham from the resulting corner kick as Conor Grant’s in-swinging corner kick is aimed towards Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, but Max Ehmer wins the initial header, Paul Keegan headers the ball back into Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Aaron Morris takes up a great position to clear the second ball and Gillingham eventually clear there lines - Aaron Morris is an under-rated and under-appreciated player, he picks up those positions where you think the ball is going to land and Aaron Morris is there to clear or intercept the ball, he isn’t going to take players on or score ten goals a season, but what Aaron Morris will give you is a solid six or seven out of ten every single match.

Still Doncaster Rovers are piling on the pressure, Paul Keegan plays a short free kick back to Andy Butler, who plays the ball forward to Conor Grant, and The Doncaster Midfielder plays the ball forward to Curtis Main, who finds James Coppinger on the right wing for Doncaster Rovers, James Coppinger, Conor Grant and Craig Alcock all combine nicely in retaining possession of the ball for Doncaster Rovers and Conor Grant drags the ball back and switches the ball to Cedric Evina on the left side of the pitch, and Cedric Evina whips in a dangerous first time cross and Max Ehmer’s header to clear the ball wasn’t the best, and Conor Grant’s first time shot hits the back of The Corsan Northern Stand and not the back of the net, Doncaster Rovers have always been a decent pass and move side and they have the numerical advantage in midfield and in the wide area’s.

In The Twenty Seventh Minute of the match and Referee Nigel Miller awards a controversial free kick in Doncaster Rivers favour, Conor Grant has managed to go past both Jake Hessenthaler and Bradley Garmston and Bradley Garmston wins the ball and the momentum of the challenge see’s Conor Grant fall over and Doncaster Rovers have a free kick in a really good position on the pitch, James Coppinger goes over to take the resulting free kick, right in-front of The Gillingham Supporters, and James Coppinger’s free kick is decent, Andy Butler flicks the ball on to the far post and Andy Williams cannot get a telling connection on the ball and Ryan Jackson clears Gillingham’s Lines, that goal from Rory Donnelly is a long long time a go now.

But despite all the pressure and all the half and clear cut goal-scoring opportunities for the hosts, Gillingham almost doubled there lead in The Thirty First Minute, Paul Keegan hits a early cross from deep and John Egan wins the aerial battle with Andy Williams, Dominic Samuel is clearly fouled by Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, but Aaron Morris gets to the loose ball and Josh Wright plays the ball forward to Bradley Dack, who turns past Craig Alcock and plays the ball over to Bradley Garmston, who goes on a driving run down the left flank and Bradley Garmston’s cross into the heart of Doncaster Rovers Penalty Area was a decent one, and Bradley Dack’s header hits the under-side of the crossbar and stays out and Thorsten Stuckmann gathers the loose ball.

Great cross from Bradley Garmston, great header from Bradley Dack and had that gone in then Gillingham would have grabbed a real foot-hold on this game, because that effort happened at the other end of the pitch, Diane thought that effort had crossed the line, but I didn’t think that effort from Bradley Dack had gone in, while Danial mentioned that had Jake Hessenthaler made a diagonal run, then Bradley Garmston could of picked out Jake Hessenthaler with a threaded through-ball, but that is what Bradley Garmston can do as he has the pace to take players on, and that pace allows Garmston to make recovery runs, defensively there are a few question marks against him, but I think The Twenty Two Year Old will only improve with the more matches he plays.

Three minutes later and both teams create one decent goal-scoring opportunity a piece as the match starts to open up to a more end to end contest, Doncaster Rovers like to retain possession of the ball at the back and Paul Keegan plays the ball back to Andy Butler, who squares the ball to, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, and The Doncaster Rovers Centre Back is forced into a defensive error as Aaron Morris and Bradley Dack were closing him down and Aaron Taylor-Sinclair’s pass into midfield is intercepted by Dominic Samuel, who shrugs off the challenge from Paul Keegan, and Dominic Samuel runs down the right side of the pitch and whips in a dangerous low cross a cross Doncaster Rovers Penalty Area and Thorsten Stuckmann dives on the ball before Rory Donnelly can get there.

From here, Doncaster Rovers create a decent goal-scoring opportunity as Thorsten Stuckmann rolls the ball out to Luke McCullough, who plays a brilliant clipped ball down the line to James Coppinger, and The Doncaster Rovers Midfielder fakes a cross and tricks Aaron Morris and James Coppinger has the awareness to cut the ball back to Andy Williams on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Andy Williams effort on goal goes well over the crossbar, although Josh Wright was quick to charge Andy Williams down and force The Doncaster Rovers Striker to rush the shot.

But when Thorsten Stuckmann rolled the ball out, that is something I like to see Stuart Nelson do more, roll the ball out, overarm through the ball to Ryan Jackson and Bradley Garmston and put our wide players in better area’s to distribute the ball better, I do think that Stuart Nelson needs to improve on his distribution of the ball, but at the same-time, I also think our players need to put themselves in a position so that we can distribute the ball quickly, everyone just seems to cluster up together in the middle of the pitch and kicking the ball down the centre is a hit and hope approach, and kicking the ball into touch is a tactic goalkeepers use to prevent your team being counter attacked on, I just think we can do better when it comes to distributing the ball from the back.

A Minute later and in The Thirty Fifth Minute, Referee Nigel Miller has really irritated every Gillingham Supporter in the away end, John Egan has booted the ball down-field and Dominic Samuel does really well to climb high and win the header and there is no way that Conor Grant should be winning a free kick for that, Dominic Samuel has won the header cleanly and Danial said that this is pathetic refereeing and just because the small player out-jumps the taller player to win the header that it is not a foul, Danial, Diane and myself were not impressed with Nigel Miller, and we were going to be more frustrated with The Referee as the match progresses.

Doncaster Rovers were winning some ridiculous free kicks, legitimate challenges from Josh Wright, Bradley Dack and Dominic Samuel were being penalised and when Curtis Main had both arms on the shoulders of Josh Wright and climbed all over the back of The Gillingham Midfielder, Nigel Miller awards Doncaster Rovers a free kick and doesn’t give the decision in Gillingham’s favour, this rilled and antagonised The Gillingham Supporters in the away end, Daniel felt that The Referee was bias towards the home team and I shouted “WAKE UP REF!!!!” as the constant one sidedness of these decisions was very frustrating and very irritating.

Technology is clearly needed in football because Referee’s need help, but also Manager’s should be given the option to challenge Refereeing Decisions during the game and be able to use three challenges a match, where an incident is reviewed by A Computer Referee, or A Referee Panel reviewing footage on a monitor to decide foul / no foul, free kick / no free kick, red card / no red card, the additional assistant referee’s behind the goal don’t work, The Fourth Official doesn’t do anything and I think it is time for some technology system to be put in place.

Rugby League, Rugby Union, Cricket, Tennis and Snooker all have technology in there sports, but the most watched sport and the sport where the most controversial decisions occur still fail to have significant levels of technology, there also needs to be a massive over-haul of The Refereeing system in England as well, you cannot keep fining Manager’s for there comments about Referee’s when your interviewing manager’s just five minutes after the match where emotions are still running high, Referee’s are not made accountable for there actions and many of them are being fast-tracked too quickly up through the division’s.

Manager’s, Players, Pundits, Coaches and Supporters all say the same-thing regarding Referee’s and I remember watching a clip online on SKY Sports where one pundit from The NFL mentioned that Referee’s in football are the least informative people on the pitch, pundits will have seen slow motion replays, supporters can look at video clips on Facebook and Twitter now, and surely that technology needs to be put in place, I like The Tennis Hawk-Eye Challenges the most, and I would love to see Manager’s given that option in football.

Still Doncaster Rovers are finding a lot of joy down both flanks as Cedric Evina and Conor Grant double up against Ryan Jackson, and Conor Grant’s cross is blocked by Max Ehmer, and Max Ehmer blocked the ball with an out-stretched leg and that ball could of gone anywhere, Curtis Main takes a touch and fires the ball over Stuart Nelson’s crossbar, Doncaster Rovers are getting the second ball, but there not testing Stuart Nelson between the sticks, in-fact, Rory Donnelly has had the only shot on target, as Bradley Dack’s header hitting the crossbar doesn’t count as on target - I know I find that stat strange as well.

Forty Two Minutes into the match and Dominic Samuel is down injured requiring treatment and moments later, Bradley Dack is completely taken out by Aaron Taylor-Sinclair and none of us could believe that Referee Nigel Miller played on as Bradley Dack was sideswiped and that challenge was a potential leg breaker, a professional referee would of awarded a free kick for that challenge and possibly booked Aaron Taylor-Sinclair as well, and the bias towards Doncaster Rovers was getting pathetic now - but at least Dominic Samuel is OK to continue much to our relief.

Right at the end of The First Half and just as we are approaching additional time, Doncaster Rovers created another goal-scoring opportunity, Craig Alcock takes a throw on in Gillingham’s Final Third and down the left side of the pitch, and Craig Alcock throws the ball to Andy Williams who plays the ball back to Craig Alcock and Craig Alcock plays the ball back to James Coppinger, who looked to square the ball back before turning past Josh Wright and Jake Hessenthaler all too easily and Jake Hessenthaler is charging back to try and intercept the ball but James Coppinger drags the ball back and then passes the ball to Curtis Main on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Curtis Main’s side-foot volley goes over Stuart Nelson’s crossbar.

And that was the last meaningful action of the first half and Gillingham have the lead at The Keepmoat Stadium, and ironically we have the lead with the only shot on target as well, at least that stat shows that Gillingham are prolific in the final third and we need to be prolific in the final third in the second half as well.

HALF TIME: DONCASTER ROVERS 0 - 1 GILLINGHAM

Curtis Main, Conor Grant, Andy Williams and Paul Keegan have all hit efforts on goal from the edge of the penalty area that have failed to hit the target, and some of these efforts have come after Gillingham have cleared the first ball and not reacted to the second ball, and I am concerned that James Coppinger and Craig Alcock on the right and Cedric Evina and Conor Grant on the left have had so much joy in wide area’s, Doncaster Rovers have always enjoyed The 4.3.3. / 4.2.3.1 formation, and Justin Edinburgh needs to adapt his tactics to go five vests five in midfield, either Rory Donnelly or Dominic Samuel drop back into midfield, or Doug Loft needs to come on for one of the strikers and Gillingham look to lock this game out.

Bradley Dack is unlucky that his header didn’t go in off the underside of the crossbar, because 2-0 would of given Gillingham a stronger position to go on and try and win the match, I am still shocked that Aaron Taylor-Sinclair wasn’t penalised for that disgusting challenge on Bradley Dack, if that challenge was vise versa then Bradley Dack would of had a foul given against him.

Bradley Garmston however looks weak at left back, James Coppinger and Craig Alcock are giving him a lot of problems and Doncaster Rovers are clearly targeting the right side of the pitch and putting Bradley Garmston under a lot of pressure, now Bradley Garmston has the pace to make recovery runs and when he is attacking and taking players on then Garmston is a threat, but defensively the twenty two year old has a lot of improving to make, but I also think that Justin Edinburgh needs to find a way of playing away from home, five in midfield and one up-front will clearly work, or, why not play The 3.4.1.2 formation Gillingham played towards the end of last season ???

Two players who have impressed me for Gillingham have been John Egan and Aaron Morris, John Egan has been superb at the back, reading the game and positioning himself well to make those crucial intercepts and John Egan is very composed on the ball and while all the transfer talk this January has been - I hope we hang on to Bradley Dack - and I hope we can keep Bradley Dack as well, but I also hope that Gillingham can hang on to John Egan.

But Aaron Morris is a player who goes un-noticed, but that is because Aaron Morris is a very under-rated and under-appreciated player, Aaron Morris takes up positions where the ball is going to land and Aaron Morris is there to intercept the ball because he can read the game exceptionally well, being a centre back who plays as a defensive midfielder means that Aaron Morris is more aware defensively compared to Emmanuel Osadebe for example, I would even go as far to say that Aaron Morris has been Gillingham’s most improved player this season.

I wrote down more notes on chances created and how Referee Nigel Miller has been bias towards Doncaster Rovers, as far as substitutions are concerned, I don’t think Justin Edinburgh will make any changes at half time, but I would like to see Gillingham at some stage switch to five in midfield and give Ryan Jackson and Bradley Garmston some additional protection, we have done brilliantly to keep the home crowd quiet and with no Half Time Scores, no Music or PA System, the teams returned out on to the pitch ready for The Second Half, with Doncaster Rovers out earlier then Gillingham - big second half coming up as Walsall were winning 3-0 against Bury and Coventry City and Burton Albion was still goal-less, all Gillingham can do is win our game and hope results go for us, if we win and Coventry City and Walsall win, then neither side leapfrogs Gillingham, but there is a long way to go and plenty of twists and turns in all the matches in League One - Wigan Athletic proved that when they drew 3-3 against Sheffield United despite being 3-0 up.

It was weird with no PA Announcement, no Half Time Music and no Half Time Scores, the atmosphere was very flat inside The Keepmoat Stadium, and hopefully we can keep that way as well - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!

SECOND HALF

Dominic Samuel wins a corner kick off Aaron Taylor-Sinclair just thirty seconds after the re-start as Gillingham make a fast start to the second half, Bradley Dack comes across to take the resulting corner kick and Bradley Dack’s in-swinging corner kick is flicked on by Max Ehmer and the chance looked to have gone for The Gills, but Aaron Morris keeps the ball in play and Aaron Morris prevents Andy Williams from challenging him, and Jake Hessenthaler comes across and takes the ball off Aaron Morris’s feat and Jake Hessenthaler skips past Andy William’s challenge and whips in a dangerous cross towards the near post which is headered clear by Andy Butler, Jake Hessenthaler then headers the ball back to Aaron Morris on the right wing, and Aaron Morris keeps the ball in play and Aaron Morris cannot find the crossing angle so he plays the ball back to Bradley Garmston, who whips in a dangerous cross from a deep position and John Egan’s first time strike is straight at Thorsten Stuckmann who prevents John Egan from scoring and also prevents the corner kick as well - either side of The Doncaster Rovers Goalkeeper and Gillingham would of doubled there lead.

After gather the ball at the second attempt, Thorsten Stuckmann rolls the ball out to Aaron Taylor-Sinclair who is under pressure from Bradley Dack and that pressure forces Aaron Taylor-Sinclair to kick the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer wins the aerial challenge up against Curtis Main and Doncaster Rovers Supporters were appealing for a free kick for a header of all things, and Ryan Jackson helds off the second challenge from Curtis Main and kicks the ball down-field and Rory Donnelly plays a first time pass into Bradley Dack’s path, and Bradley Dack is being chased by both Paul Keegan and Conor Grant and as Luke McCullough slides to make a sliding challenge, Bradley Dack lifts the ball over The Central Defender’s Challenge into Rory Donnelly’s path and Rory Donnelly rolls the ball underneath the advancing Thorsten Stuckmann, and Gillingham have doubled there lead just after the re-start of the second half.

A moment of brilliance from Bradley Dack to create that opportunity for Rory Donnelly to score and Rory Donnelly showed great composure to stick the ball into the back of the net, Rory Donnelly goes through these purple patches, six goals in four games and now four goals in three matches, and ten goals for the season is a very respectable goal tally, and hopefully Rory Donnelly can keep this goal-scoring run going for as long as possible, Danial had just got back to his seat in time to see the goal after getting a coffee at half time, and I explained the goal-scoring opportunity that Danial had missed, but at least Danial didn’t miss the goal - 2-0 up and now Gillingham need to keeping pressing hard for a goal like the score-line is still 0-0 - because there is a long way to go throughout the rest of this match.

That second goal from Rory Donnelly forced Darren Ferguson to make a double substitution as Curtis Main and Andy Butler were subbed off and Liam Mandeville and Cameron Stewart were brought on after forty eight minutes, looking at Gillingham’s bench there is very few options we could bring on, maybe in another 15 - 20 minutes Gillingham could look at making a change, but Danial felt that Justin Edinburgh doesn’t do enough tactically to change things and that is probably partly down to a lack of experience at this level, combined with a lack of squad depth, it is clear that Gillingham need 3-4 additions to the squad during The January Transfer Window.

Gillingham are piling on the pressure after doubling our lead after the re-start, a minute after the double substitution from Doncaster Rovers, Gillingham are piling on the pressure again as Ryan Jackson has the pace to go past Conor Grant and slip the ball inside to Rory Donnelly, who plays the ball back to Bradley Dack on the edge of the penalty area, and Bradley Dack skilfully goes past Paul Keegan and lays the ball off to Dominic Samuel, who’s first time shot on the edge of Doncaster Rovers Penalty Area is saved by Thorsten Stuckmann, and Cedric Evina is forced to concede the corner kick, Bradley Dack goes over to take the resulting corner kick and Bradley Dack’s in-swinging corner kick was a dangerous one, but Referee Nigel Miller awards Doncaster Rovers a free kick for six of one and six of the other, both sets of players were jostling around inside the penalty area and I do wish that play on is given in these circumstances, and moments later Bradley Garmston was penalised for a fifty / fifty challenge with Liam Mandeville, and these decisions are getting ridiculous now.

The game starts to swing from end to end after fifty five minutes as Max Ehmer concede’s a corner kick and Conor Grant’s in-swinging corner kick is headed out of play for another corner by Ryan Jackson, and Doncaster Rovers create there first goal-scoring opportunity of the second half from this corner kick, as James Coppinger’s in-swinging corner kick is headered clear by John Egan, but only as far as Luke McCullough, who tee’s up Conor Grant to have a go for goal from the edge of the penalty area, and Conor Grant’s effort on goal is high and wide and fails to test Stuart Nelson between the sticks, and that has been Doncaster Rovers problem all game, there getting into good positions, there winning the second ball on the edge of the penalty area, but they are not hitting the target.

From here, Gillingham do create something out of nothing, Stuart Nelson kicks the ball out short to Max Ehmer, who passes the ball forward to Josh Wright, who plays the ball inside to Bradley Dack, who is taking up a position in a deeper midfield role, and Bradley Dack has the awareness to play the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson, who has the pace to go past Conor Grant and Cedric Evina goes toe to toe with Ryan Jackson, and Ryan Jackson’s cross is deflected out of play off The Doncaster Rovers Left Back and Gillingham have won themselves a corner kick, Bradley Dack goes over to take the resulting corner kick and Bradley Dack’s in-swinging corner kick is headered clear by Liam Mandeville and James Coppinger gets to the loose ball first and plays the ball forward to Andy Williams who is basically one v one with Max Ehmer as Andy Williams is charging through on goal, but Max Ehmer stays on his feat and times his challenge to perfection and Doncaster Rovers attack breaks down - but why do Gillingham go from attacking a corner kick to conceding a goal ??? which is precisely what happened at The Ricoh Arena for the first goal against Coventry City.

Sixty Minutes into the match and a big penalty shout is turned down as James Coppinger’s cross from the right side of the pitch is aimed towards Andy Williams and The Doncaster Rovers Striker goes down inside the penalty area and Referee Nigel Miller waves away the penalty appeals from 1-2 Doncaster Rovers Players and the vast majority of Doncaster Rovers Supporters, I didn’t have the clearest view of the incident as there were so many bodies between the ball and Andy Williams going down inside the penalty area that I couldn’t be sure - but with some of the free kicks being given against Gillingham in the first half, I was just expecting Nigel Miller to point to the penalty spot.

A Minute later and in The Sixty First Minute and Gillingham could of scored the crucial third goal which would seal all three points, Ryan Jackson has possession of the ball just past the halfway line and Ryan Jackson has plenty of space to run into, and Ryan Jackson whips in a dangerous early cross towards Dominic Samuel which is headered clear by Luke McCullough, but only as far to Aaron Morris, who retains possession of the ball and passes the ball back to Bradley Dack on the edge of Doncaster Rovers Penalty Area, and Bradley Dack spins past Paul Keegan’s challenge, and Bradley Dack’s first time strike was heading towards the bottom right corner of the net and Thorsten Stuckmann makes the initial save, but The Doncaster Rovers Goalkeeper can only parry Bradley Dack’s shot, and Luke McCullough clears the re-bound, but still the chance is alive as Bradley Dack plays a first time pass to Jake Hessenthaler on the right side of Doncaster Rovers Penalty Area, and Jake Hessenthaler keeps possession of the ball, Bradley Dack makes an over-lapping run to cause confusion and Jake Hessenthaler’s cross is headered clear by Paul Keegan, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair tries to pick out James Coppinger, but Aaron Morris intercepts the ball and plays the ball out-wide to Bradley Garmston, who hits a first time cross into Doncaster Rovers Penalty Area, which is too high for Dominic Samuel and Cedric Evina headers the ball back to Thorsten Stuckmann.

But when Bradley Dack is on form and playing the way he is playing at the moment, then he is the best player in the division and I don’t think there are many central attacking midfielders who are scoring and creating the goals that Bradley Dack is scoring / creating at the moment, hanging on to Bradley Dack will be very difficult, but Gillingham are in an excellent position negotiation wise as Bradley Dack has two and a half years left on his current contract, he is young and English and Premier League Clubs have to increase there English Quota’s either next season or the season after, there aren’t many goal-scoring midfielders who are available outside The Premier League, and at 22, someone will look at Bradley Dack and think there is a player who we can sign and develop into a better player as well.

When Ryan Jackson wins Gillingham a free kick after being fouled by Conor Grant, the ironic jeers towards the referee was probably the biggest jeer towards a referee as Nigel Miller hasn’t given Gillingham anything - in-fact he only gave Doncaster Rovers two fouls in the entire match which tells you everything you need to know.

In The Sixty Third and Sixty Sixth Minutes respectively, Rory Donnelly headered Bradley Garmston’s cross straight at Thorsten Stuckmann, and Conor Grant has hit a long range effort from a free kick which has failed to hit the target, in-fact Stuart Nelson hasn’t been tested between the sticks all match, Diane checked the scores and Coventry City were losing 1-0 at home to Burton Albion and Bury were losing 3-0 at home to Walsall, Diane didn’t want Burton Albion to win, but I did, if the current scores remain as they are then Gillingham will open up a five point gap over Coventry City, and with the signings Coventry City have made in The January Transfer Window, I can see them winning 4-5 matches in a row, as they have got so much quality and ability in there squad.

I am looking at the substitutes bench and you had to say that it is very light with Brennan Dickenson, Jermaine McGlashan, Emmanuel Osadebe, Elliott List and Luke Norris - Doug Loft is the most likely substitute to be used as we don’t want to make any changes to the attack as Dominic Samuel and Rory Donnelly are playing really well, and there isn’t a defensive option on the substitutes bench either, so Justin Edinburgh is limited and restricted in the players he can bring on, as there isn’t many options available outside the starting eleven.

Seventy Minutes into the match and Dominic Samuel is the first player to go into Referee Nigel Miller’s notebook for his challenge on Conor Grant, and before the resulting free kick can be taken, Justin Edinburgh makes his first substitution of the match as Jermaine McGlashan comes on for Josh Wright - and I thought Emmanuel Osadebe had come on at first - there is no PA System so the substitutes and goal-scorers were not announced.

Doncaster Rovers worked the resulting free kick nicely, Paul Keegan and James Coppinger both stand over the ball and Paul Keegan tee’s up Conor Grant to go for goal and Conor Grant’s effort on goal only just about went wide of Stuart Nelson’s left hand post, and this was a much cleaner and much better strike then the effort on goal from Conor Grant six minutes earlier, the hosts are getting closer and closer, and the score-line is still 0-2, but Justin Edinburgh needs to make a tactical change, and now that Josh Wright has been substituted, the ideal substitute would be Doug Loft on for Dominic Samuel, play Aaron Morris and Jake Hessenthaler as two holding midfielders with Doug Loft on the left, Jermaine McGlashan on the right with Bradley Dack playing behind Rory Donnelly, Gillingham need to start protecting that two goal lead and scrap through the remaining twenty minutes of this match.

And Doncaster Rovers are still piling on the pressure two minutes later, Stuart Nelson kicks the ball long down-field, and Rory Donnelly flicks the ball on but Dominic Samuel is caught on his heals and Cedric Evina kicks the ball long down-field and John Egan doesn’t allow the ball to bounce and volleys the ball back down the centre of the pitch, Paul Keegan plays the ball inside to Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, who plays the ball back to Luke McCullough, and The Doncaster Rovers Centre Back plays a long ball into Andy Williams path as John Egan and Andy Williams battle for possession of the ball and Andy Williams turns back, skips past Jake Hessenthaler’s challenge and squares the ball to Paul Keegan, who goes on a driving run, skips past Max Ehmer very easily, and John Egan’s clearance ricochets off Paul Keegan and almost lands at Liam Mandeville’s feat, but Ryan Jackson makes a goal-saving challenge and anywhere will do for The Gills, but James Coppinger is un-marked on the right side of the pitch and James Coppinger’s high hanging cross is well held on to by Stuart Nelson, and Stuart Nelson dived on to the deck to relieve the pressure building on Gillingham’s Goal.

But Seventy Four Minutes into the match and Andy Williams went to the deck very easily underneath Max Ehmer’s challenge and Referee Nigel Miller has angered every single Gillingham Supporter in the away end with that decision, up stepped Cameron Stewart to curl the ball over the wall into the far right corner of the net and Stuart Nelson had dived at full stretch and there was nothing he could of done about that, could Gillingham put two players on the goal-line to clear the ball away from danger, possibly, but it means drawing everyone inside your penalty area as every Doncaster Rovers Player would be onside, It was never a free kick to start with and now Cameron Stewart has scored after seventy four minutes and all the momentum and the ascendency is with the home side now.

Now Justin Edinburgh needs to bring on Doug Loft for Dominic Samuel, go to one up-front and sit and protect this one goal lead, we need to scrap through the rest of this match and grind out the result, Luke Norris on for Rory Donnelly will also give Gillingham a much needed physical presence up-front as well.

But Gillingham nearly restored the two goal cushion in The Seventy Eighth Minute with a rasping drive from Dominic Samuel, Craig Alcock’s throw on down the line goes over Bradley Dack and Jake Hessenthaler’s head and Max Ehmer wins the aerial challenge with James Coppinger, and John Egan gets to the loose ball first and kicks the ball high and long down the pitch, Rory Donnelly cannot win the aerial challenge with Richard Chaplow and Luke McCullough’s defensive header puts Doncaster Rovers in deep trouble as Dominic Samuel wins the battle with Paul Keegan on the edge of the penalty area, and Dominic Samuel’s volley towards goal only just about clears the crossbar with Thorsten Stuckmann diving at full stretch, and had that effort gone in, then Gillingham would of picked up all three points at The Keepmoat Stadium.

Eighty Minutes into the match and Liam Mandeville has kept possession of the ball down the right side of the pitch and Liam Mandeville lays the ball off to James Coppinger, who’s first time cross is well held on to by Stuart Nelson, it is clear for Me and Danial to see that Bradley Garmston is struggling and Gillingham need to make a substitution, and with Dominic Samuel on a yellow card, then Dominic Samuel off and Doug Loft on and reverting to a five in midfield formation is precisely what Justin Edinburgh has to do, also Doug Loft could potentially double up with Bradley Garmston down the left side of the pitch.

Two Minutes later and Cameron Stewart picks up a nasty injury, James Coppinger has possession of the right wing and looks to fire a low cross into Andy Williams feat, that low cross from James Coppinger is cut out by John Egan and Bradley Dack kicks the ball high and long down-field and Luke McCullough headers the ball out-wide to the opposite wing and the ball bounces high up into the air, and Cameron Stewart jumps all over Jermaine McGlashan’s back and the landing looked bad at the time, but only when you watch highlights of the actual incident do you realise just how bad the incident was, but no way should Referee Nigel Miller award a free kick in Doncaster Rovers Favour.

Sadly that type of injury has been coming because of the way Referee Nigel Miller has dealt with climbing offences, if Gillingham Players stand there ground the way Jermaine McGlashan did, then we’re penalised and a foul is given against us, if we attempt to climb high for the aerial challenge like Cameron Stewart has done, then a free kick has been given against us - Gillingham are lose / lose in these scenario’s and Nigel Miller hasn’t officiated this match properly or professionally.

I stood and applauded Cameron Stewart when he was stretchered off and Mitchell Lund comes on in Cameron Stewart’s place, the lengthy stoppage in play means that there will be plenty of stoppage time at the end of this match, Doncaster Rovers have used all three substitutes so far, and Gillingham’s only substitute has struggled to get into the match, clearly Jermaine McGlashan was brought on to use his pace to get Gillingham further up the pitch, but we have lost that calmness and composure in the middle of midfield, and that’s the problem Gillingham have got at the moment, once Aaron Morris, Josh Wright, Jake Hessenthaler and Bradley Dack go off, we don’t have the depth or quality in midfield to make the like for like replacement.

Danial mentioned that even though we didn’t sign Jed Wallace, we’re clearly looking for that type of player to come in and strengthen the midfield, someone who is comfortable in possession of the ball, has composure in crucial moments and can travel forward in possession of the ball, I did a blog on The Diamond Midfield Formation Here: http://fan-of-mulligan.tumblr.com/post/135314008207/fom-blog-diamonds-are-not-forever - Where I spoke about The Diamond Midfield and players have to fulfil a specific level of requirements to fit into this system effectively, clearly finding players who are capable of doing this are expensive and not easy to find, and those who can do this will be playing competitive first team football at a higher level, so we will be looking at someone like Jordan Houghton again, a young player at A Premier League Club who needs to go out on loan and play competitive first team football on a week in, week out basis.

After a long and lengthy break, play does continue and from a free kick that should of never been given, Doncaster Rovers almost scored the equaliser as James Coppinger’s high and hanging free kick almost picks out Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, but The Doncaster Rovers Centre Back cannot make a telling connection on the ball and Gillingham get away with it.

But a minute later and in The Eighty Seventh Minute, Gillingham don’t get away with it and for the second successive away match Gillingham surrender a two goal lead, Ryan Jackson plays a short pass to Bradley Dack who plays the ball down the line to Aaron Morris and Aaron Morris plays the ball inside to Jermaine McGlashan, McGlashan, Dack and Jackson keep possession of the ball nicely and Ryan Jackson clips the ball down the line into Aaron Morris’s path, Aaron Morris losses out to Paul Keegen and Cedric Evina plays the ball down the line to Andy Williams, who manages to turn past both John Egan and Max Ehmer and Andy Williams manages to roll the ball underneath the advancing Stuart Nelson and into the bottom right corner of the net and that goal was a real body blow for The Gills, but a goal of our own making.

One of John Egan and Max Ehmer should of dropped deeper to cover and one centre back should of man marked Andy Williams, why are Gillingham so high up the pitch and pushing for a third goal, you have got Aaron Morris, Bradley Dack and Jermaine McGlashan all down the right side of the pitch, just too many error’s and now we have to try and win the match with very few minutes left on the clock.

And no sooner did Doncaster Rovers Equalise did they almost go on to find the winner, Ryan Jackson was clearly fouled in the far corner of the pitch prior to the corner kick being conceded and Referee Nigel Miller has given Gillingham very little in-terms of decisions, and now we had this corner kick to contend with, Conor Grant’s in-swinging corner kick is headed across the face of goal by Luke McCullough, and Aaron Taylor-Sinclair controls the ball with a out-stretched leg and his second touch was a shot on target that was a goal all the way, but Stuart Nelson made a magnificent instinctive save to keep the match level at 2-2, the resulting corner kick didn’t come to anything, however, Justin Edinburgh substitutes Jake Hessenthaler and brings on Doug Loft in added time.

The rest of this match is really fired up now as both teams are in a shoot-out to get what will be the winning goal, Bradley Dack threads through a through-ball for Rory Donnelly to run on to and Rory Donnelly is clearly pulled back and nothing is given and the protestations from every Gillingham Supporter falls on to deaf ears, the linesman is right there and of course he doesn’t give the decision because A Doncaster Rovers Player isn’t being fouled, and moments later, Gillingham again attack down the right side of the pitch, this time Ryan Jackson plays Jermaine McGlashan through on the over-lap and Jermaine McGlashan’s cross ricochets off Cedric Evina and spins into Thorsten Stuckmann hands, Danial said “Lucky Doncaster” as we were clearly trying to win a corner kick off that attack.

And we go from Rory Donnelly being taken out and no free kick given to Bradley Garmston showing great strength to winning possession of the ball off James Coppinger and a free kick being given against Gillingham, and the decisions were getting worse and worse, and James Coppiner takes the resulting free kick and swings in a high and hanging cross which is headered clear by John Egan, but Cedric Evina gets to the loose ball twenty fives yards out from goal and puts his laces through the ball and Cedric Evina’s effort clears the angle of crossbar and post on the left side of Stuart Nelson’s goal and only one team is going to win this game now, hard to believe that Gillingham were 2-0 up after seventy three minutes because this feels like a completely different game now.

Ninety Seven Minutes into the match and Andy Williams had the chance to win it for the hosts, Thorsten Stuckmann rolls the ball out to Aaron Taylor-Sinclair, who is allowed to travel with possession of the ball before squaring the ball to Luke McCullough, who plays a long pass down-field into Andy Williams path and Andy Williams chests the ball back to Liam Mandeville, who runs forward in possession of the ball and John Egan’s interception ricochets off Max Ehmer into Andy Williams and Andy Williams snap-shot effort clears the crossbar.

Play still continue’s as Stuart Nelson kicks the ball long down-field and Rory Donnelly wins the flick on and Luke McCullough wins the second header and Aaron Morris wins the third header, but the ball falls kindly to James Coppinger who hits a high and hanging ball down-field which bounces all the way through to Stuart Nelson, and after Stuart Nelson gathered the ball there was a argument between Andy Williams and Stuart Nelson, and Referee Nigel Miller blew the full time whistle and 2-2 is better then nothing, but it is defiantly two points dropped.

FULL TIME: DONCASTER ROVERS 2 - 2 GILLINGHAM

While we can be angry and furious with Referee Nigel Miller for giving Doncaster Rovers a route back into this match, because Cameron Stewart’s free kick which he scored for 2-1 was never a free kick in the first place and there were plenty of free kicks given which were bias towards Doncaster Rovers, but Justin Edinburgh needs to take responsibility for the past two matches and he has shown levels of inexperience in the last two games, because both times Josh Wright has been substituted and both times Gillingham have conceded in his absence.

As soon as the score-line was 1-2, Doug Loft should of come on for one of the strikers - probably Dominic Samuel as he was booked, and you play Jermaine McGlashan on the right, Doug Loft on the left with Aaron Morris and Jake Hessenthaler as defensive holding midfielders and look to sit on the narrow lead and ensure that you scrap through the rest of the match and pick up all three points, failing to win the second away match in a row where we have been winning 2-0 shows levels of immaturity to not learn from the same mistake, now the players need to make these mistakes to learn, but Justin Edinburgh should of subbed off one of the strikers, bring on another midfielder and lock the game out.

If this was Coventry City, Walsall and Burton Albion and they go 2-0 up away from home against Doncaster Rovers, they win, Gillingham have drawn a match we should of won, but it is also clear that we’re short of several players and Adedeji Oshilaja coming back to Gillingham on A Season Long Loan, Two Central Midfielders, one defensive and one attack minded, and A Target-Man / Supporting Striker are desperately needed and needed as soon as possible, Elliott List and Emmanuel Osadebe are essentially youngsters and players who are in and around the first team squad for experience.

I also think that Jermaine McGlashan and Brennan Dickenson will both be allowed to leave Gillingham on loan, speaking with Brad and Danial, we thought that Jermaine McGlashan was very ineffective when he came on, and both players just don’t fit the diamond midfield formation system, and 1-2 may well be allowed to leave for 3-4 players to sign on loan between now and the rest of the season, now Jermaine McGlashan was sensational as a impact substitute last season, but he just hasn’t been as effective this season, that in itself has shown how far we have come, there won’t be any shortage of offers from clubs wanting to sign Jermaine McGlashan and I am sure he will do a good job for any club wishing to sign him, I just feel that his time at Gillingham is now limited.

I made sure I had everything on me before leaving the stadium and I saw Darius and Brad, and Me and Diane spoke to Brad about our disappointment with the result, we also felt that Jermaine McGlashan’s time was up at Gillingham, and there was clearly a level of bias refereeing from Nigel Miller, if the free kick for the first goal wasn’t given, then Gillingham win the game, Me and Diane were contemplating on whether we should hang around the team coach or whether we should go back to the car and make our way home, and we chose to do the latter.

After getting back into the car we started making our way back home again, I started sending a few tweets and I responded to Rob’s Tweet giving an explanation for why Josh Wright was subbed, I mentioned that I had no idea why Josh Wright was substituted and I would of played Josh Wright for the full ninety minutes and give him Monday Off, I also felt that the first goal was a shocking decision to award the free kick and if that free kick isn’t given then Cameron Stewart doesn’t score and Doncaster Rovers are not in the ascendency and the momentum isn’t with them, but as soon as the score-line was 1-2, Justin Edinburgh should of substituted Dominic Samuel and brought on Doug Loft and look to protect the slender lead and make sure that Doncaster Rovers do not equalise.

And while I do agree with the tweets suggesting that we should be grateful of our league position and we would all bitten someone’s hand off for this position back in June and July, Gillingham have proven themselves to be serious promotion contenders with fifty one points from twenty seven matches, this isn’t a fast and impressive start to the season and doing well after five matches, Gillingham are serious contenders for promotion this season and while the plucky underdog tag does suit us to the ground, I think Gillingham need to do everything we possibly can to try and achieve promotion this season, that means giving Justin Edinburgh the necessary funds to strengthen the squad, because it is clear for all to see that Gillingham are short in defence and midfield, another striker will give us four senior strikers pushing for two starting roles in the starting line up as well.

We stopped off at a small service station that had A Subway as Diane wanted to buy something to eat, but £6 for a sandwich was very expensive, the stop off also meant the usage of the facilities and Diane also wanted to stop off to rest for a bit after all the driving to Doncaster, and now there is a long drive back home, why we were coming back on The A1 we had no idea as The Sat Nav was playing up.

On the way back I Re-Tweeted a few tweets that appeared online, read an online interview in The Evening Echo with Gillingham Defender John Egan and saw that Ian Hendon had been sacked at Leyton Orient and Andy Hessenthaler was going to take over in A Caretaker Managerial Role, I wasn’t surprised with that announcement because Francesco Becchetti has gone through quite a few managerial appointments over the past eighteen months, and when The Leyton Orient Chairman is on the substitutes bench on a match day and attempting to kick Andy Hessenthaler, then you know that things are not well behind the scenes.

We stopped off at Peterborough Services at 8PM and I brought Large Fries, A Large Coke and Nine Chicken Nuggets for £6, I got speaking to A Few Guiseley Supporters who had won 2-1 away against Dulwich Hamlet in The FA Trophy and they had taken forty supporters to the match, I mentioned that Gillingham were winning 2-0 and we drew 2-2 with Doncaster Rovers, I said - hopefully you get promoted this season - Guiseley Supporters said that if they got promoted from there current league position then that would be an unbelievable achievement as Guisley were closer to the relegation zone, so I said - hopefully you stay up then - after sitting down to eat my meal, I checked The Conference National Table and Guiseley were eighteenth with thirty one points and four points clear of the relegation zone.

After eating our meals, we got chatting to a few Luton Town Supporters who saw there side draw 0-0 at home to Cambridge United and The Luton Town Supporter I spoke to mentioned that he was sad to see John Still leave the club, but felt that John Still and Dagenham & Redbridge are the right fit and new manager Nathan Jones is coming across really well in interviews, but he will need time to bring in his own players, and this season is a stability season for Luton Town, before pushing for the playoffs next season, The Luton Town Supporter we spoke to had his son and daughter with him, and his son was the mascot, I asked how was Jack Marriott doing and he is doing really well at Luton Town, I mentioned that he played really well at Gillingham, but just couldn’t start ahead of Cody McDonald at the time, but from the brief moments we saw him play in A Gillingham Shirt, Jack Marriott looked a really good player.

We left the services at 8.40PM and started to make our way back home, I sent off a few more tweets, also needing to rotate batteries as I had ran out of power, I thought Rory Donnelly was Man Of The Match but I gave an honourable mention to Aaron Morris, who I think is an very under-rated and under-appreicated player, and probably Gillingham’s most improved player this season as well - The Leyton Orient Supporter who I follow on Twitter has no idea how things will work with Andy Hessenthaler at the helm, but he clearly feels that the problems lie with The Chairman and he could only see Leyton Orient going on a downhill spiral with the current regime in place, go back two season’s and Leyton Orient reached The League One Playoff Final under Russell Slade’s management, look at Leyton Orient now, and look at Charlton Athletic, thumped 6-0 and going through Belgium Manager’s and now Jose Riga is back at the club, it just goes to show that foreign investment may bring you money into the club, but you lose everything else and your club can make poor managerial appointments after poor managerial appointments, I am sure Leyton Orient Supporters would want Barry Hearn and Russell Slade to stay at the club if they knew this is what was going to happen over the past eighteen months.

Eventually we were back in Kent and back at my house at 22.45PM, I paid Diane £22.50, £2.50 for the car park at Doncaster Rovers and two thirds of the travel, I still owed Diane £10 as it was £30 each, but I had no ten pound notes and Diane had no change, I thanked Diane for the lift, made sure I had everything on me and said C Ya for Peterborough United.

A Long Day and Gillingham turned a win into a draw, mind you there was a time where Gillingham couldn’t win away from home and Gillingham went the entire 2009 / 2010 season without a away win, but failing to win the last two away games when Gillingham are 2-0 up asks serious questions of our promotion credentials, hopefully Gillingham can recover and get a valuable win against Peterborough United, but it won’t be easy.

[fan-of-mulligan]

FOM BLOG: COVENTRY CITY 4 - 1 GILLINGHAM

My Thoughts on Coventry City V Gillingham……………………..

I left My House at 9.40AM and I made sure I had the following things on me,,,(Money, Keys, My Samsung Galaxy S2, Spare Battery, My Coventry City Ticket, My Fleece-Jacket, Spare Lids, Match Day Programme’s, 500ML Bottle of Coca Cola, My Gillingham Bag with Pads and Pens, My Gillingham Scarf, Gloves, The No-Where Men Book and a Packet Of Polo’s), I double checked I had everything I wanted on me before leaving my house, and I made my way down to the Bus Stop near The Cricketers Pub and waited for The Kings Ferry Coach to arrive.

A Double Decker Kings Ferry Coach arrived and a few of us got on the coach for the short trip to Coventry City, but we also got on the coach to get out of the rain (because it was pouring down in Rainham early in the morning) - although I am convinced it always rains in Rainham - I sat down at the back of the coach and we only had two pick up points to pick people up from, the first pick up point was outside Priestfield Stadium, and The Second Pick Up Point was outside The Coach and Horses, with two Kings Ferry Coaches, there were some confusion on who was getting on which coach, but once everyone was on both Kings Ferry Coaches we were on our way.

I paid Twenty Two Pounds for My Coach Fare and Gary had told us that with the additional security checks at The Ricoh Arena (and these security checks were perfectly understandable because of the tragic events that happened in Paris over a week a go), then there will be delay’s getting supporters inside The Ricoh Arena, and because of those delay’s, The Kings Ferry Coach won’t be stopping off at The Service Station and we will be going straight to the ground, I didn’t mind that as it meant we would be getting to The Ricoh Arena at just gone 1PM, as it takes just over three hours to get from Gillingham to Coventry City.

To help pass the time on the coach journey, I was reading The No-Where Men, which is Michael Calvin’s Book, which focuses on scouts and the unsocial hours they do watching players, watching games, filling in scouting reports about the next promising young player and what scouts actually do ???

The really interest chapter I was reading was how David Moyes at Everton would shape his starting eleven at Everton over the following three season’s, which players would be moved on as they would be getting older and fazed out of the team, which players would need to come in and replace them, and a list of various transfer targets that were not attracting the interest of teams like Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham - as those clubs had the finances that Everton just couldn’t compete with - but whoever David Moyes was looking to sign at Everton needed a high re-sale value, Everton didn’t have the finances to spend ten million on a twenty eight year old player who is really good but will only last a few year’s, Everton needed to sign cheap, develop that player and look to sale him on for a profit.

Two Gillingham Supporters sitting behind me were asking each other how many away games have you been to, and the younger of the two Gillingham Supporters said that he had been to twenty away games, that question got me thinking about how many away games I have been too, I think I have been to two hundred and fifty away matches, I used to go occasionally to the away matches when I started going to away games, and now I rarely miss a game, since Gillingham’s re-entry into The Kent Senior Cup, I have gone to Dartford, Welling United and Folkestone Invicta, and I have done most of The Kent Non League Grounds when traveling to pre-season friendlies.

We arrived at The Ricoh Arena ay 1.10PM and The Kings Ferry Coach had to park in Car Park C, which was roughly a five minute walk from the ground and the weather in Coventry was nice and sunny compared to the downpour back in Rainham, but as soon as I got off The Kings Ferry Coach, I couldn’t help but notice the freezing conditions, it may well be sunny in Coventry but we could do warmer weather conditions.

I walked up to The Programme Seller and brought Two Coventry City Match Day Programmes for £6 - one for myself and one for Diane - and I looked around the stadium for a bit and clearly Gillingham would love to have A Football Stadium with the ground capacity like The Ricoh Arena - (which holds 32,609 supporters) - providing that Gillingham own there own football stadium, have decent parking facilities, a train station right next to the new stadium if Gillingham build the stadium at Mill Hill and preferably, if we don’t have to ground-share the stadium - Coventry City to my knowledge are looking to build a new Football Stadium they can call “There Own Football Stadium” as there have been a lot of problems with Sisu in-regards to rent payments and ownership of the stadium, for now Coventry City are playing there home matches at The Ricoh Arena, but whether Coventry City will remain there for the long term, I am not entirely sure.

After being searched by The Stewards I went through the turnstiles and despite the sign above The Refreshment’s Stand saying they are selling Burgers, there were no Burgers being sold inside The Ricoh Arena, and I brought A Sausage Roll and A 500ML Bottle Of Pepsi for £5 which I have got to say is very expensive, and they take the lids off the tops as well, which is something that always bothers me which is why I always carry spare lids with me.

I spoke with Matthew and Michael in the concourse and with The Bristol City and Hull City Match on one of The Television Screen’s, I made the point that should Gillingham get promoted into The Championship then Justin Edinburgh would have get rid off at least a third of the squad so that we can bring in players of Championship Standard, and we may have to rely on Premier League Loanee’s to help bulk the squad up, with the parent club paying the bulk of that players wages as a trade off for giving that young player first team experience, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves here, but when you look at Bristol City in nineteenth position in The Championship with the resources at there disposal, they dominated League One the previous season and that tells you all you need to know about the differences between The Championship and League One.

One of my biggest criticism’s of Martin Allen towards the end of his tenure as Gillingham Manager was that he never prepared Gillingham properly for League One Football after winning The League Two Title in 2012 / 2013, Amine Linganzi and Antonio German were poor signings, and Steven Gregory, Chris Whelpdale, Charlie Lee and Myles Weston on paper was a good midfield, but you always needed a fifth midfielder in there somewhere to cover for there deficiencies and weaknesses, I would say that it has taken until the start of The 2015 / 2016 season for Gillingham to finally adapt to life in League One, because a bad recruitment policy and poor signings can set you back for two or three season’s, I always believed there were two Martin Allen’s, The Manager who got us promoted as League Two Champions, and The Manager who failed to adapt to life in League One, because it did feel like Martin Allen came back to Gillingham in the summer as a different person.

I decided to sit halfway up the stand at The Ricoh Arena in one of the end isle seats, as those seats were closer to the centre of the pitch and the view of the playing surface was perfect, no supporting pillar’s, the seats had the right amount of height in each row and had the segregation not have been in the far corner and supporters could sit more behind the goal then that would of been more ideal.

Daniel joined me and he mentioned that he had traveled with The Supporters Coach and I mentioned I traveled with Kings Ferry as Diane couldn’t drive to this match, Daniel asked why I didn’t travel on The Supporters Coach, and I mentioned that I was going to book but the coach was fully booked and I didn’t realise that two people had dropped out, Daniel told me that The Supporters Coach stopped off for forty minutes at Watford Gap and he felt that such a long stop wasn’t needed for what was a short away trip, it is only 140 miles from Gillingham to Coventry City so why did The Supporters Coach stop for that long ???

Eventually we saw Gillingham’s Team News on Twitter and Gillingham Lined Up As Follows,,,,,,,, Stuart Nelson, Ryan Jackson, John Egan, Adedeji Oshilaja, Bradley Garmston, Josh Wright, Jake Hessenthaler, Emmanuel Osadebe, Bradley Dack, Dominic Samuel, Cody McDonald SUBS: Glenn Morris, Max Ehmer, Brennan Dickenson, Aaron Morris, Doug Loft, Jermaine McGlashan and Rory Donnelly - Gillingham only made two changes to the team that won 3 - 1 against Bury the previous week, with Cody McDonald starting in Rory Donnelly’s place and Adedeji Oshilaja replacing Harry Lennon in the starting line up, as Harry Lennon has gone back to Charlton Athletic.

With Ben Williamson signing for Cambridge United on loan and Harry Lennon going back to Charlton Athletic, Gillingham’s First Team Squad is thin on the ground, and with Jordan Houghton not in Gillingham’s Eighteen Man Match Day Squad again, Daniel felt that The Young Midfielder will go back to Chelsea as Gillingham have enough defensive midfielders available in Jake Hessenthaler, Josh Wright, Doug Loft and Aaron Morris, and I guessed that Jordan Houghton would go back to Chelsea and Justin Edinburgh will sign a centre back on loan to replace Harry Lennon, and sign either a attack minded midfielder or a winger / striker who can give Gillingham a different option going forward.

Coventry City City had plenty of quality in there starting eleven with Sam Ricketts, Romain Vincelot, John Fleck, Adam Armstrong, Ryan Kent, Jacob Murphy and Aaron Martin starting, with the finances and resources available then Coventry City can afford to bring in players of that quality and that is what Gillingham are up against, also, Daniel couldn’t help but notice in the pre-match warm up that Steve Ogrizovic was warming up the two Coventry City Goalkeepers, Steve Ogrizovic made over six hundred appearances for Coventry City between 1984 and 2000 and is a real legend at the football club.

The teams were ready for kick off, and Referee Mark Brown switched ends which meant that Gillingham would be kicking towards The Gillingham Supporters in The South Stand in The Second Half, behind both goals were empty as Coventry City had there supporters in The West Stand Lower Tier, The East Stand and The South East Corner, there may well be over 15,000 inside The Ricoh Arena, but seeing the opposite stand empty was very unusual.

FIRST HALF

Gillingham make a very bad start to The First Half, constantly giving the ball away in bad area’s of the pitch, rushed and hurried clearances just see Coventry City regain possession in Gillingham’s Third of the pitch and on numerous occasions it has taken 4-5 attempts to clear one attacking chance from Coventry City, already in the first few minutes Daniel was saying that Gillingham need to slow down and be patient and just retain possession of the ball.

Three Minutes into the match and Referee Mark Brown gives Coventry City a very soft free kick when Josh Wright clearly won possession of the ball away from Ryan Kent, John Fleck’s in-swinging cross from the resulting free kick is over-hit and goes out to the far side of the pitch as Jim O’Brien keeps the ball in play, Ryan Jackson does enough to kick the ball against The Coventry City Midfielder and win a throw on for Gillingham - we can do with a consistent refereeing performance from Mark Brown - but seeing as he was so controversial in our 3-1 away defeat against Crewe Alexandra when the gang of four took over, I am not expecting a good refereeing performance from Mark Brown, but what I do expect, is a much stronger showing from Gillingham from what we have seen in the opening stages of the match so far.

Six Minutes into the match and again Gillingham cheaply give away possession in our third of the pitch as Jake Hessenthaler sells Josh Wright short with a terrible pass and Coventry City have got a great opportunity to hit Gillingham on the break as Josh Wright sticks with Ryan Kent and does enough to force The Young Midfielder wide and away from goal, but Ryan Kent tries to play the ball through down the by-line, and his attempted pass goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, and from the resulting goal-kick Gillingham created a half chance which could of lead to something promising, Stuart Nelson’s long kick down-field from the resulting goal-kick is flicked on by Dominic Samuel into Bradley Dack’s path, and Bradley Dack tried to pick out Ryan Jackson on the right wing, but Bradley Dack’s pass is over-hit and goes out of play for a goal-kick.

Eight Minutes into the match and Josh Wright does foul Romain Vincelot and Josh Wright takes one for the team to stop Coventry City from counter attacking on The Gills, I was expecting Referee Mark Brown to book Josh Wright but the referee actually showed some leniency and Me and Daniel were hoping that leniency from Mark Brown remains consistent throughout the entire match, but a minute later and in The Ninth Minute, Coventry City created there first real clear cut goal-scoring opportunity of the match, and again, this opportunity on goal was off our own making, Chris Stokes high ball to the centre circle is cut out by Josh Wright and Ryan Jackson plays a terrible short pass back to Josh Wright which is cut out by Jim O’Brien, and The Coventry City Winger runs down the left side of the pitch and plays the ball inside to Jacob Murphy, and Jacob Murphy’s strike on goal from twenty five yards out only just goes wide of Stuart Nelson’s right hand post and Gillingham cannot keep defending like that and expect to get away with it.

Adam Armstrong had pealed off to the right side of the penalty area, Adedeji Oshilaja was one v one with Jacob Murphy and one pass has split Gillingham’s defence open, but ten minutes into the match and despite a dreadful start to the match the score-line is at least 0-0, and the longer that score-line remains then the likelihood of Gillingham growing into this match and improving as the game goes on is ever likely.

But if Gillingham are to improve and impose ourselves on this match, we have to be extra careful in possession of the ball, play the ball in straight lines down the pitch and don’t play short passes inside and allow Coventry City to hit Gillingham on the counter attack, especially if the home side are lined up with a counter attacking system, ten minutes in and so many notes about possession, poor passing and cheaply giving the ball away were starting to build up for my notebook.

Twelve Minutes into the match and Coventry City have another goal-scoring opportunity and there dominance in play is there for all to see, Jim O’Brien plays the ball out-wide to Chris Stokes, who plays the ball back to Jim O’Brien, who plays a cross-field pass which is headered clear by Bradley Garmston and Dominic Samuel losses out to Ben Turner who headers the ball out-wide to Ryan Kent, and Referee Mark Brown penalises Bradley Garmston for closing Ryan Kent down and I have got to say that was a very soft free kick given towards the hosts, Coventry City were quick to get things going from the resulting free kick as Ben Turner plays the ball sideways to John Fleck who has so much space to run into despite Gillingham having two banks of four in-front of goal and John Fleck tries his luck from distance and Stuart Nelson saves the ball and gathers the ball at the second attempt.

It is clear that something needs to be done and something needs to be done now, Coventry City have got so much time on the ball that if this continue’s then the home side are going to score eventually, The 4.4.2 diamond midfield formation isn’t working the way I thought it would work, Jake Hessenthaler, Emmanuel Osadebe and Bradley Dack have the legs and running power in midfield to move about, harass and hurry Coventry City into error’s and give the ball away, but if these three are being instructed to stick to set positions on the pitch and not to dive in, then change the system and have Jake Hessenthaler and Josh Wright in-front of the back four, Emmanuel Osadebe on the left, Bradley Dack in the middle and Cody McDonald on the right with Dominic Samuel on his own up-front, just make it that bit harder for Coventry City, because Me and Daniel could see that the diamond midfield formation just isn’t working.

Fouls by Josh Wright and Ryan Jackson on John Fleck and Jacob Murphy respectively reflected Coventry City’s dominance in the first half, and from the resulting free kick, John Fleck whips in a dangerous in-swinging free kick with pace and Aaron Martin’s glancing header is straight at Stuart Nelson, but still a save that Stuart Nelson needed to make.

Seventeen Minutes into the match and Bradley Dack wins a loose ball in Coventry City’s third of the pitch and Bradley Dack kicks the ball high into the air but Ben Turner slices the ball high up into the air and the ball somehow remains in play and Jake Hessenthaler gets pulled to the deck by Ben Turner - no foul given - and Ben Turner’s pass down the line is cut out by Bradley Garmston and Bradley Dack tries to pick out Dominic Samuel with a pass inside, but Dominic Samuel gets clattered into the deck by Aaron Martin, who sets Coventry City up for a counter attack as Aaron Martin has possession of the ball in a five v four attack, eventually Aaron Martin passes the ball out-wide to Jim O’Brien, who plays the ball back inside to John Fleck and there is no-one in a Gillingham Shirt anywhere near John Fleck and The Coventry City Midfielder tries his luck from distance and John Fleck’s effort on goal only just goes wide of Stuart Nelson’s left hand post.

But it is still one way traffic for the home side and John Fleck plays a through-ball into Jacob Murphy’s path and Jacob Murphy turns and even though Josh Wright times his challenge to perfection, the ball rolls kindly into Adam Armstrong’s path and Adam Armstrong is allowed to turn and run into a central position for a shot off on goal, and even with six players back behind the ball, Adam Armstrong still manages to thread a eye of a needle pass into Jim O’Brein’s path and and Stuart Nelson does really well to force The Coventry City Midfielder to run wide without fouling him, Jim O’Brien plays the ball back to Sam Ricketts, who whips in a dangerous cross which is headered clear by Adedeji Oshilaja, and Jake Hessenthaler helps the ball on it’s way.

But the chance still hasn’t been cleared completely as Ben Turner has possession of the ball and Ben Turner threads the ball through to Jacob Murphy, and Jacob Murphy turns and see’s his shot on goal deflect off Adam Armstrong and go out go play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

Twenty One and Twenty Two Minutes respectively, both teams create one goal-scoring opportunity a piece as both teams are looking to break the dead-lock (although how Coventry City haven’t scored yet we had no idea), In The Twenty First Minute, Ryan Kent takes on Bradley Garmston and skips past Bradley Garmston’s challenge and Ryan Kent’s cross / shot goes wide of Stuart Nelson’s right hand post and goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, and a minute later, Emmanuel Osadebe has possession of the ball thirty yards from goal and he has the option to pass the ball to Ryan Jackson on the over-lap, pass the ball forward to either Cody McDonald or Dominic Samuel, or pass the ball backwards and let Gillingham retain possession of the ball, but Emmanuel Osadebe goes for goal from distance and his effort on goal failed to hit the target, and Coventry City Goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook has had a very comfortable afternoon.

The fast and frantic start to the opening twenty minutes has just started to die down a bit, the score-line being 0-0 is the only positive from Gillingham’s performance at The Ricoh Arena, but Daniel was angry with Justin Edinburgh for two reason’s, one, we cannot see him standing in The Technical Area, and two, he must be able to see what we can see, Gillingham are being over-run in midfield and Coventry City are having so much time and space on the ball because Gillingham are so narrow.

Twenty Six Minutes into the match and Bradley Garmston is in a advanced position down the left side of the pitch, but Bradley Garmston’s cross is over-hit and goes towards the far post but the linesman on the far side had his flag up and Bradley Garmston had gone too far over the byline before crossing the ball, chances on goal for Gillingham are going to be at a premium, so when the Gills are in advanced position’s then we need to be extra careful in possession of the ball, and make sure there is quality in our crosses.

Coventry City had two chances to score in The Twenty Eight and Thirtieth Minutes respectively, In The Twenty Eight Minute, Adam Armstrong picks out Jim O’Brien with a eye of a needle pass through Gillingham’s Defence and Jim O’Brien tries to go round Stuart Nelson but Stuart Nelson makes a brilliant save at Jim O’Brien’s feat as Stuart Nelson dives at the feat of The Coventry City Midfielder to somehow gather the ball, but once again this is a massive let off for The Gills, but the let off didn’t last for long because Coventry City created a even better goal-scoring opportunity in The Thirtieth Minute, again Coventry City look very efficient on the counter attack as Chris Stokes has the pace to run away from Emmanuel Osadebe, but well done to Emmanuel Osadebe for pinning The Coventry City Left Back to the byline and Emmanuel Osadebe tries to do too much and loses out to John Fleck, who has possession of the ball and Emmanuel Osadebe tries to foul John Fleck, but The Coventry City Midfielder stays on his feat and draws the attention of John Egan, and John Fleck threads the ball through to Adam Armstrong on the over-lap and Adam Armstrong takes a touch before firing a low cross across Gillingham’s Penalty Area and somehow the ball didn’t end up in the back of the net.

And that is because Jake Hessenthaler makes a magnificent goal-line block to deny Jacob Murphy from scoring a simple tap in and The Coventry City Supporters were convinced they had scored - we thought they had scored as well - great defending from Jake Hessenthaler - a shame we cannot say that about Gillingham in general because the defending has been appalling throughout the entire game, and yet here we are, thirty minutes into the match with neither team being able to break the deadlock.

A minute later and Jake Hessenthaler is booked for what was a fifty / fifty tussle with Jacob Murphy in Gillingham’s Final Third, was that really a bookable offence ??? no not really, was it a foul ??? maybe, but with huge out-cries from the home support, Me and Daniel thought that Referee Mark Brown has caved in and given a free kick, but the booking for Jake Hessenthaler has set the bar for the rest of the match, if that challenge from Jake Hessenthaler is a foul then every challenge similar to that challenge is also a bookable offence.

A minute later and Gillingham win a corner kick which is something rare for The Traveling Gillingham Supporters to shout about, Jake Hessenthaler plays the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson - CROSS IT JACKSON - Was My Response - and Ryan Jackson did cross the ball but the cross was so poor and easy for Aaron Martin to clear high up into the air, Bradley Garmston wins the loose ball and Josh Wright runs forward in possession of the ball, and Josh Wright plays the ball out-wide to Adedeji Oshilaja on the over-lap, who turns back on himself and plays the ball back to Bradley Garmston, and again Bradley Garmston’s cross is poor and Romain Vincelot slices the ball up into the air, and as the ball comes down, Adedeji Oshilaja’s first touch to control the ball is superb, and Adedeji Oshilaja wins a corner kick off Sam Ricketts - COME ON GILLS, Was Our Response in the back of the away end.

And from the resulting corner kick, Gillingham went from almost scoring at one end of the pitch to conceding at the other end, Bradley Dack’s in-swinging corner kick see’s Cody McDonald’s looping header cleared off the line by Aaron Martin and Romaine Vincelot gets to the second ball first and plays the ball out-wide to John Fleck, who headers the ball inside and Jacob Murphy and Adedeji Oshilaja are both competing for the loose ball on the halfway line and Adedeji Oshilaja slips in attempting to play the ball back to Stuart Nelson, and Jacob Murphy is now through one v one with Stuart Nelson and he had Adam Armstrong behind him should Jacob Murphy wanted to play the ball back to the young striker on loan from Newcastle United, but Jacob Murphy was through on goal and Stuart Nelson stayed on his feat for as long as possible and Jacob Murphy rounded Stuart Nelson and only just managed to squeeze the ball over the goal-line as Ryan Jackson made a brave attempt to clear the ball off the goal-line.

Coventry City one - Gillingham nil - and you had to say that goal has been coming straight from the kick off, but to concede that goal when Gillingham almost scored at the other end is comical and kamikaze defending, the back-pass was poor by Adedeji Oshilaja, but where was everyone else in a Gillingham Shirt ??? Aaron Martin’s clearance off the goal-line, Romain Vincelot and John Fleck get touches on the ball and within 2-3 touches, Coventry City are baring down on Gillingham’s goal and opening the scoring at The Ricoh Arena.

That goal took thirty three minutes to score and before Daniel could say Gillingham need to hold firm at one nil down and make sure we go in at the break with a chance of getting something out of this match, Gillingham were two nil down, and again Gillingham are attacking in too many numbers as Bradley Garmston runs down the left flank in a advanced winger’s role and Bradley Garmston’s pull back is blocked by John Fleck, but Jake Hessenthaler, Bradley Dack, Dominic Samuel, Cody McDonald and Emmanuel Osadebe were all in the opposition’s penalty area and one pass by John Fleck has meant that six Gillingham Players are running back towards there own goal, John Egan tries to hold Jacob Murphy up on the halfway line, but even that tactic doesn’t work because Jacob Murphy has got so much pace that he is bombing down the right flank and no-one can catch up with him and Jacob Murphy whips in a dangerous low cross towards Jim O’Brien, but Ryan Jackson comes across to make a fantastic block.

But that block only delay’s the inevitable as Coventry City double the lead from the resulting corner kick, Romain Vincelot stands over the resulting corner kick and Romain Vincelot whips in a dangerous in-swinging corner kick and Ben Turner out-jumps John Egan to header the ball into the back of the net for 2-0, John Egan felt that Ben Turner had fouled him when jumping up for that goal and Daniel also felt that was a foul, at the time I felt that I needed to see that goal again before deciding if it was a foul or not, even if it was a foul, Referee Mark Brown wasn’t going to give anything in our favour.

But what was Emmanuel Osadebe doing for the goal, if your going to restrict Stuart Nelson’s view by standing in-front of him, then jump to try and block the goal-bound header, Josh Wright reacted too late because he expected Emmanuel Osadebe to block the goal-bound effort from Ben Turner, too many error’s, too many basic error’s and at two nil down Gillingham’s chances of getting something out go this game are decreasing, a draw is still possible, only if Gillingham score the next goal.

But Forty One Minutes into the match and Coventry City wrap up all three points and again Jacob Murphy scores and it is all too easy for Coventry City, Men against Boys on the pitch, Men against Boys in the technical area as Tony Mowbray has used his vast amount of knowledge and experience and he has set up his Coventry City Side to perfection, Justin Edinburgh deserves praise and plaudits for what he has achieved since taking over as Gillingham Manager, but his team selection at The Ricoh Arena has shown a naivety and a lack of experience of managering at this level - understandable given where Justin Edinburgh has come from - but these performances on our travels have happened before under Justin Edinburgh’s management.

Coventry City scored this third goal so easily, Sam Ricketts plays the ball back to Aaron Martin who plays the ball forward to Romain Vincelot, who plays the ball back to Aaron Martin, who passes the ball back to Reice Charles-Cook - who has had less touches on the ball then the fingers on my hands - Reice Charles-Cook plays the ball out-wide to, Chris Stokes, and The Coventry City Left Back plays the ball inside to John Fleck, who plays the ball through to Jim O’Brein, and The Coventry City Number Eleven plays the ball in-between John Egan and Adedeji Oshilaja through to Jacob Murphy who again is one on one with Stuart Nelson and Jacob Murphy rounds Stuart Nelson around the same side as he did for the opening goal and despite a brave attempt in trying to save the ball from Stuart Nelson, Jacob Murphy has made the score-line, Coventry City 3 - 0 Gillingham.

That goal signalled a mass exudes from the away end as many Gillingham Supporters have had enough and they decided to make the exits, understandable as well because The Gillingham Supporters are the only one’s from Gillingham who have decided to turn up to this match at the Ricoh Arena, now I have seen Gillingham come-back to win games when we looked out of the match altogether and I have seen Gillingham draw matches from these positions as well, but Coventry City are a top quality side, there home form is impressive, there team is impressive, there style of football is impressive, the game is won now and Coventry City fully deserve to win this match as well.

Coventry City make the score-line four - nil a few minutes later in The Forty Fourth Minute, any positive and over-optimistic thoughts of a unlikely come-back were well and truly over now, Ryan Ricketts plays the ball inside to Ben Turner who plays the ball out-wide to Chris Stokes, who plays the ball inside to Jim O’Brein who pulls Ryan Jackson in and Romain Vincelot has possession of the ball and plays a over the top pass into Chris Stokes path, and Emmanuel Osadebe is trying to force The Coventry City Left Back further wide and does so, but not wide enough as Chris Stokes is still drawing the attention of John Egan and Adedeji Oshilaja and Chris Stokes is giving far too much time to play a low cross across Gillingham’s Penalty Area and there was Jacob Murphy with the one touch finish to lift the ball into the far left corner of the net, and there is nothing Stuart Nelson could do about that.

Where was Ryan Jackson, where was the pressure on the ball, who was tracking the run from Jacob Murphy, where is The Gillingham Team that beat Bury 3-1 a week a go, so many questions, so many criticism’s, so many times where I have had to mention poor defending, this is not good enough, this is not acceptable and Gillingham have conceded four goals in ten minutes.

After two additional minutes of stoppage time, The Half Time Whistle went at The Ricoh Arena and there were a few boo’s from the back of the away end, many Gillingham Supporters who left at three nil down, were joined by many who had seen enough at half time to decide to leave The Ricoh Arena altogether, a response that is perfectly understandable in my opinion.

HALF TIME: COVENTRY CITY 4 - 0 GILLINGHAM

Coventry City have capitalised on many things in this match, The Quick turnover in possession because when Gillingham attack, Bradley Garmston and Ryan Jackson are needed to provide the width and whenever Gillingham lose possession of the ball high up in Coventry City’s third of the pitch, Coventry City have the quality and the pace to hit Gillingham on the counter attack.

Coventry City have had so much joy down the flanks but also in the middle of midfield, Jacob Murphy can go wide or down the middle and he is supporting Adam Armstrong, also, Jim O’Brein is having so much success down the left for Coventry City, but Romain Vincelot, John Fleck and Ryan Kent are also having so much possession of the ball as Emmanuel Osadebe, Jake Hessenthaler, Bradley Dack and Josh Wright just cannot get near them, they cannot win possession of the ball back, they also cannot retain possession of the ball or get the ball forward as quickly as Coventry City can because there is a difference in quality, but also, we don’t have the players in wide positions to make this pitch wide either.

I wrote down the chances created, the goals conceded, I criticised Gillingham from hoofing the ball and cheaply giving possession of the ball away to A Coventry City Side who can not only retain possession of the ball, but they can go from the halfway line to the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area in one or two passes.

But Justin Edinburgh deserves criticism for the way Gillingham have lined up against Coventry City, the diamond midfield formation was played against Stevenage and Barnsley and Gillingham put in terrible away performances and lost 2-0 and 3-0 in those matches, but to play the same system again against A Coventry City Side who have dominated at home this season and flying high in League One, shows a level of naivety and proves that Justin Edinburgh is still learning what it takes to manage in League One.

This Squad is also short in several key area’s, experienced players do cost big money and big wages, but we can do with some experience down the spin of the team, A Experienced Centre Back, A Experienced Central Midfielder, And A Experienced Striker, Gillingham have done exceptionally well to be where we are in League One this season, but to sustain a promotion push or even maintain a challenge for a playoff spot, Gillingham need more in there squad and this is why Gillingham needed to do well in The FA Cup and Football League Trophy, as wins against Stevenage and Yeovil Town would of brought in the finances to strengthen the squad.

As for The Second Half, Me and Daniel wanted to see Justin Edinburgh shake this team up, get Brennan Dickenson and Jermaine McGlashan on for Emmanuel Osadebe and one off Cody McDonald or Dominic Samuel, play 4.2.3.1 and try and strengthen the midfield, or go to a 3.5.2 / 5.3.2 formation if Justin Edinburgh wants to keep two strikers on the pitch.

Tony Mowbray is in a fortuitous position of being able to substitute players early in preparation for The Bradford City Match on Tuesday Night, this match is in the bag and over and The Second Half for Gillingham is about damage limitation and making sure our goal difference isn’t eroded away, because goal difference could be crucial at the end of the season.

SECOND HALF

Justin Edinburgh did make an half time substitution as Doug Loft comes on for Emmanuel Osadebe, but I was disappointed to see no tactical changes when it was obvious for everyone to see that The 4.4.2 diamond midfield formation just wasn’t working, so why is Justin Edinburgh persisting with a formation which has had it’s weaknesses exploited by a sensational Coventry City Side ???

The Second Half is about damage limitation and score a few goals to keep the goal difference as high as possible and stop Coventry City from scoring, Daniel decided to not watch the first five minutes of The Second Half, many Gillingham Supporters had decided to leave at half time and not bother watching The Second Half, the pub and staying warm elsewhere was much more appealing then the freezing conditions in the back of The Away End at The Ricoh Arena.

And Coventry City were looking to increase there goal tally further straight after the re-start as Jim O’Brein has his effort on goal blocked by John Egan and the follow up effort on goal from John Fleck flies well wide of Stuart Nelson’s left hand post, same formation from Gillingham leads to a sense of de ja vue as Coventry City dominate possession of the ball, Gillingham are too narrow and the midfield is out-numbered, it is painful to be watching such a dreadful performance from Gillingham in a match of this importance, but you have to be critical of the players and critical of Justin Edinburgh for the way Gillingham have lined up at The Ricoh Arena.

Forty Nine Minutes into the match and Dominic Samuel came close to scoring what would of been an early consolation goal for The Gills, Stuart Nelson kicks the ball long down-field and Ben Turner wins the first header but Bradley Dack wins the second header in the middle of midfield, and Cody McDonald beats Chris Stokes in the air to win the aerial challenge, and Cody McDonald flicks the ball on in to Dominic Samuel’s path and Dominic Samuel’s volleyed effort on goal is deflected over the crossbar by Aaron Martin and Gillingham have a corner kick in-front of where some of The Gillingham Supporters were sitting in The Ricoh Arena.

Unfortunately, the resulting in-swinging corner kick from Doug Loft was straight down Reice Charles-Cook’s throat and easy for The Coventry City Goalkeeper to gather, and Reice Charles-Cook quickly distributed the ball down-field and tried to pick out Jim O’Brien on the left side of the pitch, but Ryan Jackson does extremely well to header the ball clear and away from danger - but that quickness of thought and the awareness to distribute the ball quicker is the difference between Coventry City’s Players and Gillingham’s Players - Daniel came up to re-join me halfway up in the away end at The Ricoh Arena, and I mentioned that Justin Edinburgh had gone for a like for like substitution with Doug Loft coming on for Emmanuel Osadebe, and Dominic Samuel almost scoring an consolation goal for The Gills.

Fifty Four Minutes into the match and Coventry City could of extended there lead further with a fifth goal, John Fleck threads the ball through to Jacob Murphy who with his back to goal plays a one touch layoff to Romain Vincelot who plays the ball back to John Fleck, who had the vision and awareness to play the ball through to Chris Stokes on the over-lap on the left flank, and Chris Stokes plays the ball back to Jim O’Brein, who runs back, retains possession of the ball and plays the ball to the right side of the pitch to Ryan Kent, who takes a touch to control the ball and with a few step-over’s, manage’s to whip in a dangerous low cross across Gillingham’s Six Yard Box and Jacob Murphy was stretching low across the deck to try and divert the ball into the back of the net for Coventry City’s fifth goal of the game - but there is no pressure on the ball from Gillingham, we may well be keeping a disciplined shape and trying to keep the score down, but Coventry City’s quick movement, quality in possession of the ball and quick passing is punishing Gillingham, 8-0 to Coventry City would reflect the dominance and just how one sided this match has been for the home side.

After that goal-scoring opportunity for the home side, Coventry City made there first substitution of the match as Aaron Phillips replaces Ben Turner in The Fifty Fifth Minute, Tony Mowbray can start resting players for a difficult match away against Bradford City on Tuesday Night - a ground Gillingham won at with a 2-1 away win earlier in the season, Bradford City will give Coventry City much more of a test then Gillingham have given Coventry City, and this match was building up to a fascinating top of the table clash, but the build up has been more interesting then the match itself, as Gillingham haven’t turned up.

Referee Mark Brown was getting ridiculous with some of the decision’s he was giving to Coventry City now as Dominic Samuel goes up for a fifty / fifty ball with Aaron Martin and to award a free kick for a legitimate challenge for the ball was pathetic, and Coventry City should of scored a fifth goal from the resulting free kick as Aaron Martin squares the ball to Chris Stokes, who plays the ball back to Aaron Martin and The Coventry City Central Defender plays a long ball down-field which Bradley Garmston blocks as Aaron Martin’s long ball almost picks out Ryan Kent, but Bradley Garmston hesitated for the second ball and Adedeji Oshilaja had to come across and Ryan Kent threads through an fantastic through-ball for Adam Armstrong to run on to, and Adam Armstrong is one on one with Stuart Nelson and Adam Armstrong hits the outside of Stuart Nelson’s left hand post with a well driven effort and that should of been five nil to Coventry City.

Hesitation from Bradley Garmston was poor, Adedeji Oshilaja had to come across and there was so much space for Adam Armstrong to run into, Gillingham’s Defending has been appalling and Coventry City are tearing Gillingham apart, why is Justin Edinburgh persisting with The 4.4.2 diamond midfield formation I have no idea, Gillingham have got there team selection wrong before kick off and the players have put in a woeful performance, when you combine those two things together then this is precisely the sort of performance and result you are going to see.

Four Minutes later and in The Sixty Second Minute Gillingham pull a goal back, John Egan plays a pass forward to Bradley Dack on the halfway line and Bradley Dack skilfully flicks the ball into Jake Hessenthaler’s path as Jake Hessenthaler runs into a more central position in Coventry City’s final third, and Jake Hessenthaler tries to thread the ball through to Dominic Samuel but Jake Hessenthaler’s through-ball is cut out by Aaron Martin, but Bradley Dack gets to the loose ball first and plays the ball back to Josh Wright, who plays the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson on the right wing, and Ryan Jackson uses his pace to go past Jim O’Brein and Ryan Jackson could fire a low cross across Coventry City’s Six Yard Box, but Ryan Jackson has the awareness to pull the ball back to Bradley Dack on the edge of Coventry City’s Penalty Area and Bradley Dack’s first time shot goes into the bottom right corner of the net and there was nothing Reice Charles-Cook could do about that.

A well composed finish and it is fitting that Bradley Dack scores the consolation goal against Coventry City because Bradley Dack is the one player who has put in a respectable performance against Coventry City at The Ricoh Arena “We’re Going To Win 5-4” was the chant from the back of the away end, I personally couldn’t see that happening, but another goal in the next few minutes would make this match very interesting.

After that goal had gone in, Coventry City showed the strength and quality of there substitutes bench as Gael Bigirimana replaces Jacob Murphy, So the Central Midfielder on loan from Newcastle United comes on to replace The Winger / Striker on loan from Norwich City, that is the strength in depth Tony Mowbray has in his squad, having the money to spend on players is one thing, but using that money wisely to recruit good players is another thing altogether and Tony Mowbray has used his contacts in the game to sign some very good players.

Just when it looked liked there was a possibility of Gillingham getting themselves back into the game, Referee Mark Brown books Bradley Dack for a nothing incident with Gael Bigirimana, “Your Rubbish Ref” “Your A Disgrace Brown” and much stronger out-bursts from the away end were used to describe Mark Brown’s biast refereeing decision’s, it really was a ridiculous decision and I was anticipating referee Mark Brown sending one of our players off to really sum up the day entirely.

Sixty Seven Minutes into the match and Brennan Dickenson comes on for Cody McDonald, I thought that with that substitution then finally Justin Edinburgh has realised that Gillingham needed five players in midfield with Brennan Dickenson on the left, Bradley Dack on the right, and Jake Hessenthaler, Josh Wright and Doug Loft in the middle and Dominic Samuel on his own up-front, with just over twenty minutes remaining the match is beyond all doubt, but another goal would mean only a minus two deficit and goal difference will make a huge difference at the end of the season.

And Three Minutes later in The Seventieth Minute, Gillingham make there third and final substitution as Gillingham make a like for like change in the middle of midfield as Aaron Morris comes on for Josh Wright, I was also wrong with My 4.2.3.1 change with Brennan Dickenson coming on for Cody McDonald, as Brennan Dickenson was playing alongside Dominic Samuel in attack, so The 4.4.2 diamond midfield formation remained.

The attendance was announced as 15,604, a large attendance, but despite a 15,000+ attendance, The Ricoh Arena is less then half full as The Ricoh Arena has a 32,609 capacity, I didn’t know what the attendance was in the away end, but there were still a lot of Gillingham Supporters in the back of the away end in The Ricoh Arena, the loud and enthusiastic voices at the start of the match had disappeared and in it’s place was silence, with a few outbursts at some shocking refereeing decision’s.

Seventy Three Minutes into the match and Gillingham had a great chance to score as Reice Charles-Cook rolls the ball out to John Fleck who tries to take the ball past Doug Loft in Coventry City’s final third, but Doug Loft intercept’s the ball and let’s the ball run through to Dominic Samuel, who takes a few touches on the ball and Dominic Samuel’s low shot on goal is very easy for Reice Charles-Cook to save low down to his left, Dominic Samuel needed way more power behind that striker if he was to severely test The Coventry City Goalkeeper.

One thing I notice a lot with goal-kicks is that everyone is bunched together in the middle, why don’t players peal off to the left wing or right wing or drop deeper for a short goal-kick, this is a big playing surface at The Ricoh Arena, use all of it, winds me up to see every player in the middle competing for a long kick down-field, why don’t players peal off and pull Coventry City’s players apart ???

Bekah added that Gillingham’s performances on the road is why she rarely comes to away games as Bekah felt that every-time she watched Gillingham away from home that Gillingham lose, and Bekah had been listening to me and Daniel talk about tactics, style of play and movement on and off the ball, Coventry City Away is expensive, £20 ticket, £22 travel and £11 on Two Match Day Programme’s, A Sausage Roll and A 500ML Bottle of Pepsi, that’s £53 spent, then there is the time getting to and from Coventry City, Gillingham Supporters deserve better because we’re the only people from Gillingham who have turned up to the game at The Ricoh Arena.

Eighty Two Minutes into the match and Coventry City make there third and final substitution as Ryan Haynes replaces Jim O’Brien, The Coventry City Number Eleven has produced moments of genuine quality throughout the entire match and he was rightfully given a standing ovation from the home supporters, thankfully Coventry City have taken there foot off the gas for most of this second half, otherwise if they maintained the same levels of intensity from the first half, Coventry City could of won this by A Cricket Score-Line, as the one-sided level of dominance was there for all to see.

A Minute after that substitution and Stuart Nelson dives low to his left to deny Gael Bigirimana from restoring Coventry City’s four goal advantage with an comfortable save, a better striker from Gael Bigirimana and Coventry City would of scored again, but three minutes later and in The Eighty Sixth Minute, Adam Armstrong was teed up by John Fleck on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Adam Armstrong has sliced the ball well wide of Stuart Nelson’s right hand post, Coventry City’s danger-man has had one of those day’s where nothing is going right for him in-froth of goal, but when your main man is off form, it is crucial that other players step up, and Jacob Murphy has stepped up for Coventry City by scoring a hat-trick.

Coventry City could of scored a fifth goal in comical circumstances as we were approaching The Ninetieth Minute, Chris Stokes long ball down-field see’s Adam Armstrong chase the loose ball with Adedeji Oshilaja and Stuart Nelson comes rushing off his goal-line, Stuart Nelson and Adam Armstrong both are fully entitled to go for the loose ball and neither player get contact on the ball, Adedeji Oshilaja prevents the ball from going out of play, waits for Stuart Nelson to get back in goal again, but plays a horrendous pass down the line which Gael Bigirimana is unable to keep in play, but play continue’s and The Linesman and Referee Mark Brown are right there and how did they fail to see that the ball went out of play, Gael Bigirimana plays the ball inside to John Fleck, who plays the ball through to Adam Armstrong on the right side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Adam Armstrong’s cross / shot goes across the face of goal and fails to test Stuart Nelson between the sticks.

After four minutes of additional time, Referee Mark Brown blew his whistle for full time to put us out of our misery and Coventry City’s victory was assured at half time and confirmed long before The Full Time Whistle was blown, Coventry City fully deserved all three points at The Ricoh Arena and as The Gillingham Players came over to applaud the away supporters, there was some clapping, but the response from Gillingham Supporters was more silence then agitation.

I agreed with Daniel that The Gillingham Players shouldn’t have shook Referee Mark Brown by the hands, he had a shocking game as referee, but that performance from Mark Brown was a drop in the ocean compared to just how bad Gillingham were, these two teams may have gone into this match as the top two in the division, but such is the gulf in class, Coventry City looked liked A Championship Side, and Gillingham looked like A League Two Team.

FULL TIME: COVENTRY CITY 4 - 1 GILLINGHAM

After I made sure I had everything on me I made way down the stairs to the exit, not much can really be added about that performance, Daniel had his final thoughts on that match and he wasn’t happy with that performance in general, and I wasn’t pleased with that performance either and Daniel wished me a safe trip back, and like-wise I wished him a safe trip back as well.

I got back on to The Kings Ferry Coach, sat down and immediately I tweeted that Justin Edinburgh cannot play a 4.4.2 diamond midfield formation away from home as Coventry City could of won by 6-7 goals, I thought that Coventry City were the better side, but we made things very easy for them with the way we lined up, and I eventually saw the official away attendance and Gillingham took 857 supporters to The Ricoh Arena, fantastic turnout considering that it is a few weeks until Christmas, and paying for tickets, travel, food, drink and so on costs a lot of money, so fair play to every Gillingham Supporter at The Ricoh Arena at the weekend.

I also responded to Darren Emptage’s tweet about Gillingham’s Young Loanee’s deserving there chance in Gillingham’s First Team, I responded with my long standing opinion that Gillingham’s Youngsters should be loaned out for three years at three different levels of The Non League Pyramid, with each player being pushed a division higher to improve there development, Darren is Callum Emptage’s uncle and he liked my response, I have also posted a much more detailed report on this in meticulous detail in the following blog - http://gillinghamdebate.freeforums.org/post5566.html#p5566 - I think if Gillingham were to loan young players out at the ages of 16, 17, and 18, they would have more of a chance of developing and more likely to progress and reach Gillingham’s First Team if there is a potential pathway for our younger players.

I Re-Tweeted a few tweets, again made my point that The 4.4.2 diamond midfield formation shouldn’t be played in away matches ever again, and responded to a few Gillingham Supporters who were lucky not to be at The Ricoh Arena, The Kings Ferry Coaches were not going to stop on the way back and I didn’t mind that this time because that was a horrific performance, I could always get something to eat and drink at home and I was responding to a lot of comments on Twitter.

Looking at Justin Edinburgh’s Post Match Press Conference, I didn’t mind that he chose the option of saying that we’re a young team and we have to learn quickly, I didn’t want to see players publicly slated in The Local Press as that would show a lack of class, Justin Edinburgh did the right thing by not being over-critical of the players in the press, I just hope that behind closed doors there were comments said and some strong words mentioned which will remain in the dressing room.

In-fact we got back so quick that we were back in Gillingham at 8.30PM, and after dropping most of the supporters back at Priestfield Stadium, Me and Gary were dropped off at The Cricketers, and I made sure I had everything on me before leaving the coach, and Me and Gary started making our way home, I was disappointed with the result, but Gary added that we have seen enough of those type of performances on the road to know that these days happen, but like me, Gary was very disappointed with The Diamond Midfield Formation and he doesn’t like that system.

Gary was going to give Shrewsbury Town Away a miss but he will be going to The Rochdale Home Match and I said C Ya to Gary as I walked up past St Maragerts School and I made my way home, and I was back in-doors and back in the warm at 8.50PM, A long day, a cold day and a disappointing day, but Gillingham got what we deserved - nothing - the challenge now is to bounce back with results against Rochdale and Shrewsbury Town, which is easier said then done.