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.
