#crewealexandra

[britishsportinglegends]

Danny Murphy.

[fan-of-mulligan]

FOM BLOG FIVE THINGS TO PICK OUT FROM CREWE ALEXANDRA 2-0 GILLINGHAM

After Gillingham’s 1-0 Home Defeat Against Grimsby Town At Priestfield Stadium, a result which ended Gillingham’s unbeaten home record in the league, and in-fact, you had to go back to Gillingham 0-2 Crawley Town On Boxing Day 2023 for the last time Gillingham had lost a home game in the league, Gillingham had the chance to respond to that setback with an away visit to The Mornflake Stadium as Gillingham took on Crewe Alexandra in League Two, and prior to this match kicking off, Gillingham were still top in League Two whilst Crewe Alexandra were twelfth and in mid-table.

However, rather then responding To The Grimsby Town defeat with a win against Crewe Alexandra - which is what we were hoping for - Crewe Alexandra won 2-0 against Gillingham ad Gillingham put in there worst performance in the league against A Crewe Alexandra Side who were missing several players due to injury, It was a result met with frustration and irritation amongst The Gillingham Supporters in the away end, and back to back defeats in the league without scoring a goal, and here are the five talking points from Gillingham’s 2-0 away defeat against Crewe Alexandra…..

ONE: INABILITY TO SCORE OR WIN FROM A LOSING POSITION - This was a stat that worked against Neil Harris, and ironically enough, Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Gillingham was Neil Harris’s final league game in-charge as Gillingham Manager, and Gillingham lose away against Crewe Alexandra by the same 2-0 score-line, all three matches that Gillingham have conceded the first goal in - Doncaster Rovers, Grimsby Town and Now Crewe Alexandra - have seen Gillingham not only concede the first goal, but Gillingham have not scored in all three matches and Gillingham have also lost all three league games where the opposition have scored first.

This stat is one that cannot continue if Gillingham want to be competing for the automatic promotion spots and the playoff position’s in League Two, because there are going to be matches where the opposition score first and Gillingham have got to find ways to draw and win league games from a losing position, and Gillingham found ways of winning matches from losing positions last season, Accrington Stanley, Notts County and Morecambe were three matches that Gillingham won from a losing position, would have been four had Swindon Town not scored a stoppage time equaliser for 2-2, but this stat is one that Gillingham have got to improve on going forwards, because it was a concerning stat amongst the fan-base last season, and if three league defeats when conceding the first goal continues throughout the season and there are six or seven defeats and Gillingham have not recovered from going a goal down, then talk about this stat will only increase and there be more genuine concerns whenever Gillingham go a goal down.

TWO: MISTAKES FOR BOTH GOALS - Gillingham have been excellent defensively this season, and the defence has been praised for defending a 1-0 lead against Chesterfield and Tranmere Rovers with ten men, and Gillingham went on to win the game 3-0 against Tranmere Rovers, and Gillingham put in a fantastic defensive performance to win 1-0 against Notts County at Meadow Lane and even in the season where Gillingham managed to retain our Football League Status, Gillingham had a strong defensive record which was much better then the other teams battling to avoid relegation at the bottom of League Two.

However, both goals were preventable, for the first goal, a mis-placed pass from Remeao Hutton see’s Shilow Tracey get on to the loose ball for Crewe Alexandra and run forwards in possession of the ball, and Shilow Tracey passes the ball through to Jack Lankester, who skips past Shadrach Ogie’s challenge far too easily before squaring the ball to Shilow Tracey who scores a simple tap in to give Crewe Alexandra the lead, and for that first goal, the defending from Shadrach Ogie has got to be way better, show Jack Lankester down the line, prevent that cross from coming across the face of goal, and it’s a poor pass from Remeao Hutton, poor defending from Shadrach Ogie, and Crewe Alexandra have scored the opening goal when Gillingham have put in a very encouraging performance in the opening stages of the match.

And for the second goal, One of Max Ehmer or Shadrach Ogie have got to compete with Adrien Thibaut on the halfway line, and Adrien Thibaut somehow keeps possession of the ball, passes the ball out-wide to Shilow Tracey, and Shilow Tracey works his way into a shooting position before picking out the far left corner of the net with a fantastic strike which goes in off the post for 2-0, and at 2-0, Crewe Alexandra are in a commanding position to pick up all three points, But Max Clark, who put in one of his worst performances in A Gillingham Shirt, has got to stay tighter with Shilow Tracey and prevent that effort on goal, it’s not good defending from Gillingham to prevent Shilow Tracey from scoring for Crewe Alexandra, and preventing Adrien Thibaut from retaining possession of the ball on the halfway line, and poor defending is not the words to be used to describe Gillingham’s defensive performances this season, and Gillingham have got to find ways of getting our defence back to what it was doing for the majority of the early part of the season, which was keeping clean sheets and giving the opposition very few opportunities to score.

THREE: GLENN MORRIS KEPT THE SCORE-LINE RESPECTABLE - Gillingham lost 2-0 against Crewe Alexandra, but the score-line would have been 4-0 or 5-0 had it not been for Glenn Morris, Because Glenn Morris had made three saves to prevent Adrien Thibaut, Joel Tabiner and Matúš Holíček from scoring and putting the match beyond all doubt, because it only would take a goal from Gillingham and Gillingham are back in this match at 2-1 down, and Crewe Alexandra start to get nervous in the closing stages of the match.

And there is nothing that Glenn Morris could have done about either goal conceded against Crewe Alexandra, his saves kept the score-line down, kept Gillingham in the match so that if Gillingham were to score late on, then at 2-1 down and in the closing stages of the match, then Gillingham could have pushed for a late equaliser, and whilst Gillingham lost 2-0 and put in a very dreadful performance against Crewe Alexandra, Glenn Morris can leave the pitch with his head held high with his goalkeeping performance for Gillingham.

FOUR: GILLINGHAM NOT CLINICAL IN-FRONT OF GOAL - Gillingham had nineteen efforts at goal against Crewe Alexandra and that is an incredible number of efforts on goal away from home, however, only one of those efforts on goal was on target, and that was Elliott Nevitt’s one on one effort which was saved by Filip Marschall and Joe Gbode’s follow up effort goes over the crossbar, Jayden Clarke had an effort on goal which bounced up off the turf and went over the crossbar, Ethan Coleman had an effort on goal blocked before seeing his follow up effort comfortably fail to hit the target.

Jack Nolan had an effort on goal brilliantly blocked by Mickey Demetriou, Elliott Nevitt’s shot on the turn went wide, and the latter two were good efforts on goal, but there were other efforts on goal, particularly in the second half which were a complete waste, like the follow up effort from Ethan Coleman after his initial effort on goal had been blocked, Crewe Alexandra only had nine efforts on goal, but six were on target, and Glenn Morris had made three or four very good saves to keep the score-line respectable, and Gillingham just were not clinical in-front of goal, and when we do create decent clear cut goal-scoring opportunities, Gillingham are not taking those chances, and Gillingham were taking those chances when they came our way earlier on in the season.

FIVE: NOT GETTING THE BEST OUT OF ELLIOTT NEVITT AND JACK NOLAN - Gillingham signed Elliott Nevitt and Jack Nolan in the summer to address our lack of fire-power from last season, both players scored eighteen and seventeen goals respectively in The 2023 / 2024 season, and Jack Nolan created thirteen assist’s to go alongside those seventeen goals, But we’re currently ten games into The League Two Season, and Jack Nolan and Elliott Nevitt have scored two league goals between them, and Elliott Nevitt has scored for Gillingham in The Football League Trophy, so three goals scored between two attacking players who scored a combined thirty five goals for Crewe Alexandra and Accrington Stanley in League Two in the previous season.

And some supporters are making the point that Jack Nolan is being played out of position, that theory goes out of the window when you take into consideration that Jack Nolan was creating thirteen assist’s and scoring seventeen goals for Accrington Stanley playing as a right winger, and Elliott Nevitt lead the line for Crewe Alexandra in a 4-2-3-1 formation, so both players are playing in there respective positions that they played for Crewe Alexandra and Accrington Stanley, but have not hit the heights we have hoped for so far in A Gillingham Shirt.

Do both players still need time to adjust to life at Gillingham Football Club ??? - Are we giving both players the service and supply that they are looking for ??? - given that Elliott Nevitt and Jack Nolan have scored three combined goals between them at Gillingham Football Club, you have to say no, are Gillingham over-relying on The Remeao Hutton and Jack Nolan combination down the right side of the pitch, and we are basically playing the ball down that side of the pitch all the time ???

Should Gillingham have signed a left winger with pace who is a guaranteed starter so that someone of decent quality can be an attacking threat down the left which opens up more space for Elliott Nevitt and Jack Nolan to be able to create and score more goals ??? - Because Jayden Clarke has improved massively from last season to this, with three goals scored so far this season, but could Gillingham have done with signing A Andy Barcham, Myles Weston, Elliott List type of player, someone with just out and out pace and ability down that left side to not only provide more goals and assist’s from that side of the pitch, but also, give more space for Elliott Nevitt and Jack Nolan to be more of a threat in the final third ???

ADDITIONAL COMMENT

IMPACT FROM JOE GBODE - One player who tried to make an impact from the substitutes bench was Joe Gbode, Because Joe Gbode came on for Gillingham in the seventy eighth minute, and Joe Gbode uses his pace to go past The Crewe Alexandra Full Back, Joe Gbode had an effort on goal which failed to hit the target after Elliott Nevitt’s initial effort on goal was saved by Filip Marschall, and Joe Gbode was trying to make things happen with the limited time on the pitch, and after his cameo appearance, many supporters were saying post match that Joe Gbode needs to be starting for Gillingham because he is at least trying to make things happen by trying to take players on.

[fan-of-mulligan]

FOM BLOG: GILLINGHAM 4-1 CREWE ALEXANDRA

My Thoughts On Gillingham 4-1 Crewe Alexandra.............

Gillingham’s 4-1 Home Win Against Crewe Alexandra was Gillingham’s Best Home Performance Of The Season, and this result has seen Gillingham answer quite a few questions, Because prior to Gillingham’s 4-1 home win against Crewe Alexandra, Gillingham had picked up just four points against teams in the top ten In League One, Gillingham had only scored three goals in nine games against teams in The Top Ten Of League One, And Gillingham had picked up just four points out of twenty seven, So For Gillingham to pick up all three points, score four goals, and put in such a convincing performance against a very good Crewe Alexandra Side, means that Gillingham can take a lot of confidence going into a very difficult away fixture against Sunderland At The Stadium Of Light On Saturday.

Other questions have also been responded to, Like the lack of the goals Gillingham have scored, Because if you take out The 4-1 away win against Rochdale, And The 2-2 draw against Rochdale at the weekend, Gillingham had only scored two goals in our four league games against Accrington Stanley, Northampton Town, Burton Albion and Plymouth Argyle, and the questions being asked is this, Have Gillingham have got enough fire-power to cause some of the more established sides problems defensively, and that question has been answered with Gillingham scoring four goals against Crewe Alexandra, And Gillingham have finally won a home league game, because our last league win at Priestfield Stadium came against Swindon Town, When Gillingham won 2-0 against Swindon Town On The Fifth Of December, If Gillingham are going to close the gap between themselves and the teams in and around the playoff places in League One, then winning more home games between now and the end of the season is how Gillingham can close the gap on the playoff positions.

Whether Gillingham can challenge for a playoff position in League One will depend greatly on the results Gillingham can pick up in our next five League One Matches, Because Gillingham's Next Five League One Fixtures Are As Follows….. 30th January A Sunderland, 5th February H Lincoln City, 13th February A Charlton Athletic, 16th February H Peterborough United and 20th February H Bristol Rovers - Gillingham will play against teams in Seventh, First, Sixth, Third And Nineteenth in the next five matches, and were Gillingham to pick up eight points from those five matches, then there is a chance that Gillingham could be that one team that goes from mid-table to challenging for A League One Playoff Place at the end of the season.

My Own Opinion Is This, I am concentrating on Gillingham picking up enough points between now and the end of the season which will see Gillingham retain there League One Status for The 2021 / 2022 Season, and the sooner that objective is ticked off the list, then Gillingham are in a position to start looking up the table, rather then looking over our shoulder at The League One Relegation Zone, I just have the opinion that teams like Lincoln City, Hull City, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Peterborough United, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic have the squad depth to cope with the demands of a congested league season, and the seven clubs I have mentioned can make five or six changes to there starting line up, and the replacements that are coming into the starting line up are like for like replacements in-terms of quality, The teams who are consistent are the teams who will pick up enough points to secure automatic promotion into The Championship, or pick up the points required to secure themselves a spot in the playoffs, and like for like quality replacements that provides depth in your squad will be a difference maker - If only Gillingham didn’t lose those three league games against Plymouth Argyle, Burton Albion and Northampton Town, because the additional nine points would have put Gillingham on Forty Two Points From Twenty Four Matches - A Points Tally which would have put Gillingham up as high as fifth In The League One Table.

STARTING LINE UP

Gillingham Lined Up As Follows Against Crewe Alexandra,,,,, Jack Bonham, Ryan Jackson, Robbie Cundy, Jack Tucker, Connor Ogilvie, Callum Slattery, Kyle Dempsey, Jordan Graham, Olly Lee, Tom O’Connor, Vadaine Oliver Substitutes: Robbie McKenzie, Stuart O’Keefe, Matty Willock, Alex MacDonald, Tyreke Johnson and John Akinde - Substitute Goalkeeper Joe Walsh wasn’t named among the substitutes bench, and we now know the reason as to why that is the case, because two Championship Clubs have made offers for Joe Walsh which were too good to turn down, QPR are rumoured to have offered £500,000 for Joe Walsh, And I am sure we will find out more details once we hear official confirmation that the transfer has been concluded.

But with Joe Walsh’s absence, Gillingham are lacking a understudy goalkeeper to Joe Walsh, And Charlie Walker has surprisingly not been promoted on to the bench to provide goalkeeping cover for Jack Bonham for this home league game against Crewe Alexandra, Paul Raynor mentioned that Gillingham will sign a back up goalkeeper before The Sunderland League Game at the weekend, But even with a new goalkeeper signed, Gillingham will still only have two senior goalkeepers to call upon, and we have seen on numerous occasions this season when Joe Walsh has been unavailable that Gillingham do not have anyone else to provide Goalkeeper Cover.

As for how Gillingham are lining up for the home league game against Crewe Alexandra, Either Gillingham are sticking with The 4-2-3-1 Formation which Gillingham played against Rochdale, Or, Gillingham are lining up with A 4-4-2 Diamond Midfield Formation, I cannot see Robbie Cundy, Jack Tucker and Connor Ogilvie lining up as a three man central defensive partnership with Ryan Jackson and Tom O’Connor as wing backs, I think Gillingham will either line up with A 4-2-3-1 Formation, Or, A 4-4-2 Diamond Midfield Formation.

FIRST HALF:

And within the first fifteen seconds of the match, Crewe Alexandra should have opened the scoring, Ryan Wintle passes the ball back towards Rio Adebisi, And Rio Adebisi kicks the ball long down the left side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Right - And Chris Porter gets the ball under control before playing a short layoff towards Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk clips the ball over Ryan Jackson’s shoulder towards Chris Porter, And Chris Porter headers the ball down towards Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk manages to pick out Oliver Finney with a first time pass inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Oliver Finney plays a first time flick back towards Chris Porter, And Chris Porter passes the ball square towards Tom Lowery inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Tom Lowery plays a first time pass short towards Oliver Finney, And Oliver Finney takes a few touches in possession of the ball before seeing his low shot towards goal saved by Jack Bonham and the ball diverts out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick.

That was an incredible passage of play from Crewe Alexandra with Tom Lowery, Oliver Finney, Charlie Kirk and Chris Porter all involved in that remarkable one and two touch passing display that we are so accustomed to seeing from Crewe Alexandra, and even though Oliver Finney was being closely marked by Jack Tucker, Callum Slattery, and Robbie Cundy, Oliver Finney still managed to get a shot off on goal which required Jack Bonham to make the save to preserve The 0-0 score-line.

Two Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra were on the front-foot, Charlie Kirk manages to pick out Oliver Finney with a pass down the right side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Oliver Finney’s first time cross is blocked by Robbie Cundy and the ball ricochets off Gillingham’s New Signing and hits Oliver Finney and the ball ricochets fortuitously out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Crewe Alexandra are going to dominate possession of the ball and they are going to be passing the ball through into Gillingham’s Final Third on a regular basis, and this match is going to be similar to Gillingham’s 1-0 win against Crewe Alexandra at Gretsy Road, where Gillingham somehow managed to win 1-0 thanks to John Akinde’s Header.

But In The Ninth Minute Of The Match, And Gillingham manage to win themselves a penalty kick, Crewe Alexandra have a throw on down the left side of the pitch in there own defensive final third, And Charlie Kirk throws the ball back towards Rio Adebisi, And Rio Adebisi takes a touch to control the ball before looking around for passing options, And Rio Adebisi plays a short pass square to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle passes the ball back towards Omar Beckles, And Omar Beckles takes a touch to control the ball before clipping a cross-field pass towards Travis Johnson down the right side of the pitch, And Travis Johnson gets the ball under control before passing the ball forwards towards Tom Lowery, And Callum Slattery manages to intercept the ball and the ball ricochets towards Jordan Graham, who gets the ball under control, turns and runs inside the penalty area in possession of the ball, And Jordan Graham is fouled by Travis Johnson and Referee Alan Young points to the penalty spot straight away, and this is a fantastic opportunity for Gillingham to take the lead early on in this important League One Fixture.

And up steps Jordan Graham to take the resulting penalty kick, And Jordan Graham powerfully places the ball into the bottom right corner of the net with Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper Dave Richards diving towards the left side, And Jordan Graham has opened the scoring for The Gills from the penalty spot, and that goal is precisely what Gillingham needed against a very good Crewe Alexandra Side, Because Crewe Alexandra are the last team you want to be chasing the game against because of the way they retain possession of the ball, and by scoring first, Gillingham can perhaps control the game better because we are in a winning position - GILLINGHAM 1-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA.

Twelve Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra managed to win themselves a corner kick because Owen Dale’s through pass through to Chris Porter is intercepted by Connor Ogilvie and Connor Ogilvie’s interception diverts the ball out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Crewe Alexandra came close to equalising, Travis Johnson whips in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick and Omar Beckles wins the aerial challenge in the air up against Jack Tucker and Robbie Cundy, And Omar Beckles header towards goal is saved by Jack Bonham.

Sixteen Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra had a goal-kick, And Dave Richards passes the ball short to Oliver Lancashire, And Oliver Lancashire takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Travis Johnson, And Travis Johnson is being closed down by Tom O’Connor and Travis Johnson passes the ball back towards Oliver Lancashire, And The Crewe Alexandra Centre Back kicks the ball long down-field and Jack Tucker wins the aerial challenge on the halfway line to header the ball forwards towards Olly Lee, But Ryan Wintle manages to get the ball under control and pass the ball out-wide to Travis Johnson, And Travis Johnson see’s his attempted pass through to Owen Deal cut out by Callum Slattery on the halfway line, And Callum Slattery manages to get the ball under control, take a few touches in possession of the ball, And Callum Slattery’s through-ball is just to long for either Vadaine Oliver or Jordan Graham to be able to get on the end of that pass, and the ball runs through to Dave Richards In The Crewe Alexandra Goal.

Eighteen Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham had the chance to go 2-0 up, Gillingham have a throw on down the left side of the pitch, and from the resulting throw on, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Vadaine Oliver cannot make contact with the ball to header the ball goal-wards or knock the ball down towards a team mate, and the ball bounces high off the turf and Dave Richards just about manages to prevent Ryan Jackson’s long throw from going over the goal-line, Olly Lee couldn’t get to the ball ahead of The Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper, and from here, Gillingham had huge claims for a penalty kick turned down from Referee Alan Young, Dave Richards rolls the ball short to Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk takes a few touches in possession of the ball, But Charlie Kirk’s pass square to Tom Lowery is intercepted by Callum Slattery, And Callum Slattery plays a short pass square to Jordan Graham down the right side of the pitch, And Jordan Graham manages to retain possession of the ball before being clattered to the deck by Oliver Finney, and no free kick was awarded in Gillingham’s Favour and Rio Adebisi has possession of the ball for Crewe Alexandra in the visitor’s final third, And Rio Adebisi passes the ball short to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle is being closed down by Jordan Graham, Olly Lee and Kyle Dempsey, And Jordan Graham manages to intercept the ball, and Jordan Graham is bundled down to the deck inside Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area by Ryan Wintle and Rio Adebisi - I thought that was going to be another penalty kick for Gillingham, But Referee Alan Young is unmoved by Gillingham’s appeals for a penalty.

Twenty One Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra had the chance to level the game up at 1-1, Omar Beckles passes the ball out-wide to Charlie Kirk down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Charlie Kirk takes a touch to control the ball before seeing his clipped pass headed clear by Callum Slattery and Charlie Kirk manages to keep the ball in play before running down the left flank in possession of the ball, and Charlie Kirk manages to pick out Tom Lowery with a clipped pass towards The Crewe Alexandra Midfielder on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Tom Lowery runs forwards in possession of the ball before managing to pick out Oliver Finney with a short pass inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Oliver Finney’s first time shot towards goal fails to hit the target and Jack Bonham wasn’t required to make a save - But that effort on goal from Oliver Finney is a warning for Gillingham, Because Crewe Alexandra do come into this match having not lost there last ten league fixtures in League One.

Twenty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Tom Lowery’s heavy pass back to Omar Beckles is over-hit and Crewe Alexandra have given away a very cheap corner kick, Gillingham’s pressing from the front is causing Crewe Alexandra a lot of problems defensively, But Crewe Alexandra are also creating problems of there own making by over-playing in there own defensive final third, and from the resulting corner kick, Gillingham had the chance to double there lead, Tom O’Connor whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Goalkeeper Dave Richards parries the ball up into the air and Robbie Cundy lays the ball off to Jack Tucker, who see’s his first time shot towards goal blocked by Oliver Lancashire and the ball diverts out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And From The Second Corner Kick, Jordan Graham passes the ball short to Tom O’Connor, who gets the ball under control before firing in a low cross inside Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area and Oliver Finney boots the ball clear and away from danger for the visitor’s.

Twenty Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham have a throw on right in-front of the dugouts and Crewe Alexandra cannot deal with the high press from The Gills, and from the resulting throw on, Gillingham could have gone 2-0 up, Ryan Jackson throws the ball long down the line and Vadaine Oliver wins the aerial challenge to flick the ball on towards Jordan Graham, And Jordan Graham manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball back towards Callum Slattery, And Callum Slattery takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball square to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie gets the ball under control before standing the ball up towards the far post, and although the ball is too high for Vadaine Oliver to header towards goal, Kyle Dempsey had made a run behind Vadaine Oliver, and Kyle Dempsey’s Header towards goal was saved by Dave Richards And The Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper parries the ball up into the air and Tom Lowery boots the ball clear and away from danger for the visitor’s.

But that was the chance for Gillingham to double there lead for 2-0 and Kyle Dempsey is very unlucky that his well timed header was saved by The Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper and 2-0 would have seen Gillingham put themselves in a very commanding position to pick up all three points, 1-0, And Crewe Alexandra only need one chance to level the game up at 1-1, This was the case against Rochdale where Connor Ogilvie’s Header was saved and Gillingham went from winning 1-0, to losing 2-1, And John Akinde scored a late equaliser for The Gills, hopefully, that missed opportunity from Kyle Dempsey doesn’t see Crewe Alexandra replicate what Rochdale managed to achieve on Saturday.

Twenty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Jack Tucker manages to pick out Vadaine Oliver with a diagonal cross-field cross and Vadaine Oliver’s looping header was on target and Dave Richards makes a routine save in goal for Crewe Alexandra, But The Linesman down The Medway Stand / Brian Moore Stand Side Of The Pitch had his flag raised for offside, And In The Thirty Second Minute Of The Match, Gillingham had the chance to double there lead, Crewe Alexandra manage to clear there defensive lines and Robbie Cundy headers the ball back into the visitor’s half of the pitch, and Ryan Wintle cannot get the ball under control and Olly Lee manages to play a first time pass through to Jordan Graham down the left side of the pitch, And Jordan Graham manages to retain possession of the ball despite being closely marked by Omar Beckles, and Jordan Graham runs away from goal towards the byline, And Jordan Graham back-heals the ball to Tom O’Connor down the left side of the pitch in Crewe Alexandra’s Final Third, And Tom O’Connor whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross first time and Vadaine Oliver’s header is on target and comfortable for Dave Richards to make a routine save - either side of The Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper would have seen Gillingham double there lead.

But despite all the chances created, Crewe Alexandra should have equalised in the thirty fourth minute of the match, Crewe Alexandra have possession of the ball down the right side of the pitch, And Owen Dale back-heals the ball towards Travis Johnson, And Travis Johnson plays a one / two with Tom Lowery before passing the ball out-wide to Owen Dale, And Owen Dale passes the ball centrally to Tom Lowery, who retains possession of the ball before playing a short pass out-wide to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle is forced to pass the ball all the way back to Omar Beckles In Crewe Alexandra’s Half Of The Pitch, And Omar Beckles takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball square to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle plays a one / two with Oliver Lancashire before playing a short pass down the line towards Travis Johnson, And Travis Johnson passes the ball square to Tom Lowery on the halfway line and Tom Lowery plays a short pass sideways towards Omar Beckles, And Omar Beckles passes the ball forwards towards Oliver Finney, And Oliver Finney plays a first time pass out-wide to Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk passes the ball down the line towards Charlie Kirk In Gillingham’s Defensive Final Third, And Charlie Kirk plays a give and go with Oliver Finney before firing in a dangerous in-swinging cross across the face of goal and neither Chris Porter or Tom Lowery can make a telling connection on the ball to divert the ball goal-wards, and had they done so, Then Crewe Alexandra would have equalised.

And failure to score that goal-scoring opportunity proved to be very costly for Crewe Alexandra, Because Gillingham doubled there lead after thirty seven minutes, Crewe Alexandra have a goal-kick, and again, Dave Richards has passed the ball short towards Omar Beckles and Omar Beckles takes a few touches in possession of the ball, And Omar Beckles has passed the ball straight towards Kyle Dempsey on the halfway line, And Kyle Dempsey runs forwards in possession of the ball for The Gills, And Kyle Dempsey passes the ball short to Jordan Graham in a right / central position on the pitch, And Jordan Graham takes a few touches in possession of the ball before whipping in a low dangerous cross, And Olly Lee’s first touch allows Olly Lee to nutmeg Omar Beckles, And Olly Lee accurately places the ball underneath the advancing Dave Richards and Gillingham have doubled there lead to 2-0, and this second goal is precisely what Gillingham needed against a very good Crewe Alexandra Side - GILLINGHAM 2-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA.

If you were A Crewe Alexandra Supporter, You would be wondering what on earth was Omar Beckles doing with the poor pass into midfield which was intercepted by Kyle Dempsey, But From A Gillingham Point Of View, this goal is precisely what Gillingham needed and precisely what we needed to do against Rochdale at the weekend, Because against Rochdale, Connor Ogilvie’s header was saved and Rochdale went from losing 1-0 to winning 2-1 and John Akinde scored a late equaliser to salvage a point, but against  Crewe Alexandra, Gillingham have scored that all important second goal, and I wonder if Olly Lee hadn’t of scored, if Referee Alan Young was going to award Gillingham a second penalty kick, Because it did look like Omar Beckles was pulling Olly Lee back, But Olly Lee scoring makes any potential penalty or non penalty decision a after-thought, Because Gillingham are winning 2-0 against Crewe Alexandra.

Forty Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra had the chance to half the deficit, Omar Beckles has possession of the ball for the visitor’s, And Omar Beckles passes the ball square to Ryan Wintle down the left side of the pitch in-front of the dugouts, And Ryan Wintle takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forwards towards Oliver Finney, And Oliver Finney controls the ball on the half-turn before passing the ball out-wide to Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk plays a short pass square to Rio Adebisi, And Rio Adebisi takes a touch to control the ball before threading a return through-ball through to Charlie Kirk down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Charlie Kirk manages to whip in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick and Owen Dale takes a touch to control the ball before seeing his shot towards goal blocked by Connor Ogilvie at the expense of conceding a corner kick - And that was the chance for Crewe Alexandra to score to get themselves back into this match just before half time.

Forty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Ryan Jackson hurls in a long throw into the heart of Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area and Rio Adebisi headers the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And it is from this corner kick where Gillingham almost scored for 3-0, Tom O’Connor whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Dave Richards manages to punch the ball clear and away from goal and Jordan Graham is penalised for his challenge on Owen Dale, and the free kick awarded to Crewe Alexandra just relieves some of the pressure building on to there own goal.

Forty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham are almost in for 3-0, Omar Beckles passes the ball forwards towards and Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle is under pressure from Gillingham’s High Press and has to pass the ball back towards Omar Beckles, But Olly Lee manages to intercept the ball and the loose ball runs kindly through to Dave Richards in The Crewe Alexandra Goal, And Crewe Alexandra just cannot deal with Gillingham’s High Press, and the way Jordan Graham, Vadaine Oliver, Olly Lee, Kyle Dempsey, Tom O’Connor and Callum Slattery just have not allowed Crewe Alexandra any time on the ball in there own final third.

But from here, Gillingham do manage to make the score-line 3-0, Dave Richards rolls the ball short to Omar Beckles, And Omar Beckles takes a few touches in possession of the ball and Omar Beckles pass forwards towards Ryan Wintle is intercepted by Vadaine Oliver, And Vadaine Oliver gets the ball under control before passing the ball forwards towards Olly Lee, And Olly Lee flicks the ball back towards Kyle Dempsey, and although Tom Lowery gets to the loose ball first, Kyle Dempsey manages to intercept the ball from The Crewe Alexandra Midfielder, And Kyle Dempsey accurately places the ball into the bottom left corner of the net for 3-0, and that goal for Gillingham just before half time gives Gillingham a comfortable 3-0 lead - GILLINGHAM 3-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA.

There is nothing that Dave Richards can do about that, and once again, Crewe Alexandra cannot deal with the high press, and also, Omar Beckles is just passing the ball into area’s of the pitch where Gillingham can regain possession of the ball, It was Omar Beckles pass which lead to Olly Lee scoring for 2-0, and it is also Omar Beckles pass which leads to Kyle Dempsey scoring for 3-0, and that third goal for Gillingham had put The Gills in a very strong position to pick up all three points on our first half performance alone.

HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 3-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA

I uploaded the following status update on to Social Media at half time,,,,,,, HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 3-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA - Jordan Graham, Olly Lee & Kyle Dempsey have got themselves on the score-sheet in what has been a excellent first half performance for Gills, The high press from our midfield and attack have caused Crewe problems in there own final third, Dempsey has had a header saved, And The Crewe Goalkeeper has also saved Oliver's header from O'Connor's cross, It hasn't been a one sided display, Because Oli Finney almost scored for Crewe in the opening fifteen seconds of the match and Beckles Header was saved by Bonham. Crewe whipped in a dangerous cross towards the back-stick which went out of play for A Goal-Kick, and that cross was the chance for 1-1, and minutes later Olly Lee doubled Gillingham's Lead for 2-0, great goal for Olly Lee after being picked out from a cross from Jordan Graham. The five substitutions give Gillingham the options to make the substitutions required to match up the stamina levels from our high press, because Graham, Oliver, Lee and Dempsey have been on the front-foot for The Gills in the first half. Excellent first half from The Gills.

SECOND HALF:

And right at the start go the second half, Jack Tucker headers clear two crosses from Oliver Finney and Charlie Kirk, And Jack Tucker smashes the ball clear for a third clearance in quick succession, And In The Forty Eighth Minute Of The Match, Crewe Alexandra were looking to score to try and kick-start a potential come-back, Robbie Cundy headers Rio Adebisi’s cross clear and out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Charlie Kirk whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Robbie Cundy headers the ball clear towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Ryan Wintle chests the ball under control before firing a fiercely driven effort towards goal which was routinely saved by Jack Bonham In The Gillingham Goal.

And In The Forty Ninth Minute Of The Match, Crewe Alexandra were on the front-foot again, Because the visitor’s have a throw on down the left side of the pitch, And Charlie Kirk throws the ball short to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle passes the ball back out-wide to Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Robbie Cundy can only header the ball up into the air and Jack Bonham gathers the ball in mid-flight and makes a comfortable save in goal for The Gills.

But In The Fifty First Minute Of The Match, Crewe Alexandra created another decent goal-scoring opportunity, Charlie Kirk has possession of the ball for Crewe Alexandra down the left side of the pitch, And Charlie Kirk takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball through to Oliver Finney on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Oliver Finney manages to thread the ball through to Rio Adebisi inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area as The Crewe Alexandra Left Back had made a over-lapping run, And Rio Adebisi’s first time shot towards goal is saved by Jack Bonham and Jack Bonham hasn’t parried the ball wide and away from goal and the follow up effort towards goal from Owen Dale is fired over the crossbar from eight yards out - AND THAT WAS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR CREWE ALEXANDRA TO SCORE FOR 3-1 DOWN!!!!!! - Credit must go to Tom O’Connor for throwing himself in-front of that shot to put Owen Dale off, And Crewe Alexandra have had there chances to score in the opening six minutes of the second half.

Fifty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham are awarded a free kick because Oliver Lancashire is penalised for his challenge on Jordan Graham down The Medway Stand / Rainham End Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Gillingham had the chance to score for 4-0, Jordan Graham has gone for goal from the resulting free kick, And Jordan Graham’s effort on goal has cleared Crewe Alexandra’s Defensive Wall, But also, cleared the crossbar as well, Personally, I don’t think that free kick was within shooting territory and I thought Jordan Graham was going to whip in a cross towards the near or far post.

Fifty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandras manage to win themselves a corner kick after a extended spell in possession of the ball, and from the resulting corner kick, Charlie Kirk whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jack Tucker headers the ball partially clear towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, Tom O’Connor manages to header the ball further away from goal, and Ryan Wintle gets to the loose ball first by the byline, But pressure from Jordan Graham forces Ryan Wintle to over-run the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On.

However, despite the chances created by Crewe Alexandra In The Second Half, and especially the chance which saw Owen Dale fail to hit the target after Jack Bonham had saved Rio Adebishi’s initial effort towards goal, Gillingham scored there fourth goal of the game in The Sixty First Minute Of The Match, Gillingham had a throw on down The Medway Stand / Rainham End Side Of the Pitch In Crewe Alexandra’s Final Third, And Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Connor Ogilvie wins the first aerial challenge to header the ball on towards Olly Lee, And Olly Lee headers the ball over Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper Dave Richards to put Gillingham 4-0 up against Crewe Alexandra, and any slim possibility of Crewe Alexandra coming back from three goals down to draw three all has been eliminated with that header from Olly Lee - GILLINGHAM 4-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA

Olly Lee is perhaps not known for his heading ability, But two goals for Olly Lee against Crewe Alexandra, four goals for The Gills on the night, and surely now Gillingham will pick up all three points to move up The League One Table, Olly Lee also assisted Kyle Dempsey for his goal just before half time, and all in all, we have seen a exceptional performance from Olly Lee, And Gillingham have put in there best home performance of The 2020 / 2021 Season at Priestfield Stadium.

After Olly Lee’s goal for 4-0, Crewe Alexandra made a double sub, With Stephen Walker and Luke Murphy coming on to replace Owen Dale and Tom Lowery, Crewe Alexandra are perhaps looking to substitute players now in preparation for there next League One Fixture against Ipswich Town at the weekend, and speaking of substitutions, With Gillingham winning 4-0 against Crewe Alexandra, Gillingham have the luxury to bring on Stuart O’Keefe and Alex MacDonald to freshen up our midfield, especially when you take into consideration the effort and the high press that Olly Lee, Kyle Dempsey, Callum Slattery, Tom O’Connor and Jordan Graham have all been apart of, Crewe Alexandra have not been able to deal with Gillingham’s high press throughout the entire match.

Sixty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra could have scored a consolation goal, Callum Slattery was penalised for his challenge on Charlie Kirk And Crewe Alexandra have been awarded a free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Charlie Kirk passes the ball back towards goalkeeper Dave Richards, And Dave Richards passes the ball square to Oliver Lancashire, And Oliver Lancashire takes a few touches in possession of the ball before clipping the ball down the left side of the pitch towards Rio Adebisi, who passes the ball back to Omar Beckles, And Omar Beckles takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field, and although Robbie Cundy wins the initial aerial challenge, the header from Robbie Cundy back towards Jack Bonham almost drops into Chris Porter’s path, and Jack Bonham was able to gather the ball with some ease - That long pass from Omar Beckles is the first time Crewe Alexandra have tried to knock the ball long down-field, But with the score-line at 4-0 to The Gills, It is going to take a dreadful level in performance from Gillingham and Crewe Alexandra severely upping there game to try and come back from 4-0 down to draw 4-4.

Seventy Minutes Into The Match, And Callum Slattery’s pass down the line towards Ryan Jackson is intercepted by Charlie Kirk, and the ball is deflected out of play for A Gillingham Throw On Down The Gordon Road Stand / Rainham End Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw On, Gillingham had the chance to score for 5-0, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Oliver Lancashire headers the ball partially clear towards the edge of Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area, And Kyle Dempsey takes a touch to control the ball before running across the eighteen yard line, And Tom O’Connor strikes a first time effort wide of the far right post, and the ball goes out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Goal-Kick - Tom O’Connor had to go for goal first time because he was getting closed down quickly.

Seventy Three Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra make there third substitution of the match With Antony Evans coming on to replace Ryan Wintle, And In The Seventy Fourth Minute, Gillingham had a throw on down The Gordon Road Stand / The Rainham End Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw On, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Robbie Cundy does really well to win the aerial challenge to flick the ball on towards the far post and Vadaine Oliver headers the ball into the back of the net and there is nothing that Dave Richards can do about that in The Crewe Alexandra Goal, However, Vadaine Oliver and Gillingham’s celebrations were cut short because the linesman had his flag raised for offside - But I have got to say that looking at the highlights again, Vadaine Oliver looks like he is onside when Robbie Cundy wins the aerial challenge to header the ball on towards the far post.

Had this match been 2-1, Crewe Alexandra score late on and draw 2-2, we would look back on Vadaine Oliver’s goal being chalked off for offside as a more controversial decision, I do think Vadaine Oliver was onside when Robbie Cundy headed Ryan Jackson’s long throw into his path, and the only talking point is Gillingham winning 5-0, compared to currently winning 4-0, Also, It would have been good to see Vadaine Oliver get himself on the score-sheet, Because Vadaine Oliver’s overall performance for Gillingham against Crewe Alexandra deserved a goal.

Seventy Six Minutes Into The Match, Crewe Alexandra have been awarded a free kick in a very promising position on the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Rio Adebisi whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and Robbie Cundy headers the ball out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick before colliding with the advertisement board, thankfully, Robbie Cundy was OK to continue playing for The Gills, And considering this was Robbie Cundy’s debut for Gillingham, The Centre Back has put in a decent performance against a very good Crewe Alexandra Side.

Seventy Nine Minutes Into The Match, Crewe Alexandra make there fourth substitution of the match with Regan Griffiths coming on to replace Charlie Kirk, And a minute later, Crewe Alexandra do finally stick the ball into the back of the net, Dave Richards passes the ball short to Omar Beckles, And Omar Beckles takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Anthony Evans, And Anthony Evans see’s his pass intercepted by Kyle Dempsey, But Anthony Evans manages to intercept the ball from Kyle Dempsey and run down the left side of the pitch in possession of the ball, And Anthony Evans goes on a driving run forwards and continue’s his run inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Anthony Evans see’s his shot towards goal deflect off Robbie Cundy across the face of goal and Chris Porter was in the right place at the right time to score a real goal poachers finish, And Crewe Alexandra have scored a consolation goal - GILLINGHAM 4-1 CREWE ALEXANDRA.

That goal just takes some of the shine away from a fantastic performance from The Gills, Because it would have been nice to see Gillingham held on to the clean sheet, and whilst the goal that Chris Porter scored shouldn’t change the out-come of the result, It does give Crewe Alexandra some hope that they could kick-start a come-back, Maybe the concentration levels dropped momentarily because Gillingham were winning 4-0, and when your concentration levels drop, that’s when you get punished.

And straight from the kick off, Gillingham had the chance to reestablish there four goal lead, Jordan Graham manages to charge down Rio Adebisi’s attempted clearance and the ball loops up into the air and drops fortuitously into Kyle Dempsey’s Path, And Kyle Dempsey manages to play a lobbed ball over the top of Crewe Alexandra’s Defence, and the ball just wouldn’t drop kindly for Vadaine Oliver to get a shot off on goal and Oliver Lancashire makes a last ditch challenge to knock the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Tom O’Connor’s in-swinging cross towards the far post is over-hit and goes out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Throw On.

Eighty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra had the chance to score to make the score-line 4-2, Crewe Alexandra had a throw on right in-front of the dugouts and Travis Johnson was quick to throw the ball long down the line and Oliver Finney has the strength to shrug off the attempted challenge from Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker slips and Oliver Finney is now through on goal for the visitor’s, and Oliver Finney see’s his shot towards goal at the near post saved by Jack Bonham and the ball ricochets against Robbie Cundy, Jack Tucker’s challenge inside the penalty area intercepts the ball momentarily and Robbie Cundy can only partially clear the ball, and Regan Griffiths is on to the lose ball, and Regan Griffiths takes a few touches in possession of the ball before twisting and turning and whipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post, And Regan Griffiths cross is over-hit, and the ball runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Credit must go to Robbie Cundy for doing enough to prevent Chris Porter from heading that cross from Regan Griffiths towards goal.

Eighty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra create another goal-scoring opportunity, Crewe Alexandra turn defence into attack quickly with some excellent one and two touch pass and move football and Luke Murphy runs forwards in possession of the ball down the right side of the pitch for Crewe Alexandra, And Luke Murphy continue’s his run forwards in possession of the ball before threading a pass through to Stephen Walker on the over-lap, And Stephen Walker manages to evade the attempted challenge from Jack Tucker, and pass the ball square to Luke Murphy inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Luke Murphy’s first time effort towards goal goes wide of Gillingham’s far left post - AND CREWE ALEXANDRA HAVE GOT TO HIT THE TARGET WITH THAT EFFORT ON GOAL FROM LUKE MURPHY!!!!!!!

Gillingham then make three individual substitutions with John Akinde coming on for Vadaine Oliver after eighty seven minutes, Alex MacDonald comes on to replace Jordan Graham In The Ninetieth Minute, And Stuart O’Keefe comes on to replace Olly Lee in second half stoppage time, all three players who have been substituted off the pitch have played a crucial role for The Gills in this impressive display against Crewe Alexandra, But I am surprised that Stuart O’Keefe wasn’t given a ten to fifteen minute runout, especially when you take the result against Crewe Alexandra into consideration.

And the final goal-scoring opportunity of the match went to Crewe Alexandra, just after Stuart O’Keefe had come on as a sub, Dave Richards kicks the ball long down-field and although Jack Tucker wins the initial aerial challenge, the second ball drops to Chris Porter, who manages to pass the ball square to Regan Griffiths first time, And Regan Griffiths gets the ball under control before whipping in a low cross towards Chris Porter inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Chris Porter manages to retain possession of the ball and tee up Oliver Finney, who fails to hit the target with a first time effort towards goal.

And after five additional minutes of added time, the full time whistle is blown by Referee Alan Young, And Gillingham have managed to win 4-1 against Crewe Alexandra inside Priestfield Stadium, fantastic performance, a fantastic result against a brilliant Crewe Alexandra Side, and Gillingham have picked up three massive points which slowly see’s Gillingham move in the right direction.

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 4-1 CREWE ALEXANDRA

I uploaded the following status update on to Social Media after the full time whistle,,,, FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 4-1 CREWE ALEXANDRA - A Brace From Olly Lee and goals from Kyle Dempsey and Jordan Graham have seen Gills win 4-1 at home against Crewe in what can be considered our best home performance of the season, pressing from the front caused Crewe problems all game. Chris Porter's consolation goal prevents Gillingham from earning themselves a clean sheet in a similar way to how Rochdale scored late on when Gillingham won 4-1 at Spotlands. But after drawing 2-2 against Rochdale at the weekend, Gills really needed to win against Crewe Tonight, Jack Bonham had to make two saves in the early stages of the second half, But once Olly Lee scored that fourth goal for Gillingham, that goal made absolutely certain that Gillingham would pick up all three points and the rest of the match was about The Gills seeing the game out. O'Connor failed to hit the target after a lay off from Dempsey, And Oliver's celebrations were cut short when he was flagged for offside. Crewe had three opportunities to try and get themselves back into the game at 4-2, which could have set up a interesting end to the match. All in all, a great performance, great result, and Gillingham have picked up seven points out of nine from the three league games against Accrington Stanley, Rochdale and Crewe Alexandra, Hopefully, Gillingham can keep this run going with a result at Sunderland at the weekend.

I also re-tweeted tweets from Ryan Jackson, Kyle Dempsey, Jordan Graham, Vadaine Oliver, several tweets from Gillingham’s Official Twitter Account, BBC Radio Kent, And D3D4, I also mentioned the following,,,, I am sure if someone offered Gillingham seven points out of nine from the three league games against Accrington Stanley, Rochdale and Crewe Alexandra when Accrington Stanley V Gillingham kicked off at 3PM On The 16th Of January, We would have gladly taken seven points out of nine, And One of the questions I asked fellow Gillingham Supporters, In The Gillingham Supporters Blog was how do Gillingham turnaround our dreadful form against teams in the top ten in League One, Gillingham have won 4-1 against Crewe Tonight, 7th Place Sunderland are Gills next opponents.

Gillingham Have Won Another Home League Game At Priestfield Stadium On A Tuesday Night. I would say Gillingham's 4-1 home win against Crewe Alexandra Is Gillingham's Best Home Performance Of The 2020 / 2021 Season. - Gillingham have got a dreadful record when it comes to winning home league games on A Tuesday Night, So to pick up another mid-week home win and put in such a convincing performance and win 4-1 against Crewe Alexandra is a fantastic result, I would have liked to have seen Gillingham pick up six points out of six from the two league games against Rochdale and Crewe Alexandra, And if only Connor Ogilvie scored that header against Rochdale, then we could be talking about back to back home wins and three league wins in a row, But four points from two home games against Rochdale and Crewe Alexandra is still a very decent points tally.

The intensity and pressing from the front from Gillingham against Crewe Alexandra was very impressive, both of our recent wins against Accrington and Crewe have seen Gills Midfield get themselves on the ball in the opposition's final third. Lee and Slattery have added quality to our midfield, And we then heard the explanation from Assistant Manager Paul Raynor as to why Young Goalkeeper Joe Walsh wasn’t named on the substitutes bench for our home league game against Crewe Alexandra, Gillingham had accepted an offer from two Championship Clubs that met our valuation for Joe Walsh, And at the end of the day, £500,000 for our young substitute goalkeeper who has only made one substitute appearance for Gillingham in League One is fantastic business, and Gillingham have to sell players to keep the club going in what is difficult times financially for every football club outside The Premier League.

I am sure if we broke the deal down, QPR Have paid £300,000 for Joe Walsh, and the fee can rise up to £500,000 with incentives and bonuses and that is how these deals tend to get done, QPR appear to be buying young Football League Talent, Because they also signed Charlie Kelman from Southend United as well, QPR are signing a highly rated goalkeeper who is young and has a lot of potential, And Gillingham have sold there under-study goalkeeper for a decent transfer fee.

And finally, With Gillingham playing against Sunderland, Lincoln City, Charlton Athletic and Peterborough United in the next four league games, It is vital that Gillingham won against Crewe Alexandra, And Gillingham go into these four league matches picking up seven points out of nine, Gillingham have scored seven goals in the last three league games and we’re starting to see more quality and a more enjoyable style of play to watch from The Gills, Hopefully, Gillingham can build on this win against Crewe Alexandra by getting a result against Sunderland at The Stadium Of Light, Before Gillingham play against Lincoln City live On SKY Sports On Friday Night - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!

[fan-of-mulligan]

FOM BLOG: CREWE ALEXANDRA 0-1 GILLINGHAM

My Thoughts On Crewe Alexandra V Gillingham...................

This was a unconvincing win for Gillingham, A win that plenty Gillingham Supporters would call a smash and grab 1-0 win, But after losing five league matches in a row and Gillingham haven't scored in those five league defeats against MK Dons, Portsmouth, Fleetwood Town, Ipswich Town and Sunderland, then it doesn't matter how Gillingham won against Crewe Alexandra, Because these three points are three vital points, Because this result stops the winless and goal-less run that Gillingham were on and maybe Gillingham can gain some confidence and gain some momentum from this win against Crewe Alexandra, And Gillingham can take the confidence from this win into the two cup matches against Woking and Arsenal's U23's over the coming week.

As for how Gillingham Lined Up Against Crewe Alexandra, Gillingham Lined Up As Follows........ Joe Lumley, Ryan Jackson, Jack Tucker, Connor Ogilvie, Zech Medley, Robbie McKenzie, Tom O'Connor, Kyle Dempsey, Jordan Graham, Vadaine Oliver, Trae Coyle Subs: Joe Walsh (GK), Christian Maghoma, Declan Drysdale, Henry Woods, Matty Willock, John Akinde, Dominic Samuel - I was pleased to see Trae Coyle start for Gillingham, because I think Trae Coyle can provide Gillingham with some pace and trickery in the opposition's final third, Tom O'Connor starting for Gillingham was a unexpected surprise as well, Mikael Mandron also starts up-front for Crewe Alexandra and many supporters believed that The Former Gillingham Striker will get himself on the score-sheet, simply because Gillingham are on a horrific run of form at this moment in time.

FIRST HALF:

Eighteen Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra should have taken the lead, Jack Tucker kicks a long diagonal cross-field cross pass towards one of Vadaine Oliver or Tom O’Connor, But Perry Ng manages to win the initial aerial challenge and Daniel Powell manages to get on to the loose ball and pass the ball back towards Perry Ng, And Perry Ng kicks the ball long down-field towards Mikael Mandron on the halfway line, And Mikael Mandron manages to retain possession of the ball before threading a fantastic pass through to Tom Lowery on the over-lap down the right side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Left - And Tom Lowery has aches of space to run into, And Tom Lowery whips in a fantastic low cross across towards Charlie Kirk, who is unmarked inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Charlie Kirk’s first time shot towards goal goes wide of the far right post when really Charlie Kirk should have hit the target - And that was a massive let off for The Gills.

Thirty One Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra created a golden goal-scoring opportunity to try and take the lead, Daniel Powell has possession of the ball for Crewe Alexandra down the right side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Half, And Daniel Powell passes the ball back to Perry Ng, And Perry Ng takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forwards to Mikael Mandron, who not only manages to retain possession of the ball, But Mikael Mandron manages to thread through a fantastic through-ball through to Daniel Powell, And Daniel Powell is running through on goal for the home side, And Daniel Powell see’s his low effort towards goal crash against the out-side of the near post and the ball diverts out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Crewe Alexandra really should have scored again, and once again, Mikael Mandron is involved in the build up.

Thirty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra again create another decent goal-scoring opportunity, Gillingham are on the offensive and looking to make the breakthrough as Gillingham are causing Crewe Alexandra problems down our right side of the pitch, as Jordan Graham passes the ball through to Ryan Jackson on the over-lap in Crewe Alexandra’s Final Third, And Ryan Jackson’s cross ricochets off Luke Offord and the ball runs through to Callum Ainley, And Callum Ainley runs forwards towards the halfway line in possession of the ball before passing the ball short to Daniel Powell, And Daniel Powell takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball square to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle passes the ball forwards to Tom Lowery, Who plays a first time layoff into Harry Pickering’s Path, And Harry Pickering manages to a thread a through-pass through to Charlie Kirk, And again, Charlie Kirk has a lot of space to run into and Charlie Kirk is through on goal for Crewe Alexandra, And Charlie Kirk see’s his shot towards goal saved by Joe Lumley, and Gillingham can consider themselves fortunate that the ball runs through to Robbie McKenzie and Crewe Alexandra are not given the opportunity to stick the ball into the back of the net from the re-bound.

Thirty Five Minutes Into The Match, And despite Crewe Alexandra creating plenty of goal-scoring opportunities in this match so far, Gillingham had the chance to take the lead, Connor Ogilvie manages to intercept the ball from Mikael Mandron on the halfway line and pass the ball out-wide to Tom O’Connor, And Tom O’Connor takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Zech Medley just inside Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Zech Medley takes a touch to control the ball before playing a one / two with Robbie McKenzie, and Zech Medley kicks the ball long down-field and Vadaine Oliver manages to chest the ball under control before smashing his effort towards goal first time with a dipping volley which goes wide of the far right post with Will Jaaskelainen well and truly beaten in The Crewe Alexandra Goal - Vadaine Oliver perhaps could have gone closer to goal rather then opting to shoot first time, because Luke Offord slipped at the crucial moment for Crewe Alexandra.

Thirty Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra create another decent goal-scoring opportunity, Mikael Mandron plays a short pass to Daniel Powell, who passes the ball square to Callum Ainley, And Callum Ainley gets the ball under control before passing the ball out-wide to Charlie Kirk down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third - Gillingham’s Right - And Charlie Kirk cuts inside into a more central position on the pitch before picking out Perry Ng with a cross-field pass, And Perry Ng takes a touch to control the ball before clipping in a dangerous cross which see’s Daniel Powell completely unmarked inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Daniel Powell’s looping header thankfully goes over the crossbar - It is only going to be a matter of time before Crewe Alexandra open the scoring, Because Crewe Alexandra have created plenty of clear cut goal-scoring opportunities to take the lead.

Forty Minutes Into The Match, And Tom O’Connor’s last ditch challenge on Charlie Kirk diverts the ball out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Crewe Alexandra should have scored, Callum Ainley passes the ball short to Charlie Kirk, And Callum Ainley makes a quick run which allows Charlie Kirk to run through by the byline and take on Trae Coyle, And Charlie Kirk fires in a low dangerous cross across the face of goal, and Mikael Mandron’s diving header is kept out by a combination of a very good save by Joe Lumley and the ball hitting both Jack Tucker and Perry Ng and Jack Tucker manages to get the ball partially clear and away from goal, and Vadaine Oliver headers the ball towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Harry Pickering headers the ball back inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Jack Tucker headers the ball partially clear towards Charlie Kirk, and Charlie Kirk’s fiercely driven shot towards goal hits Tom O’Connor hard and the ball deflects out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick.

And In The Forty Fifth Minute Of The Match, Crewe Alexandra were on the front-foot and looking to open the scoring again, Luke Offord has possession of the ball for Crewe Alexandra on the halfway line, And Luke Offord passes the ball out-wide to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle runs forward in possession of the ball down the left side of the pitch, And Ryan Wintle continue’s his run forwards before passing the ball short to Harry Pickering, And Harry Pickering gets the ball under control before cutting inside into a more central position on the pitch, And Harry Pickering passes the ball forwards towards Mikael Mandron on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Mikael Mandron plays a one touch layoff into the path of Callum Ainley, And a neat pice of skill see’s Callum Ainley go past Jack Tucker, And Callum Ainley’s shot towards goal is tipped over the crossbar by Joe Lumley who gets the faintest of touches on to the ball to prevent Crewe Alexandra from taking the lead.

HALF TIME: CREWE ALEXANDRA 0-0 GILLINGHAM

I uploaded the follow status update on to Facebook And Twitter At Half Time,,,, HALF TIME: CREWE 0-0 GILLINGHAM - Gillingham are fortunate that the score-line is still 0-0 at half time, Charlie Kirk shoots wide from Tom Lowery's low cross, Daniel Powell has seen his shot hit the post from Mandron's through-ball, Kirk has also seen his shot towards goal saved, Powell has seen his header go over the crossbar from Ng's floated cross, And Lumley has also tipped Callum Ainley's shot over the crossbar and played a pivotal roll in ensuring that Crewe did not score after a goal-mouth scramble. Gills have created chances, Jasskelainen has saved Ogilvie's Header, Oliver should really hit the target with his effort on goal, Oliver's Header is on target from O'Connor's Cross but was comfortable for Jasskelainen to deal with, I have got to say that Crewe are the better side.

Jordan Graham’s in-swinging corner kick has clipped the top of the crossbar and gone out of play for a goal-kick, Jordan Graham has also whipped in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Connor Ogilvie’s header towards goal is saved by Will Jasskelainen, Perry Ng has seen his shot from distance comfortably clear Gillingham’s Crossbar, And I thought there was a potential penalty decision for Gillingham when Tom O’Connor was fouled inside Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area, But A Corner Kick Was Awarded To Gillingham Instead.

I had to watch the vast majority of the first half on I Follow on mute, because the commentary was ahead of the play and that was a bit off-putting, and whilst that has happened in other matches this season, it hasn’t been ahead of the play for the entire first half, I was hoping that the commentary links up with the passage of play much better in the second half, And as far as any substitutions go, I was not expecting a half time substitution from Gillingham, And I think Steve Evans will send the same eleven out on to the pitch demanding for a much better performance in the second half.

SECOND HALF:

Fifty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra should have taken the lead, Vadaine Oliver cannot retain possession of the ball and Omar Beckles passes the ball back to Luke Offord, And Luke Offord passes the ball forwards to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball square to Harry Pickering, And Harry Pickering passes the ball out-wide to Charlie Kirk, who plays a first time pass forwards towards Callum Ainley, And Callum Ainley manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle passes the ball out-wide to Harry Pickering first time, And Harry Pickering takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a low dangerous cross inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Mikael Mandron’s first time shot towards goal hits the inside of the post and the ball ricochets very kindly into Joe Lumley’s grateful arms and Gillingham survive - BUT CREWE ALEXANDRA REALLY SHOULD HAVE OPENED THE SCORING WITH THAT GOAL-SCORING OPPORTUNITY!!!!!!! - And as soon as the ball goes out of play, Gillingham make there first substitution of the match with John Akinde coming on to replace Trae Coyle, And John Akinde and Vadaine Oliver up-front suggests straight-away that Gillingham want to get the ball forwards quickly and hoping that the physical presence of Oliver and Akinde in attack can cause Crewe Alexandra problems defensively.

Fifty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham create a rare goal-scoring opportunity, Ryan Jackson goes on a driving run down the right side of the pitch in possession of the ball, And Ryan Jackson manages to retain possession of the ball, cuts back and pass the ball short to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey gets the ball under control before creating some space for himself to get a shot off on goal which is saved by Will Jasskelainen - And this effort on goal gives Gillingham something to build on.

And something to build on is precisely what happened, Because Gillingham manage to open the scoring after Fifty Eight Minutes, Omar Beckles kicks the ball long down-field for Crewe Alexandra and Robbie McKenzie headers the ball forwards for Gillingham back into Crewe Alexandra’s half of the pitch and Ryan Wintle wins the aerial challenge up against Vadaine Oliver and Callum Ainley and Kyle Dempsey both compete for loose ball in central midfield, and Kyle Dempsey passes the ball back to Jack Tucker, who takes one touch to control the ball and another touch to pick out Jordan Graham with a diagonal cross-field cross pass, and Jordan Graham does brilliantly to get the ball under control down the left side of the pitch in Crewe Alexandra’s Final Third, And Jordan Graham takes on Perry Ng and runs towards the byline before whipping in a sensational in-swinging cross towards the far side of Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area and John Akinde’s Header is on target and Will Jasskelainen cannot prevent the ball from crossing the goal-line, and finally, Gillingham have scored a goal and Gillingham have taken the lead - CREWE ALEXANDRA 0-1 GILLINGHAM.

Now Will Jasskelainen should have done better to prevent John Akinde from scoring, But having gone five and a half games without scoring a goal, I don’t think anyone cares how Gillingham scored just as long as we stuck the ball into the back of the net, and that is precisely what Gillingham have done, also, It’s great to see John Akinde score his first goal of the season and finally get his name on the score-sheet having not scored for Gillingham since that 3-2 away win against Blackpool back in The 2019 / 2020 Season.

Gillingham have switched our formation to A 4-4-2 Diamond Midfield, the back five is still the same (Joe Lumley, Ryan Jackson, Jack Tucker, Connor Ogilvie, Zech Medley) But Robbie McKenzie is sitting in-front of the back four, Kyle Dempsey and Tom O’Connor are playing in central midfield, With Jordan Graham given a free role behind Vadaine Oliver and John Akinde.

Sixty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra create a very good goal-scoring opportunity to equalise just five minutes after going behind to John Akinde’s goal, Ryan Wintle runs forwards in possession of the ball up towards the halfway line, And Ryan Wintle retains possession of the ball for Crewe Alexandra and passes the ball back towards Perry Ng, who plays a first time pass inside centrally towards Callum Ainley, who takes a few touches in possession of the ball before switching play to Charlie Kirk down the left side of the pitch, And Charlie Kirk goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball all the way down the left side of the pitch, And Charlie Kirk back-heals the ball towards Harry Pickering just outside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Harry Pickering evades the attempted challenge from Ryan Jackson and Harry Pickering manages to work his way in possession of the ball inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and lay the ball off to Callum Ainley, And Callum Ainley’s first time shot towards goal flashes just wide of the far right post with Joe Lumley well and truly beaten - Crewe Alexandra are dominating possession of the ball, which is to be expected, but they have yet to get themselves on the score-sheet - But if Crewe Alexandra continue to create quality goal-scoring opportunities then it feels like it is only a matter of time before they do score the equaliser.

Sixty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham had a fantastic opportunity to extend there lead to 2-0 and give The Gills some much needed breathing space, Gillingham have a throw on in there own defensive final third down the right side of the pitch, And Ryan Jackson hurls a long throw down the line and Vadaine Oliver flicks the ball on towards Jordan Graham, who skilfully manages to take the ball past Luke Offord and run down the right flank in possession of the ball and Jordan Graham continue’s his run down the right side of the pitch, And Jordan Graham manages to retain possession of the ball despite being closely marked by Ryan Wintle, And Jordan Graham cuts back on himself and then works his way towards the byline, and Jordan Graham whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post, And Tom O’Connor’s looping header hits the roof of the net rather then the back of the net - AND THAT WAS THE CHANCE FOR GILLINGHAM TO DOUBLE THERE LEAD TO 2-0!!!!!!!!!!!

Sixty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra make there first substitution of the game as Owen Dale comes on for Daniel Powell, And In The Seventy First Minute Of The Match, Gillingham make there second substitution of the game as Dominic Samuel comes on to replace Vadaine Oliver, And Crewe Alexandra make there second substitution of the game as Oliver Finney comes on to replace Callum Ainley, And In The Seventy Eighth Minute Of The Match, Crewe Alexandra create a very good goal-scoring opportunity to try and score the equaliser, Luke Pickering manages to whip in a low cross across the face of goal and the ball deflects back to Ryan Wintle, who fails to hit the target with a first time fiercely driven effort towards goal, and this goal-scoring opportunity came after a dominating passage of possession for Crewe Alexandra.

Eighty Three Minutes Into The Match, And John Akinde is penalised for his challenge on Tom Lowery, And the resulting free kick is taken very quickly with Perry Ng passing the ball square to Luke Offord, who passes the ball forwards to Harry Pickering, And Harry Pickering takes a touch to control the ball before passing the forwards out-wide to Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk takes a touch to control the ball before waiting around for passing options and passing the ball centrally to Tom Lowery, who takes a touch to control the ball, And Tom Lowery passes the ball forwards towards Perry Ng right on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area in a right / central area of the pitch, And Perry Ng gets the ball under control before threading the ball through to Owen Dale on the over-lap, And Owen Dale fires a first time cross across the face of goal and Oliver Finney’s shot towards goal is brilliantly saved by Joe Lumley and Jack Tucker gets the faintest of touches on to the second ball to prevent Oliver Finney from scoring the re-bound and Robbie McKenzie manages to get the ball clear and out-side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area - Now if Oliver Finney hit his shot towards goal either side of Joe Lumley, then Crewe Alexandra equalise, But that is still a remarkable save from Joe Lumley to preserve Gillingham’s slender 1-0 lead.

Eighty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra make there third and final substitution as Offrande Zanzala comes on to replace Tom Lowery, But there is still some defending for Gillingham to do from the resulting corner kick, And Joe Lumley saves a second cross from A Crewe Alexandra Player, Then Joe Lumley strikes the ball on the half-volley towards Jordan Graham with a exceptional pass down the line, Joe Lumley has been exceptional between the sticks for Gillingham against Crewe Alexandra in a match where Gillingham have needed a inspired goalkeeping performance.

Eighty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Matty Willock comes on to replace Tom O’Connor as Gillingham look to see out the rest of this match, But just as we are reaching The Ninetieth Minus Of The Match, Oliver Finney has seen his shot towards goal flashed just wide of the far post, And Mikael Mandron was involved in the build up to this goal-scoring opportunity, and can Gillingham hang on for three valuable points ???

Four minutes of additional time were shown by The Fourth Official, But with Matty Willock’s substitution, Oliver Finney’s shot going wide and Joe Lumley taking his time over the resulting goal-kick, more time has been added on, And the final noteworthy moment of the match see’s Perry Ng’s long kick down-field headed down the line by Kyle Dempsey and John Akinde is chasing a loose ball and Perry Ng has to pass the ball back to Will Jasskelainen, And Will Jasskelainen doesn’t have any time left to kick the ball long down-field, and after a horrendous run of five league defeats in a row, and five matches where Gillingham have failed to score, finally, Gillingham end this dreadful run with a win, a clean sheet, and most importantly, three points in a match where Gillingham had to win.

FULL TIME: CREWE ALEXANDRA 0-1 GILLINGHAM

I uploaded the following comments on to Facebook and Twitter after the full time whistle,,,,,, FULL TIME: CREWE 0-1 GILLINGHAM - This was a backs against the wall display from Gillingham in a match where Gills were second best and Crewe will be wondering how or why they didn't get a point out of this match at the very least. Gills will gladly take the three points tonight, Great to see Akinde get his first goal of the season for Gillingham, hopefully, this goal can be the springboard for Akinde to get on the score-sheet on a more regular basis, the back four of Jackson, Tucker, Ogilvie and Medley were all superb, But Lumley was out-standing in goal, Switching the formation to a diamond and two strikers playing more centrally gave Gills more of a threat in the final third, O'Connor was unlucky not to header the ball into the back of the net for 2-0, How Mandron didn't score when his effort on goal hit the post, I have no idea, After the last five defeats where Gillingham have failed to stick the ball into the back of the net, It makes for a pleasant change to be celebrating a hard fought 1-0 win for Gillingham Tonight, Not the best performance, and a lot to work on, But three vital points for The Gills.

Make no mistake, this wasn’t a fantastic performance from Gillingham and had it not been for the exceptional performance from Joe Lumley in-between the sticks for Gillingham then Crewe Alexandra could have quite easily won this match 4-1 or 5-1, But what we can do as Gillingham Supporters is enjoy that winning feeling having seen Gillingham lose the last five league games against MK Dons, Portsmouth, Fleetwood Town, Ipswich Town and Sunderland, I think it is important to celebrate The 1-0 win against Crewe Alexandra, Because A 1-0 Away Win, A Clean Sheet and three points are positive talking points, even though it is also important to recognise that Gillingham were very fortunate to win 1-0 against Crewe Alexandra.

I think switching the formation to A 4-4-2 Diamond Midfield with John Akinde and Vadaine Oliver in attack worked very effectively for Gillingham, And I just wonder if Gillingham should go back to the diamond midfield which worked so successfully for The Gills Last Season ??? - especially when taking into consideration that Gillingham do not have many pacey wide players and the lack of a defensive midfielder in-front of the back four leaves Gillingham very exposed, whilst it is important to mention that Crewe Alexandra created goal-scoring opportunities after Gillingham switched formations, Gillingham were not conceding the goal-scoring opportunities we saw from Crewe Alexandra in the first half.

John Akinde scoring his first goal for Gillingham in The 2020 / 2021 Season is a huge positive, and I am hoping that goal from John Akinde is the springboard for John Akinde to score more goals for The Gills, And Gillingham can now switch there attentions to two cup matches against Woking and Arsenal’s U21’s In The FA Cup and Football League Trophy respectively, obviously The FA Cup Game is more important, But it would be great to see Gillingham win both matches against Woking and Arsenal’s U21’s, which will not only see Gillingham progress further in both cup competitions, But Gillingham can take some confidence and momentum into the league fixtures against Lincoln City, Charlton Athletic and AFC Wimbledon, which are the three league games that Gillingham have got coming up for the rest of November.

As for other player performances, Jack Tucker and Connor Ogilvie were exceptional as Gillingham’s Centre Back Pairing, Jordan Graham whipped in two quality crosses, one which John Akinde scored, and the second cross that Tom O’Connor headed over the crossbar, But The Man Of The Match Award goes to Joe Lumley, who fully earned that clean sheet for Gillingham, And Joe Lumley returns to QPR having done a exceptional job filling in for Jack Bonham, who should be back available for selection for Gillingham V Woking at the weekend.

Again, this is a unconvincing win, it is a fortuitous win for The Gills, But a win, a clean sheet and three points is something for Gillingham to build on, and sometimes you need that one lucky result to go in your favour to go on a excellent run, and let’s hope that Gillingham can build on this win against Crewe Alexandra with a win against Woking in The First Round Of The FA Cup At The Weekend - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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FOM BLOG: GILLINGHAM 3 - 0 CREWE ALEXANDRA

My Thoughts on Gillingham V Crewe Alexandra……………..

I left My House at 1PM and I made sure I had the following things on me,,,(Money, Keys, My Samsung Galaxy S2, Spare Battery, My Season Ticket, My Fleece-Jacket, Spare Lids, My Gillingham Bag with Pads and Pens, My Gillingham Scarf, Gloves, A Packet Of Polo’s, Stephen’s Match Ticket 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, and as there were engineering works on the main line again, I was going to get a taxi over to the ground before Dad gave me a lift.

Stewart was also going to the game today, as one of his friends had a spare ticket and he decided to go and sit in The Gordon Road Stand and watch Gillingham V Crewe Alexandra, as Dad gave me a lift over to the ground, we couldn’t help but notice the horrendous traffic problems on The A2 on The Big Tesco’s Roundabout, and those traffic problems were even worse when we saw temporary lights at The Four Way Crossing on Beeching’s Cross, Dad turned around, parked up and hoped that Gillingham would get all three points today, and I mentioned that Gillingham V Crewe Alexandra is a must win game and I walked to Priestfield Stadium from there.

I arrived at Priestfield Stadium at 1.30PM and I spoke to Diane first, and we spoke about travel arrangements for Southend United and apparently Gemma wants to travel to the game with us, I did double check to make sure that does Gemma realise that we’re going to arrive early and travel back late as that is what we usually do for away games, Diane plans to pick me up at 11AM and we will make the short trip to Southend United and arrive early so we can go somewhere nice for food and drink.

Roots Hall is a stadium that is showing it’s age and with the over-hanging roof, the supporting pillar’s, speakers and the two tier stand at the other end of the pitch obscuring your view then your view of what happens on the football pitch is greatly restricted and all of those contributing factor’s are why we’re planning to arrive at Roots Hall early, so that we can get a decent seat and sit in a good central position, the downside to local away games are fans who turn up and thinking you have to sit exactly where it say’s on your seat and unreserved seating would solve this issue, because this who want to stand at the back can stand at the back, and those who want to sit at the front can sit at the front.

I also spoke to Diane about my frustration at my current training - or I should say the lack of it - when The Job Centre send you to place where you have been given assurances that you will be given training that could lead to gaining skills for potential employment and you get The Job Centre to ring up this training place on A Tuesday and assurances are given your given something to do, the last thing you expect to happen is to go in on A Wednesday or Thursday and have nothing to do, in-fact some of the people had no idea why I was there in the first place, and My Boss at The Command House had no knowledge of my illness and I had left this training place messages to be passed on to The Command House following letting The Job Centre know and this is unacceptable, Diane asked if I could quit - and I really want too as well - at the moment I am waiting to find out what is going on and I am stuck - very frustrating though, because I could be doing any number of things in the time that is being wasted as I am doing nothing on this training course.

Diane made her way round to The Gordon Road Stand and I caught up with Sharon, Peter, Charlie and Carol, and I spoke about last week’s performance against Scunthorpe United and how Stuart Nelson put in a sensational Man Of The Match Performance against Scunthorpe United and the other thing that really stuck out that day was how The Gillingham Supporters stuck with the team, that roar you hear for a corner kick when you have the chance to score a last minute winner was the same roar from Gillingham Supporters when we were defending corner kicks, I wished we saw more of that kind of support at Priestfield Stadium, although I did mention that those who go to away games will support The Gills through thick and thin and there are completely different mentalities to home and away games.

As Peter, Sharon, Charlie and Carol went inside the ground - Peter had his Chips with Curry Sauce from Gillingham Fish Bar - Gary and Stephen caught up with me and Stephen gave me a fiver for his ticket and we all spoke about up and coming match against Crewe Alexandra, and I mentioned Stuart Nelson’s goalkeeping performance against Scunthorpe United where he made two fantastic one on one saves to deny Paddy Madden on both occasions.

Gary had a few stats for this match as Crewe Alexandra have won four of the previous five games at Priestfield Stadium and Nick Powell scored what is still the best goal I have seen from a opposition player at Priestfield Stadium and Gary mentioned that again Crewe Alexandra are in a relegation battle and again they have one of the worst defensive records in the division, but you have to respect and admire the way Crewe Alexandra go about there work, there entire ethos is about developing players from there academy and signing young players released from bigger clubs, Crewe Alexandra need to keep developing players like Nick Powell and looking to sell them on for the club to survive and if Steve Davis were to lose his job - and I hope that isn’t the case - then Crewe Alexandra will promote there Academy Manager or appoint someone with excellent youth football knowledge because developing players is Crewe Alexandra’s philosophy - I know that is Louis Van Gaal’s favourite word at Manchester United, but Crewe Alexandra have a very clear philosophy and you can see what there trying to do.

The three of us all agreed that this wasn’t going to be a comfortable 5 - 0 win and I went with a very cagey 1 - 0 win for My Gillingham Prediction and this match was about getting the win and getting all three points and the performance comes second, one stat that stood out was Crewe Alexandra’s seven draws in there previous ten matches which suggests that Crewe Alexandra are finding it difficult to win games, but there also not getting beaten very often either, and it is clear that a lack of a goal-scorer and a lack of goals is why Crewe Alexandra are in the bottom four again this season.

Gary also spoke about the inconsistencies in result’s and how the remainder of this season is going to be very difficult, as we have seen in recent weeks, Colchester United won 2-1 away against Bradford City, but Bradford City win 2-0 against Burton Albion, Shrewsbury Town won 2-1 against Coventry City, Fleetwood Town have beaten ourselves and Coventry City by the same score-line, Chesterfield went to Southend United and won, and these unpredictable results will happen between now and the rest of the season, it is also frustrating because three draws against Chesterfield, Fleetwood Town and Oldham Athletic would of been a lot better then three defeats, and I am sure that every supporter feels the same as well when there team loses a game they think they should win.

I saw that picture on Facebook from Keith Slater as there was a very young Jake Hessenthaler as Gillingham Mascot for The Nationwide Division Two Playoff Final in 1999, you just know that Gillingham are going to play against Wigan Athletic in The League One Playoff Final this season, I also told Gary that I mentioned to Josh Wright are you going to take another corner kick in the playoff final again, as I was referring to the corner kick he took in The 2009 Playoff Final against Shrewsbury Town, all we need to do is sign Simeon Jackson on loan until the end of the season and maybe these two can combine again in the last minute.

I spoke with Stephen for a bit before DaveyD walked past us and I tapped him on the shoulder and we got to speak about a few things instead of shouting across Gillingham Train Station, DaveyD mentioned the horrendous engineering works which seem to clash with every Gillingham Home Game at the moment and I mentioned that I got a lift over to Priestfield Stadium and DaveyD added that because his daughter had given him a lift to the game then DaveyD will have to miss the last few minutes of the match and leave early, Stephen mentioned that he had to get A Bus Replacement Service from Faversham.

I gave my thoughts to DaveyD about The Scunthorpe United Game and how we were indebted to Stuart Nelson for earning Gillingham a valuable point and I told DaveyD that funny story where A Father told his daughter, see these two Gillingham Fans, they have traveled a long way today, and the little girl replied, what to go to McDonalds and DaveyD liked that story a lot, sadly DaveyD mentioned that he rarely travels to away games anymore, But DaveyD was at Nottingham Forest where Eugen Bopp scored the equaliser to send Gillingham down with Nottingham Forest into League One, and even worse was The 3-0 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers where a point would of kept Gillingham up and Hartlepool United, Tranmere Rovers and Exeter City all got results that meant that Gillingham were relegated, that relegation hurt me more then The Nottingham Forest one as I had gone to more games during The 2009 / 2010 season.

DaveyD also was speaking about Madeira and most of the fans who watch Madeira play at The Centro Desportivo da Madeira also support Porto, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, so when DaveyD has seen Madeira play against Portugal’s Big Three, he has seen a full capacity stadium and some-times Madeira pull off a shock and maybe get a win against Benfica, Porto or Sporting Lisbon, a lot of players who play in The Primeira Liga are South American by Nationality, especially from Brazil, and DaveyD was speaking about one player who was at Madeira who moved to France who was scouted by Arsenal, and to begin with, this particular player was very talented, but for one reason or another that talent started to fade.

DaveyD has also watched A England Under 17 Tournament and Joe Martin was playing for The England Under 17’s at the time and this tournament was played at Priestfield Stadium, I have seen England Women play twice at Priestfield Stadium and with DaveyD speaking about Madeira, I am surprised that Gillingham haven’t signed more players from Europe, as we went through that spell under Andy Hessenthaler where Gillingham signed Paulo Gazzainga, Bruce Inkango and Stanley Aborah, I do like our signing young players policy over the past two season’s and the likes of John Egan, Bradley Garmston, Max Ehmer, Luke Norris, Brennan Dickenson, Rory Donnelly, Elliott List, Emmanuel Osadebe and Ryan Jackson appears to be the way forward for Gillingham - Russia were one of the team’s in that tournament and Theo Walcott played for The England Under 17’s at the time as well.

Eventually we saw Gillingham’s Team News on Twitter and Gillingham Lined Up As Follows,,,,,,,, Stuart Nelson, Aaron Morris, Adam El-Abd, Max Ehmer, Jermaine McGlashan, Josh Wright, Doug Loft, Brennan Dickenson, George Williams, Luke Norris, Dominic Samuel SUBS: Glenn Morris, Bradley Garmston, Jake Hessenthaler, Emmanuel Osadebe, Darren Oldaker and Rory Donnelly.

I mistakenly thought that Gillingham stuck with The 4.4.2 diamond midfield formation and it was only when Wainscotty told me that he saw The Gillingham Team Sheet on The Gillingham Twitter Account how Gillingham were lining up, but only the six substitutes reflects on how badly Gillingham’s Injuries are at the moment, as Ryan Jackson, John Egan, Adam Chicksen, Bradley Dack, Cody McDonald and Elliott List are all unavailable, and at the time I wasn’t sure why Elliott List wasn’t included among the substitutes.

With the time approaching twenty to three, DaveyD went round to his seat and Stephen took to his seat in Block C of The Medway Stand, Me and Stephen said we would met up after the game by the players entrance and hopefully when we met up Gillingham will have picked up all three points against A Crewe Alexandra Side who are battling to retain there League One Status, after I said “C Ya” to Stephen, I made my way to the Family Enclosure Entrance and I got My Season Ticket out ready so I can go through the turnstiles quickly, and I brought one fifty / fifty match day lottery ticket.

I gave Andrew and Charlotte my thoughts on The Scunthorpe United Game and I told them how we were indebted to Stuart Nelson for preserving what could be a valuable point come the end of the season, and I also mentioned how that loud roar which you usually hear from The Rainham End if Gillingham have a corner kick in the final minutes to either turn a defeat into a draw or a draw into a win, was the roar we made from the away end when Gillingham were defending a corner kick and The Gillingham Supporters really did stick with the team at Glanford Park – something I would like to see more off at Priestfield Stadium.

I spoke to Martin and Wainscotty briefly, and that was when Wainscotty told me that Gillingham were lining up with a 3.4.1.2 formation and not the 4.4.2 diamond midfield formation I thought we were going to line up with, Me, Martin and Wainscotty all agreed that this is a must win game and we all thought that this match would be a nervous and cagey game to watch, I went with a scrappy 1-0 win for The Gills, which reflects our current run of form and I just want to see Gillingham get back to winning ways and get three points in a match we have to win, Wainscotty went for 1-0, Martin went for 2-0, Martin and Wainscotty wanted me to sit closer to the dugout, but I chose to stick with my usual seat – although I did move one seat across so that Andrew could put his bag on my seat if he wanted to.

Looking around Priestfield Stadium and this looked liked it was going to be a low attendance, the end blocks in The Rainham End were almost empty, there were a lot of vacated seats in The Gordon Road Stand and Me and Andrew both thought that this looked liked a low 5,000 attendance, both teams came out of the tunnel ready for kick off and thankfully Referee Keith Hill didn’t switch ends, meaning that Gillingham kicked towards The Brian Moore Stand in The First Half, and Crewe Alexandra kicked towards The Rainham End, this means that both teams will kick towards there own supporters in The Second Half, and kicking towards The Rainham End in The Second Half is usually a physiological boost for The Gills.

FIRST HALF

Gillingham start this match fast out of the starting blocks and with this fast start, Gillingham create the first goal-scoring opportunity just two minutes into the match, Brennan Dickenson uses his pace to go on a attacking run down the left side of the pitch and Brennan Dickenson’s dangerous in-swinging cross from the left side of the pitch is headed clear by Ben Nugent, but only as far to Doug Loft in Crewe Alexandra’s Final Third, and Doug Loft takes a touch to control the ball before smashing a driven effort on target towards the left side of the goal, but Ben Garratt dived low down to his right to make what was a comfortable save for The Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper.

Doug Loft admitted earlier in the week in a interview on Kent Online that he wanted to add more goals to his game and he wanted to score more goals between now and the end of the season, and that shot on target after two minutes is further indication that Doug Loft was true to his word about adding more goals to his game, Andrew felt that Gillingham needed more players to chip in with goals, as we don’t have a striker who looks like there going to score twenty goals this season.

Gillingham are causing Crewe Alexandra plenty of problems in wide area’s as Brennan Dickenson is giving Ollie Turton a defenders nightmare with his pace, as Brennan Dickenson flies past The Crewe Alexandra Right Back and Brennan Dickenson whips in a sensational cross which had to be headed out of play for a corner kick by Harry Davis, because Brennan Dickenson would of picked out Dominic Samuel with that dangerous cross.

George Williams goes across to take the resulting corner kick, and George Williams in-swinging corner kick is headed clear by Ben Nugent, but the ball is kept in play by Aaron Morris who plays the ball forward to Jermaine McGlashan, and Jermaine McGlashan uses his pace to draw a foul from Jon Guthrie, and Jermaine McGlashan has earned Gillingham a free kick in a promising position on the pitch, and Gillingham could have taken the lead from the resulting free kick just four minutes into the match, George Williams and Doug Loft both stand over the resulting free kick, and Doug Loft leaves George Williams to take the resulting free kick, and I thought that George Williams free kick was disappointing at the time, but somehow George Williams free kick goes through a crowd of bodies and Dominic Samuel’s shot is blocked and Crewe Alexandra are able to clear there lines.

The visitor’s really are on the back-foot and Gillingham are using the extra man in midfield to there full advantage, Doug Loft has clipped a fantastic cross-field pass to Jermaine McGlashan on the right side of the pitch and Jermaine McGlashan uses his pace to go past Jon Guthrie and Jermaine McGlashan’s cross is blocked, but the ricochet falls to Josh Wright on the edge of Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area, and Josh Wright has the awareness to hit a cross-field pass to Brennan Dickenson on the left side of the pitch, and Brennan Dickenson has hit the ball first time into Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area and Luke Norris volley’s Brennan Dickenson’s cross over the crossbar – so we’re just seven minutes into the match and the pace and tempo from The Gills has been really impressive, the wing back system allows Brennan Dickenson and Jermaine McGlashan to push higher up the pitch, and Gillingham are whipping in a lot of dangerous crosses into Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area.

But Gillingham were given a dangerous reminder a minute later that it is essential to capitalise when your on top in a match, because Crewe Alexandra almost scored the opening goal of the game in the eighth minute, Jermaine McGlashan’s throw on in Crewe Alexandra’s Final Third is cut out by Zoumana Bakayogo and James Jones plays a short pass to David Fox, who plays the ball back to Harry Davis, and The Crewe Alexandra Centre Back plays the ball out-wide to Ollie Turton, Crewe Alexandra are building a very patient attack as Ollie Turton then plays a one two with James Jones and whips the ball down the line and Tom Hitchcock chests the ball down into Marcus Haber’s path, and The Crewe Alexandra Striker manages to keep the ball in play, and Marcus Haber plays the ball back to James Jones, who lets the ball run through to David Fox.

And right on the centre circle, David Fox plays a cross-field pass to Jon Guthrie and Jon Guthrie plays the ball down the line to Zoumana Bakayogo, who has the pace to go past Aaron Morris and Zoumana Bakayogo whips in a dangerous cross to the far post and Brennan Dickenson gets a crucial flick on the ball to prevent Marcus Haber from getting to the ball first – Marcus Haber is clearly the player Crewe Alexandra are trying to pick out with any crosses in play, or any dangerous cross from a set play, great defending from Brennan Dickenson to get to get far post and header the ball clear and away from danger.

Ten Minutes into the match and Gillingham are on the front-foot again, Doug Loft again plays a sensational cross-field pass to Brennan Dickenson who again goes past Ollie Turton, and Brennan Dickenson’s dangerous high and hanging cross is headed clear by Ben Nugent, but only as far to Dominic Samuel who takes a touch to control the ball, and Dominic Samuel goes for goal, and the deflection off Harry Davis takes all the power out of Dominic Samuel’s snap-shot effort on goal, and it was easy for Ben Garratt to gather the ball – both Doug Loft and Dominic Samuel have attempted long range efforts, and clearly Gillingham are attempting to get more shots off on goal from distance.

Twelve Minutes into the match and Gillingham finally take the lead and we did what we failed to do against Chesterfield in the previous home match – score when Gillingham are on top – Stuart Nelson kicks the ball long down-field and Luke Norris headers the ball back to Josh Wright and Josh Wright plays the ball out-wide to Brennan Dickenson, who plays the ball back to Max Ehmer, and Max Ehmer plays the ball inside to George Williams, and the young midfielder ono loan from Fulham played the ball back to Doug Loft, and Doug Loft has played a fantastic ball down the line for Jermaine McGlashan to run on to, and Jermaine McGlashan’s high and hanging cross appeared to have gone out of play, but Luke Norris does extremely well at the far post to keep the attack alive and Luke Norris headers the ball across the face of goal, and Dominic Samuel headers the ball into the back of the net to give Gillingham the lead.

My reactions were delayed for the goal celebrations because it was completely unexpected that Gillingham had scored, because I thought that Jermaine McGlashan’s high and hanging cross had gone out of play, so you have to give Luke Norris a lot of credit for keeping the attack alive, and Dominic Samuel’s anticipation levels were spot on, as that was a typical goal poachers goal, and the type of goals that Gillingham are not scoring on a frequent basis at the moment – You could also hear the relief around Priestfield Stadium that Gillingham had taken the lead, because Gillingham were dominating the early stages of the match - and failure to score when we are on top was our un-doing against Chesterfield in the previous home game.

Two Minutes after taking the lead, and Gillingham create two half chances which could have seen The Gills double there lead after fourteen minutes, Gillingham are enjoying a lot of possession that the fifth midfielder provides us and Jermaine McGlashan and Brennan Dickenson are providing Gillingham with plenty of pace in the wide area’s and Brennan Dickenson is involved again, playing a short pass back to Adam El-Abd, who plays the ball out-wide to Aaron Morris, and Aaron Morris plays the ball back to Josh Wright and Aaron Morris drops deeper to give Josh Wright the option to play a return pass back to Aaron Morris, and Aaron Morris passes the ball inside to Adam El-Abd, who plays a very risky pass forward to Doug Loft, and Doug Loft immediately clips the ball out-wide to Max Ehmer.

Max Ehmer passes the ball down the line to Brennan Dickenson, who plays a one two with George Williams and Brennan Dickenson again has the pace to beat Ollie Turton to the ball first and Brennan Dickenson’s first time cross is headed clear by Ben Nugent and James Jones helps the ball further away from goal by winning the second header, unfortunately for Doug Loft, the ball bounces too high for Doug Loft to try a dipping volley goal-wards, even though Doug Loft was urged to shoot from The Gillingham Supporters, Doug Loft takes a few touches to control the ball and play the ball out-wide to Brennan Dickenson, who whips in another quality cross to the far post and Luke Norris wins the first header, Dominic Samuel’s volleyed effort is blocked by Ollie Turton and Ben Nugent on the deck just about manages to slices the ball clear, Doug Loft losses out to Tom Hitchcock in the middle of midfield and Tom Hitchcock plays the ball back to David Fox, and Crewe Alexandra finally get the ball clear and away from there own goal.

The visitor’s are clearly rattled and Brennan Dickenson and Jermaine McGlashan are both causing Crewe Alexandra a lot of problems with there pace in the wide area’s, the extra man in midfield with George Williams, Doug Loft and Josh Wright going up against James Jones and David Fox is allowing Gillingham to win the midfield battle, I said to Andrew that a second goal for Gillingham will give us the confidence to go on and win this match, and Gillingham could gain a morale boosting and goal difference boosting win here against A Crewe Alexandra Side who really are struggling, the one attacking move from the visitor’s saw a very patient and precise build up and seven draws in there last ten league games shows that Crewe Alexandra are a very difficult side to win against, but from what we have seen in the opening fifteen minutes of the match so far, the visitor’s looked shell-shocked from Gillingham’s fast and frantic start, and perhaps the change to a 3.4.1.2 formation has caught Crewe Alexandra out here, because Ollie Turton and Jon Guthrie are not the quickest’s of full back’s.

Seventeen Minutes into the match and George Williams is fouled by Jon Guthrie and Gillingham have a free kick twenty five yards out and both Doug Loft and Luke Norris stand over the resulting free kick, Doug Loft leaves Luke Norris to have a go from distance, and Luke Norris opted to go for power rather then placement and Luke Norris has driven a low free kick into the wall and from there Crewe Alexandra almost hit Gillingham on the counter attack, David Fox picks the ball out in midfield before playing the ball forward to Tom Hitchcock, and Tom Hitchcock plays a fantastic reverse pass into Zoumana Bakayogo path, and Zoumana Bakayogo would of got on the end of Tom Hitchcock’s pass had Josh Wright not timed his sliding tackle to perfection, and that challenge from Josh Wright had to be timed to perfection because had Josh Wright mis-timed that challenge, then Crewe Alexandra would have been awarded a penalty kick.

David Fox goes across to take the resulting corner kick and David Fox’s in-swinging corner kick is gathered by Stuart Nelson, who quickly distributes the ball out-wide to Jermaine McGlashan “GO ON MCGLASHAN” Was My Response as Jermaine McGlashan uses his pace to go past Ben Nugent and Jermaine McGlashan cuts inside and lays the ball off to Luke Norris, who plays the ball back to Doug Loft, and Doug Loft plays the ball forward to George Williams, who tries to go past Harry Davis and George William’s driven effort on goal ricochets off The Young Crewe Alexandra Centre Back, and that deflection makes it easier for Ben Garratt to make the save - what pleases me a lot about that attack was the quick distribution from Stuart Nelson, it makes it a lot easier to counter attack if Gillingham distribute the ball quickly to turn defence into attack.

So the first twenty minutes have been very eventful for Gillingham with a lot of positive play and the only disappointment is the fact that Gillingham have only got a slender 1 – 0 advantage and if Gillingham were to grab a second goal before half time, then we would feel very confidant about Gillingham securing all three points in a match where only three points will do for The Gills – including this game there are eleven league fixtures remaining and Gillingham will need to win at least half of them to secure a playoff place as fifteen points on top of fifty nine would be seventy four, eight wins from the remaining eleven matches may well be enough to secure automatic promotion, eighty three points would be a low tally compared to previous season’s, but that may well be the points tally required to secure automatic promotion this season.

And Twenty Four Minutes into the match and Gillingham almost doubled there advantage and scored that crucial second goal for 2-0, Crewe Alexandra have a throw on deep in Gillingham’s Final Third down the left side of the pitch and Jon Guthrie throws the ball to David Fox, who attempts to play a return pass to Jon Guthrie, but George Williams intercepts the ball and runs from Gillingham’s Final Third up to the halfway line, and George Williams retains possession of the ball before threading the ball through to the left side of the pitch where Brennan Dickenson was making an over-lapping run, and Brennan Dickenson was drawing the attention of both Ollie Turton and Harry Davis, and Brennan Dickenson manages to whip in a fantastic early cross towards Dominic Samuel and Ben Nugent on the stretch almost scores a sensational own goal, only for Ben Garratt to dive to his left and make an sensational one handed save to deny what would of been the goal which would have given Gillingham a commanding 2-0 lead, but even if Ben Nugent scored that own goal then the goal wouldn’t have stood, as Dominic Samuel was flagged for offside – but Gillingham are piling on the pressure and Brennan Dickenson is integral to the way Gillingham have played for the opening twenty five minutes of this match.

Three Minutes later and in The Twenty Seventh Minute there was a moment of controversy, as Zoumana Bakayogo’s cross takes a huge deflection off Jermaine McGlashan’s out-stretched leg and Stuart Nelson rushes off his goal-line and manages to prevent the corner kick, and despite the fact that Stuart Nelson has managed to keep the ball in play – and it is clear from my seat in The Medway Stand that Stuart Nelson kept the ball in play – Referee Keith Hill awards Crewe Alexandra A Corner Kick, and if Crewe Alexandra were to equalise when it was blatantly obvious that Stuart Nelson had kept the ball in play, then I would be furious and very irritated, George Cooper goes across to take the resulting corner kick and George Cooper’s high and hanging in-swinging cross towards the far post appears to strike Marcus Haber on the arm, and Referee Keith Hill does spot the hand-ball attempt from Marcus Haber and Gillingham are awarded a free kick – much to my relief because it should have never been a corner kick for Crewe Alexandra in the first place.

Twenty Nine Minutes into the match and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in Crewe Alexandra’s Final Third as Ben Nugent wrestle’s Luke Norris to the ground, and Ben Nugent has the check to moan about a free kick being given against him, both Doug Loft and George William’s stand over the resulting free kick and George Williams clips a fantastic ball to the far post which goes over a lot of players who climbed up to either attack or defend this resulting set play, and Max Ehmer ghost’s in at the far post to get a shot off on goal, but Max Ehmer’s shot was straight at Ben Garratt, to be fair to Max Ehmer, that clipped ball from George William’s went over a lot of players head’s, so I am sure that Max Ehmer saw the ball very late, this may well go down as a routine save for Ben Garratt, but The Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper needed to react quickly to save and gather the ball.

Just two minutes later in The Thirty First Minute and Gillingham have another free kick in precisely the same position as before as James Jones fouls George Williams and Gillingham can try again from the resulting free kick, again both Doug Loft and George William’s stand over the resulting free kick and George William’s high and hanging free kick into the heart of Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area is headed clear by Ben Nugent, but Aaron Morris had pealed off at the far post to chest the ball down and clip the ball across the face of goal and Ben Nugent is in the right place again to header the ball clear, but only as far to Josh Wright on the edge of Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area, and Josh Wright’s first time shot on target is sliced up into the air by Marcus Haber and Gillingham can still pile the pressure on the visitor’s goal with this corner kick – Unfortunately for Gillingham, George William’s in-swinging corner kick is gathered by Ben Garrett and Crewe Alexandra can relieve the pressure which is building up on there own goal.

Thirty Four Minutes into the match and Stuart Nelson makes his first save of the match as Marcus Haber headers George Cooper’s in-swinging cross straight at Stuart Nelson, either side of Stuart Nelson and Crewe Alexandra could of equalised with a handful of goal-scoring opportunities, The 1-0 score-line is a massive positive for Gillingham, but despite creating a succession of goal-scoring opportunities, the slender advantage means that Crewe Alexandra only need to score from a set play and we’re back on level terms again – hopefully Gillingham can double our advantage before half time because another goal will give Gillingham a crucial two goal cushion and make it more likely to pick up all three points.

Thirty Six Minutes into the match and Brennan Dickenson uses his pace to win a corner kick off Oliver Turton, George Williams goes across to take the resulting corner kick and George William’s in-swinging corner kick is headed out of play by Zoumana Bakayogo and Gillingham can try again with another corner kick, George William’s in-swinging corner kick is punched clear by Ben Garratt and one defensive clearance from Ben Nugent see’s Gillingham go from attacking and possibly going 2-0 up, to almost being hit on the counter attack and Adam El-Abd takes one for the team and fouls George Cooper on the halfway line – but I thought that Referee Keith Hill was very quick to show Adam El-Abd a yellow card, it may well have to do with the fact that Adam El-Abd walked away from Referee Keith Hill and igorned him, but I thought that the yellow card was a poor decision, but I do agree that it was a foul and a free kick to Crewe Alexandra was the correct punishment.

I have been impressed with Gillingham’s Midfield trio of Doug Loft, Josh Wright and George Williams, all three are retaining possession of the ball nicely, there constantly providing Jermaine McGlashan and Brennan Dickenson with the service they require, all three players have clearly been given instructions to shoot when there in and around Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area and Ben Garratt has been tested between the sticks.

George Cooper has gone across to take the resulting free kick for Crewe Alexandra, and George Cooper’s in-swinging free kick is headed clear by Adam El-Abd and Aaron Morris keeps the ball in play in-front of me and Aaron Morris takes no chances and plays the percentages by clipping the ball down the line towards Jermaine McGlashan and Jon Guthrie is forced to kick the ball into touch and it is from here where Gillingham create a half chance which could of lead to a another goal.

Aaron Morris throws the ball down the line to Luke Norris, who not only manages to keep the ball in play, but Luke Norris hooks in a high and hanging cross and Harry Davis and Ben Garratt both go for the ball and Ben Garratt has completely mis-judged the flight of the ball and somehow Referee Keith Hill awards a free kick to Crewe Alexandra when Ben Garratt is fouled by Harry Davis – a ridiculous decision in my opinion.

And a minute later, David Fox gets disposed by Josh Wright and unfortunately for Gillingham, Josh Wright’s interception runs through for Ben Garratt to pick up and Crewe Alexandra really do get away with that mix up there – a player of David Fox’s quality and experience shouldn’t be making costly mistakes as bad as that one, and I am sure that David Fox is the most relieved man inside Priestfield Stadium to see Gillingham fail to capitalise on his defensive error.

But if the decision to award a free kick against Gillingham when Harry Davis had fouled Ben Garratt was ridiculous, then at least Referee Keith Hill is consistent and awarded a foul against Marcus Haber for his challenge on Stuart Nelson when George Cooper has whipped in another dangerous in-swinging cross, I honestly thought that had Marcus Haber managed to get the ball on target then Crewe Alexandra would of equalised, but I also thought that Stuart Nelson could have done better to deal with that cross as well, it was only when the offside flag was raised from Stuart Nelson’s kick out that I thought Gillingham were given a free kick – but you also cannot be offside from a goal-kick, a throw on or a corner kick, so perhaps the fact the offside flag was raised suggested that it was a free kick after all.

Right at the end of the first half and Crewe Alexandra could of equalised and that goal would of been a kick in the stomach after a excellent first half performance from The Gills, Brennan Dickenson tries to pick Luke Norris out with a high cross towards the right side of the penalty area, but Ben Garratt was off his line quickly to gather the ball and Luke Norris was barged to the floor, Ben Garratt rolls the ball out to Harry Davis and Harry Davis plays the ball forward to George Cooper, who lays the ball off to David Fox, and David Fox plays the ball out-wide to Jon Guthrie, and Jon Guthrie has kicked the ball long down-field and Aaron Morris wins the initial header, but the ball drops to Zoumana Bakayogo, who has hit a cracking volley with the outside of his left foot and Zoumana Bakayogo’s volleyed effort crashes off the inside of the post and Brennan Dickenson kicks the loose ball clear and away from danger and Crewe Alexandra push forward again, and it takes a hoof ball into roof z from Adam El-Abd to finally clear the ball away from danger, and Referee Keith Hill blows his whistle for half time.

HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 1 – 0 CREWE ALEXANDRA

So Dominic Samuel’s goal after twelve minutes is all that separates both teams at half time, but had Zoumana Bakayogo scored that dipping volley right before half time then Justin Edinburgh’s Half Time Team Talk would of been very different, for the first goal, it was Doug Loft’s excellent pass down the line for Jermaine McGlashan to run on to and Jermaine McGlashan’s high and hanging cross was kept in at the far post by Luke Norris and Dominic Samuel headed Gillingham in-front with a goal poachers goal.

Dominic Samuel, Josh Wright, Doug Loft and George Williams have attempted efforts on goal from long range, clearly Justin Edinburgh has told his players to shoot when we get within twenty five yards from goal, deflections / blocks have taken the sting out of any efforts from distance which has made it easier for Ben Garratt to save these efforts on goal from distance.

Adam El-Abd has taken one for the team as Gillingham look prone to the counter attack and we look especially are prone to the counter attack and with that yellow card, I do wonder if Adam El-Abd will be substituted at half time, but requesting for Adam El-Abd to be substituted is no reflection on his performance, as Adam El-Abd has won a few defensive headers and positioned himself really well.

Gillingham have started the first half fast out of the tracks and our pressing in the final third has been very noticeable, the additional central midfielder with George Williams in The Central Attacking Midfielder Role and Doug Loft and Josh Wright playing behind him has been difficult for Crewe Alexandra to cope with, but the pace and width from Jermaine McGlashan and Brennan Dickenson has been the stand out talking points from the first half – especially from Brennan Dickenson, who has whipped in a succession of quality crosses from the left side of the pitch.

The only concern from the first half is the slender one goal advantage, Crewe Alexandra only need a half chance from a set play or a long ball into the box and the game is level at 1-1, so another goal in The Second Half will make the rest of this match very comfortable for Gillingham – Marcus Haber is a threat for Crewe Alexandra in the air, and Zoumana Bakayogo has a lot of pace for Crewe Alexandra, and that volleyed effort at the end of the first half means that Gillingham need to double mark Zoumana Bakayogo in The Second Half.

SECOND HALF:

Both teams made one substitution a piece at half time as Bradley Garmston came on for Adam El-Abd for Gillingham and Charlie Kirk replaces Captain Harry Davis for Crewe Alexandra, with Adam El-Abd on that yellow card for pulling George Cooper back, then the decision to take Adam El-Abd off was a sensible one - it was only after the game that I realised that Adam El-Abd’s substitution was an enforced one, as the experienced centre back was replaced through injury, and not a tactical decision from Justin Edinburgh.

Andrew felt that the atmosphere and the way Gillingham played towards the latter stages of the first half was like a training session, and I agreed with Andrew that Gillingham needed to up the intensity levels, up the tempo, and hopefully score that crucial second goal to go on and win the game, because that dipping volley from Zoumana Bakayogo, which hit the inside of the post and stayed out was a warning to Gillingham that 1-0 is never enough to win a football match.

Bradley Garmston looked liked he had replaced Adam El-Abd and Bradley Garmston would provide Gillingham with a lot of pace playing at left centre back with Max Ehmer in the centre and Aaron Morris playing as a right centre back, one of my concerns the previous week away at Scunthorpe United was the lack of pace Max Ehmer and Adam El-Abd have to play in a back four, and at least Bradley Garmston will be quick enough to play as a left centre back.

Gillingham created the first clear cut goal-scoring opportunity forty eight minutes into the match, Crewe Alexandra are looking to get themselves back on level terms as Zoumana Bakayogo passes the ball inside to David Fox who plays the ball first time through to James Jones, who plays the ball back to Jon Guthrie, and The Crewe Alexandra Left Back plays the ball forward to Ollie Turton, and The Crewe Alexandra Right Back clips the ball down the line to Marcus Haber, who holds the ball up and plays the ball back to Ollie Turton, who’s first time cross is headed clear by Max Ehmer and David Fox gets to the loose ball first and tries to pick out Marcus Haber with a through-ball.

But The Crewe Alexandra Striker couldn’t retain possession of the ball and he was intercepted by Bradley Garmston, and George Williams is able to start the counter attack by playing the ball inside to Doug Loft, who plays a first time pass through to Luke Norris, who lays the ball off into George William’s path, and the young central attacking midfielder runs forward in possession of the ball and takes on Jon Guthrie, before cutting inside and looking to place the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, but Ben Garratt dived to his left and managed to get two arms to the ball to turn the ball around the post and Gillingham had a corner kick in-front of The Rainham End - I thought that George Williams should of attempted to go for a curling effort into the top right corner, the low shot lacked the power or accuracy to beat Ben Garratt from that range, but that was a positive piece of play from George Williams, who clearly enjoys playing in The Central Attacking Midfielder Position.

Unfortunately, the resulting corner kick see’s Luke Norris penalised for hand-ball, the delivery from George William’s was very good, but the hand-ball from Luke Norris gave Crewe Alexandra the opportunity they needed to relieve the pressure building up on there goal, corner kicks are something that Gillingham need to work on, we don’t seem to score many goals from corner kicks, and either the delivery is poor, or no-one anticipates the second ball and the opposition are then able to clear there lines.

Fifty One and Fifty Three Minutes respective see’s both Gillingham and Crewe Alexandra create half chances, George Williams manages to pick out Brennan Dickenson on the over-lap and again, Brennan Dickenson has the beating of Ollie Turton for pace and Brennan Dickenson’s high and hanging cross almost picks out Luke Norris at the far post, but Luke Norris couldn’t get any contact on the ball, from here, Crewe Alexandra create a very good goal-scoring opportunity as Jon Guthrie plays the ball forward to Zoumana Bakayogo, who has the pace to go on a long striving run down the left side of the pitch, and Zoumana Bakayogo’s cross into Gillingham’s Penalty Area matches the quality run made from the left winger, and only a fantastic defensive header from Max Ehmer denied what would have been a certain goal for George Cooper, as The Crewe Alexandra Midfielder was un-marked eight yards out, and Max Ehmer made sure that Gillingham protected there slender advantage.

And a minute later, Crewe Alexandra created a even better goal-scoring opportunity which forced Stuart Nelson into his first meaningful save of the match, Ben Garratt’s long kick down-field is flicked on by Marcus Haber and Aaron Morris wins the aerial battle with James Jones, but the ball bounces back towards Marcus Haber who holds the ball up and plays the ball back to James Jones, who volley’s the ball out-wide to Ollie Turton, who takes a touch and plays the ball inside to David Fox, and David Fox plays the ball forward to George Cooper, who has his back towards goal and allows the ball to run across so that George Cooper can hit a first time shot on the turn from distance and Stuart Nelson dived low to his left to get two hands on the ball to divert the ball away from goal - I think there was a slight deflection on that shot, but it was a save you expect Stuart Nelson to make.

Brennan Dickenson was able to keep the ball in play and kick the ball high and into a central area of the pitch and Dominic Samuel is able to bring the ball down, turn and just run in possession of the ball into Crewe Alexandra’s half of the pitch and Dominic Samuel plays the ball out-wide to Jermaine McGlashan, who plays a first time low cross into Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area, and on the stretch, Ben Nugent was able to clear the ball away from danger, and Luke Norris couldn’t get on the end of Jermaine McGlashan’s low cross.

Fifty Six Minutes into the match and Crewe Alexandra create another decent goal-scoring opportunity, Crewe Alexandra had a throw on in Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch down our left hand side and Ollie Turton threw the ball to George Cooper, who plays the ball back to Ollie Turton and Ollie Turton plays the ball back Ben Nugent, and The Crewe Alexandra Central Defender plays a first time pass through-ball to David Fox who lets the ball run through to James Jones, and James Jones plays a one touch pass through to Charlie Kirk, and Charlie Kirk plays the ball through to George Cooper on the over-lap, and George Cooper’s driven effort on goal from the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area flies over the left side of the goal and that is another let off for Gillingham - Crewe Alexandra are going with the shoot on site policy and eventually one of these efforts from distance is going to hit the back of the net and Crewe Alexandra will equalise.

Looking across to the substitutes on the bench for Gillingham, Jake Hessenthaler, Emmanuel Osadebe, Rory Donnelly and Darren Oldaker are Gillingham’s only four remaining out-field substitutions, several supporters behind me were having a right go at Luke Norris because he hasn’t jumped up for aerial challenges when up against Ben Nugent, you could see how frustrated Luke Norris was when he was fouled by Jon Guthrie and while I agreed that Luke Norris needed to be substituted, some of the criticism was a bit over the top, I do think that Luke Norris’s ankle injury and the lack of starting appearances needs to be taken into consideration, we have only created one clear cut goal-scoring opportunity in The Second Half with George Williams getting a shot on target that forced Ben Garratt to make a save, and that means that the strikers are not getting many goal-scoring opportunities to score goals.

Three minutes after that effort from George Cooper, and Crewe Alexandra could - and perhaps should - of equalised around the hour mark, George Cooper was again involved in the build up and it was his pass out-wide which manage’s to pick out Zoumana Bakayogo, who has the pace to get to the byline and pull back an excellent cross which is flicked on by Marcus Haber, and Tom Hitchcock was unmarked inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and somehow Tom Hitchcock fails to get a shot off on target and that is a massive let off for Gillingham.

Right after that guilt edge goal-scoring opportunity which wasn’t capitalised on by Tom Hitchcock, Gillingham broke on Crewe Alexandra as Josh Wright intercepted the ball in Gillingham’s Final Third and Josh Wright played the ball through to Jermaine McGlashan on the over-lap, who used his pace to take on Zoumana Bakayogo, and Jermaine McGlashan cuts inside and lays the ball off to George Williams, who has the awareness to play the ball out-wide to Brennan Dickenson on the left, and Brennan Dickenson plays the ball forward to Luke Norris, and Luke Norris is one on one with Jon Guthrie and although Luke Norris was unable to get past Jon Guthrie, Gillingham at least have won a corner kick in-front of The Rainham End.

Doug Loft goes across to take the resulting corner kick and Doug Loft’s in-swinging corner kick is headed goal-wards by Aaron Morris and Ben Garratt is in the right place to make a block as Luke Norris was right there anticipating the knock down, Aaron Morris was quick to the loose ball ahead of Zoumana Bakayogo, and Aaron Morris manages to keep the ball in play and Aaron Morris plays the ball back to Josh Wright on the edge of Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area on the right side, and Josh Wright’s first time cross to the far post is knocked down by Max Ehmer, and Ben Nugent gets the ball partially clear by hooking the ball away from goal.

But the chance was still alive as Doug Loft was first to the loose ball and Doug Loft played the ball out-wide to George Williams, who did really well to retain possession of the ball despite being pressurised from both George Cooper and Ollie Turton, George Williams gets to the byline, and Doug Loft shouted for the ball to be checked back, and that is precisely what George Williams did, and Doug Loft’s first time cross into Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area is headed clear by David Fox, but only as far to Josh Wright who header’s the ball back into Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area and Ben Nugent and Zoumana Bakayogo both leave the ball for each other to deal with and neither player does anything, and Josh Wright’s header picks out Dominic Samuel on the right side of the penalty area, and Dominic Samuel driven effort crashes off the inside of the post and ricochets off Jon Guthrie and hits the back of the net and Gillingham have doubled there lead in fortuitous circumstances.

But that goal was badly needed, because up until Gillingham had doubled there lead, Crewe Alexandra were really pushing hard for the equaliser and George Cooper has hit a few efforts from distance, Tom Hitchcock missed that guilt edge goal-scoring opportunity and Max Ehmer had also made a crucial defensive header, at the time Luke Norris was credited with the goal, but it was clear at the time that the second goal was an own goal, and there had been an element of luck in both goals that Gillingham had scored against Crewe Alexandra – perhaps that luck had been missing in the three fixtures against Oldham Athletic, Chesterfield and Fleetwood Town.

Unfortunately, Doug Loft went down to the floor holding on to his ankle and Doug Loft was unable to continue and he had to be substituted, Jake Hessenthaler came on for the final thirty minutes, Crewe Alexandra Manager Steve Davis also made a double substitution to try and get Crewe Alexandra back into the match as Billy Bingham and Callum Ainley came on for David Fox and Tom Hitchcock, Crewe Alexandra have made all there substitutions while Gillingham have one substitute remaining – and with Gillingham 2 – 0 up, I do wonder if Darren Oldaker is going to come on and make his debut for Gillingham ???

Sixty Five Minutes into the match and Crewe Alexandra look to get an immediate response, Billy Bingham’s In-Swinging Corner Kick is headed clear by Luke Norris, but only as far to George Cooper on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and George Cooper takes a touch to control the ball, place the ball to the left side to skip past Jake Hessenthaler’s challenge, and George Cooper’s curling effort on target is straight at Stuart Nelson, Crewe Alexandra are pushing for the goal they need to get themselves back into this match, but this also suits Gillingham perfectly, because Gillingham can hit Crewe Alexandra on the counter attack.

From here, Gillingham cause there own problems as Stuart Nelson rolls the ball out to Aaron Morris on the right side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Aaron Morris takes a few touches before playing the ball through to Jake Hessenthaler in midfield, Jake Hessenthaler takes a touch before playing the ball back to Aaron Morris, who was very lucky to skip past Callum Ainley’s challenge and Aaron Morris plays a clipped pass forward towards Dominic Samuel and Ben Nugent intercept’s the ball on the halfway line and the loose ball runs all the way through to James Jones, who plays the ball forward to George Cooper, and George Cooper lays the ball off to Charlie Kirk, who was shaping up to shoot before playing a one two with Callum Ainley, and Charlie Kirk has to run back to get to the loose ball – which shows how deep Gillingham’s Defensive Line is at the moment.

Charlie Kirk, after getting to the loose ball, plays the ball forward to Brad Inman, who pass the ball sideways to George Cooper, who cuts back on to his un-favoured right foot to skip past Jake Hessenthaler’s challenge and George Cooper curled an effort towards goal which failed to hit the target – although Stuart Nelson had dived at full stretch because Stuart Nelson was convinced that George Cooper’s effort on goal was on target – but Gillingham had contributed to that goal-scoring opportunity by cheaply giving the ball back to Crewe Alexandra, and if there is one team you don’t want to give the ball back to, it is Crewe Alexandra, because they are very good at retaining possession of the ball, but unlike the side in 2011 / 2012 – there is no Nick Powell up-front to get on the end of all of Crewe Alexandra’s excellent build up play.

Sixty Seven Minutes into the match and Dominic Samuel draws a foul from Ben Nugent which gets The Crewe Alexandra Central Defender into The Referee’s Notebook, challenges are flying in at the moment and Jake Hessenthaler has put in a few robust challenge’s on Ollie Turton and James Jones respectively, and Jake Hessenthaler has added a bit of bite and tenacity into Gillingham’s Midfield.

A few supporters behind me again reiterated there disappointment in Luke Norris’s performance, one fan questioned Luke Norris’s attitude and commitment as Luke Norris didn’t jump when Ben Nugent climbed highest to header a high ball clear and away from danger, there have been good points in Luke Norris’s play – the assist for Dominic Samuel’s first goal and at the time Luke Norris was credited with the second goal – which was clearly an own goal – but it is perfectly reasonable to demand more from Luke Norris, because at the start of the season Luke Norris was playing brilliantly as a centre forward, and these are the performance levels that Luke Norris needs to get back too.

Seventy One Minutes into the match and Gillingham have a corner kick and the chance to score a crucial third goal to seal all three points, and George William’s In-Swinging Corner Kick is completely missed by Ben Garratt and Luke Norris is penalised by Referee Keith Hill and that was a very soft foul given in Crewe Alexandra’s favour and you could hear the anger and frustrations among The Gillingham Supporters, I felt that the atmosphere and the signing, clapping and chanting was a lot better then it had been in previous home matches, I spoke about Gillingham’s Atmosphere at Glanford Park and how the supporters stuck with the team as we earned that 0-0 draw away from home,  winning helps improves the atmosphere inside the stadium and a poor refereeing performance fires the supporters up as well – but as much as I have been annoyed with 1-2 decisions from Referee Keith Hill, there hasn’t been any controversial decision’s that are big talking points that we will be talking about after the game.

Crewe Alexandra create a succession of goal-scoring opportunities from The Seventy Fifth Minute onwards, Aaron Morris does brilliantly to header Ollie Turton’s dangerous in-swinging cross clear and away from danger, but Aaron Morris only gets the ball partially clear and away from danger as Brad Inman and Charlie Kirk both link up nicely to tee up George Cooper, who goes for a spectacular volley on the turn from distance which fails to hit the target, as George Cooper volleys the ball well wide and closer to the corner flag then the goal.

But this was only just the start for Crewe Alexandra, who are clearly opting with a shoot from site and shoot from distance policy, and a minute later it is Billy Bingham’s turn to hit a long range effort from distance which Max Ehmer manages to deflect just wide of Stuart Nelson’s left hand post, and Crewe Alexandra continue to pile the pressure on Gillingham’s Goal, Billy Bingham goes over to take the resulting corner kick, and Billy Bingham’s dangerous In-Swinging Corner Kick is headed clear by Josh Wright and helped on it’s way by Jake Hessenthaler, but James Jones gets to the loose ball first, and plays the ball forward to Brad Inman, who tee’s up Ben Nugent to have a go for goal on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Ben Nugent’s first time shot on target is thankfully saved by Stuart Nelson,

And finally in The Eightieth Minute, Crewe Alexandra had another goal-scoring opportunity and again it is George Cooper who tries another attempt from distance, as George Cooper skilfully goes past Josh Wright and Bradley Garmston, before smashing another effort from distance which only just about clear’s Stuart Nelson’s crossbar by a foot, Crewe Alexandra are doing everything right, there just not hitting the target with many of these attempts on goal from distance.

After George Cooper failed to hit the target, Rory Donnelly on for Luke Norris is Gillingham’s Third and Final Substitution and it was also the correct substitution as Luke Norris was struggling and I did wonder if Darren Oldaker would come on for his Gillingham Debut, but clearly Justin Edinburgh wanted to make absolutely sure that Gillingham got the win, maybe if the score-line was 3-0 then Darren Oldaker would of got a runout for his debut.

And having had to deal with a succession of Crewe Alexandra attack’s – which were mostly efforts on goal from distance – Gillingham could of scored that all important third goal in The Eighty First Minute, Brennan Dickenson, took a throw on down the left side of the pitch, and Brennan Dickenson threw the ball to Josh Wright and both players played a one two before Josh Wright clipped the ball forward to Rory Donnelly, who plays a one touch layoff out-wide to Brennan Dickenson, who keeps the ball in play and shows great strength to shrug off James Jones challenge, before playing the ball forward to George Williams, who spun back on himself to get away from Brad Inman, and George William’s tee’s up Jake Hessenthaler, who take’s a touch and goes for goal from twenty five yards out, and Jake Hessenthaler’s shot on target only just about clears the right side of the crossbar and Ben Garratt had dived to his left at full stretch because he thought that was in, and likewise I thought Jake Hessenthaler had scored for Gillingham as well – great strike from Jake Hessenthaler, as Gillingham haven’t created many goal-scoring opportunities in The Second Half.

The attendance at Priestfield Stadium was announced as 5,656 with 146 Crewe Alexandra Supporters being announced over The PA System, we’re one of the few clubs to actually announce The Away Attendance during the game, most teams may well post The Away Attendance on Twitter, or announce The Away Attendance in There Match Report after the game, but we’re one of very few clubs to actually announce the attendance during the game.

Crewe Alexandra are still the side pressing for what will be the goal that gets them back into this match, and eighty six minutes into the game and it is that man George Williams who is involved again, Zoumana Bakayogo goes on a fantastic run down the left wing and plays a give and go with Brad Inman, and Aaron Morris is struggling to keep up with Zoumana Bakayogo, who gets to the byline and pulls the ball back across Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Max Ehmer headers the ball clear, but that clearance only goes as far to George Cooper, who takes a touch to control the ball and whip in a dangerous in-swinging cross into the heart of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Stuart Nelson is off his line to get two fists on the ball to punch the ball away from goal and Josh Wright helps the ball on and Gillingham eventually get the ball clear – Stuart Nelson has a right go at Referee Keith Hill, because Stuart Nelson felt that he was fouled by Crewe Alexandra Striker Marcus Haber.

And Eighty Nine Minutes into the match, Crewe Alexandra do have the ball in the back of the net and only the offside flag denied Crewe Alexandra from setting up a grand-stand finish, because had that goal stood, then Gillingham would of been in for a very nervous final few minutes of the game, Ollie Turton takes a throw on for Crewe Alexandra in Gillingham’s Final Third and Ollie Turton throws the ball to Charlie Kirk, who takes a touch before running towards goal and playing the ball forward to Brad Inman, who plays the ball forward to George Cooper, and The Crewe Alexandra Midfield runs past Jake Hessenthaler and is forced wide and away from goal by Jermaine McGlashan, and George Cooper plays the ball out-wide to Zoumana Bakayogo, who whips in a dangerous cross across Gillingham’s Six Yard Box and Marcus Haber taps the ball into the back of the net at the far post – Crewe Alexandra Supporters Celebrations were cut short once they saw The Lineman’s Flag raised, but I genuinely thought that Crewe Alexandra had halfed the deficit at the time.

Brennan Dickenson was announced as Gillingham’s Man Of the Match over The PA System, and that was a decision I agreed with, because Brennan Dickenson had the beating of Ollie Turton throughout the entire match and Brennan Dickenson whipped in some sensational crosses, his pace caused Crewe Alexandra all sorts of problems and Gillingham really did enjoy the width that Brennan Dickenson and Jermaine McGlashan thrived on as left and right wing backs respectively.

Three Minutes of additional time were shown by The Fourth Official, and Jermaine McGlashan and Rory Donnelly are looking to play a bit of keep ball and look to wind the clock down by holding the ball up in the corner, normally whenever your looking to hold the ball up in the corner, The Referee / Linesman will whistle / flag for a free kick in the opposition’s favour, as your essentially time wasting and Referee’s don’t like that, Gillingham are looking to protect what we have got and show good game management to ensure that we pick up three points in a match we have to win.

Having held the ball in the corner for the last minute and a half, Gillingham put the icing on the cake by scoring a third goal in stoppage time, Jermaine McGlashan throws the ball to Rory Donnelly who looks like he is playing for time in the corner flag, but Rory Donnelly sneaks a pass through two Crewe Alexandra Players and picks out Jermaine McGlashan, who shrugs off the challenge from Zoumana Bakayogo, and Jermaine McGlashan cuts the ball back to Josh Wright who places an excellent first time shot into the bottom right corner of the net as Josh Wright’s shot hits the inside of the post and goes into the back of the net – Josh Wright scores his first goal for Gillingham and “One Josh Wright” was chanted from the back of The Rainahm End.

That was the last meaningful action of the game and Referee Keith Hill blew his whistle for full time and Gillingham have picked up all three points in a match where only a win and three points will do.

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 3 – 0 CREWE ALEXANDRA

This was never a 3-0 win and 3-0 does flatter Gillingham a bit, because Crewe Alexandra created plenty of goal-scoring opportunities in The Second Half and George Cooper had the vast majority of those goal-scoring opportunities for the visitor’s, but many of those goal-scoring opportunities were from long range, and looking at the stats, Gillingham had thirteen shots and eight on target, and Crewe Alexandra had twelve shots and four on target, the shoot on site policy for Crewe Alexandra was a approach they had to go for, as Crewe Alexandra were losing 2-0 and had one of those efforts hit the back of the net, or the offside goal stood, then it would of been a very different game.

I made sure I had everything before leaving the ground, Wainscotty caught up with me and he was pleased with the performance and the result which was better then he expected, as both of us thought that this game was going to be a cagey 1-0 win, and we both agreed that 3-0 flattered Gillingham a bit, but hopefully we can take the confidence from this performance and this win can kick-start another winning run for The Gills.

I met up with Stephen by the players entrance and we spoke about the match and who we thought played well, and how it was great to get back to winning ways, and with Wigan Athletic drawing, it now means that Gillingham have closed the gap to three points on the automatic promotion position’s and increased the gap on the team’s behind us, Gary and Diane caught up with us and Gary was very pleased with that result and Gary spoke about the stat that Crewe Alexandra have scored the fewest second half goals this season – fourteen – and Crewe Alexandra had only won one of there previous fourteen matches.

I mentioned that everything that Crewe Alexandra do is everything you love about football, they play some fantastic football, they bring through youngster’s into the first team and they constantly have to sell there star assets to survive, you never see Crewe Alexandra in debt and even if Steve Davis were to lose his job as Crewe Alexandra Manager – and I hope not – then there academy manager, or someone with excellent experience in youth football will be given The Crewe Alexandra Job as that is there philosophy, Gary mentioned that a lot of Crewe Alexandra’s shots were from range and from outside the penalty area.

And while Gary was very impressed with George Cooper’s performance, when I told him that David Fox was playing in Crewe Alexandra’s Midfield, that took Gary by surprise, as David Fox has played for Norwich City, Colchester United, Barnsley and Blackpool, and Gary just never saw the name on the team-sheet, one player who Stephen did speak about a lot pre match was Tom Hitchcock, who thankfully didn’t score a hat-trick against Gillingham this time, and in-fact his performance up-front was poor, and I noticed Marcus Haber more then I noticed Tom Hitchcock during the game.

Diane mentioned that she will remind Gemma that we will arrive at Roots Hall early and look to get back late as we want to see the players and find somewhere nice for food and drink, it is a really short trip to Roots Hall and I am surprised that this match is being played on A Saturday, I brought My Southend United Ticket when I brought My Tickets for Oldham Athletic and Scunthorpe United and Diane and Stephen have there tickets as well.

Another interesting stat that Gary had for us is that this is only the second time under Justin Edinburgh’s management that Gillingham have managed back to back clean sheets and Stephen added that Gillingham’s 0-0 draw against Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park is a very good result now that Gillingham have won against Crewe Alexandra, Southend United will be a much sterner test, but at least Gillingham go into Saturday’s Match at Roots Hall full of confidence, and Gillingham have kept two clean sheets in a row.

I couldn’t hang around as long as I normally do as Nathan had texted me to say he was picking me up at 5.30PM and we were having A FIFA Tournament around Adam’s, I teased Stewart by saying that he should turn up to Priestfield Stadium more often, as Gillingham won and Stewart saw Gillingham win, I didn’t see my brother at Priestfield Stadium either before or after the game, he doesn’t hang around the stadium after the game like I do.

I walked from Priestfield Stadium to Beeching’s Cross and Nathan was there and we went to Rochester, where I went to the chippy to buy A Small Portion of Chips and Two Jumbo Plain Sausages, I also brought a large bottle of Pepsi and a packet of biscuits, as I don’t like eating other people’s food in there own house, I didn’t win The FIFA Double’s Tournament as Me and Chris ended third, but only three points separated first and last in this tournament as double’s is very tricky - I do prefer the single’s tournament more when you have great scope for picking players, but the double’s tournament is very good for those who aren’t great at FIFA and give them a chance to win as well.

[foolishfootylife-blog]

with my bicycle. #crewealexandra #football #bycycle #stadium #foolishfootylife (Crewe Alexandra Football Club)