FOM BLOG: MK DONS 2-0 GILLINGHAM
My Thoughts On MK Dons 2-0 Gillingham................
This was a very disappointing defeat for Gillingham, Because I was looking ahead to the matches that Gillingham have got coming up in the next four league games, and those fixtures are as follows,,,,, 20th Of October Portsmouth Home, 24th Fleetwood Town, Home 27th Ipswich Town Away, And 31st Sunderland Home, And taking those four matches into consideration, It was essential that Gillingham went into those four matches against Portsmouth, Fleetwood Town, Ipswich Town and Sunderland off the back of a away win against MK Dons at Stadium MK, But that was not the case, and these four matches were always going to be difficult matches, but these four matches start to become more challenging because Gillingham have lost against MK Dons, and we now need to see a response from Gillingham against Portsmouth on Tuesday Night.
MK Dons Away was actually Gillingham's first away fixture that was postponed when we initially locked down back in March, and whilst no supporters could watch MK Dons V Gillingham inside the football stadium for the league match on October 17th, we could at the very least watch MK Dons V Gillingham on I Follow, Again, Gillingham are kicking off early with A 1PM Kick Off Time, and the early kick off time means that football clubs are saving money on not using the floodlights (which makes me wonder why more matches in League One and League Two are not kicking off at 1PM ???) MK Dons are bottom of League One going into this league match against Gillingham, But The League One Table doesn't take on much importance in the early stages of the season, I think once we get to ten or fifteen league matches, that's when you can start to look at The League One Table more seriously.
Gillingham's Team News Was In, And Gillingham Lined Up As Follows...... Jack Bonham (GK), Ryan Jackson, Jack Tucker, Zech Medley, Connor Ogilvie, Declan Drysdale, Scott Robertson, Kyle Dempsey, Dominic Samuel, Vadaine Oliver, Jordan Graham, SUBS: Joe Walsh (GK), Robbie McKenzie, Christian Maghoma, Josh Eccles, Alex MacDonald, Trae Coyle and John Akinde - So Matty Willock, Henry Woods and Tom O'Connor all miss out, whilst we also found out that Jacob Mellis was not named in the match-day squad because of illness, But Kyle Dempsey and Scott Robertson both returning to the starting line up was a massive boost, especially with the league and cup fixtures Gillingham have got coming up over the next few weeks.
Three Minutes Into The Match, And MK Dons create the first goal-scoring opportunity of the game, Zech Medley tries to pick out Jordan Graham with a diagonal cross-field cross pass down the left side of the pitch, and Regan Poole manages to intercept the ball before threading a first time through-ball through to Cameron Jerome, And Cameron Jerome takes on Zech Medley and manages to pick out Carlton Morris with a low cross across towards the near post, And Carlton Morris takes a touch to control the ball before hooking his effort towards goal clear of Gillingham's Crossbar by some considerable distance, and MK Dons have created the best goal-scoring opportunity in the match so far, Five Minutes Into The Match, And MK Dons create another goal-scoring opportunity as Lee Nicholls kicks the ball long down-field and Carlton Morris wins the initial aerial challenge up against Jack Tucker and the second ball drops kindly to Scott Fraser, who goes on a driving run forwards down the left side of the pitch - Gillingham's Right - And Scott Fraser continue's his run inside Gillingham's Penalty Area and Scott Fraser tries to pick out Cameron Jerome with a dangerous in-swinging cross but Jack Bonham was able to gather the ball with ease.
Ten Minutes Into The Match, And MK Dons create there third goal-scoring opportunity of the match, David Kasumu has possession of the ball for MK Dons on the halfway line, and David Kasumu passes the ball forwards to Carlton Morris, who manages to retain possession of the ball despite being closely marked by Jack Tucker, And Carlton Morris passes the ball square to Louie Thompson, And Louie Thompson takes a touch to control the ball before hitting a cross-field cross diagonal ball towards Cameron Jerome, And Cameron Jerome does in-fact manage to header the ball down towards Scott Fraser, And Scott Fraser manages to retain possession of the ball despite being triple marked by Jack Tucker, Zech Medley and Declan Drysdale, And Scott Fraser takes a few touches in possession of the ball before laying the ball off to Cameron Jerome, And Cameron Jerome has hit the ball low towards goal first time and Jack Bonham was in the right place at the right time to make a comfortable save - either side of Jack Bonham and MK Dons could have taken the lead.
But despite MK Dons creating three decent goal-scoring opportunities, Gillingham almost took the lead twelve minutes into the match, Gillingham are awarded a throw on down the left side of the pitch in MK Dons Final Third, And Connor Ogilvie throws the ball short to Jordan Graham, who passes the ball back to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie clips the ball forwards towards Dominic Samuel inside MK Dons Penalty Area, And Dominic Samuel chests the ball under control before trying to pick out the bottom right corner of the net with a placed effort across the face of goal and Dominic Samuel was unable to hit the target - I think Dean Lewington had done just about enough to put Dominic Samuel Off.
Sixteen Minutes Into The Match, And Daniel Harvie whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jack Tucker was able to header the ball clear and away from goal, and Jordan Graham manages to get on to the loose ball and pass the ball back to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie boots the ball long down-field and Gillingham manage to clear there defensive lines, However, Eighteen Minutes Into The Match, And MK Dons manage to take the lead, Regan Poole throws the ball square to Cameron Jerome from A MK Dons Throw On, And Cameron Jerome spins past Scott Robertson, And Cameron Jerome see's his fiercely driven effort towards goal blocked by Declan Drysdale, and the hosts still have possession of the ball with George Williams passing the ball forwards to Louis Thompson, And Louis Thompson lays the ball off to George Williams, And George Williams plays a one / two with Regan Poole before passing the ball inside to Louis Thompson, And Louis Thompson takes a touch to control the ball before threading the ball through to Regan Poole - who had made a third man run inside Gillingham's Penalty Area - And Regan Poole takes a touch to control the ball before managing to pick out Cameron Jerome with a accurate pull-back, And Cameron Jerome just accurately places the ball into the bottom left corner of the net and MK Dons have taken the lead - MK DONS 1-0 GILLINGHAM - This was a really good goal from MK Dons, with good pass and move football with George Williams, Louis Thompson and Regan Poole all involved in the build up, and Cameron Jerome has finished off that neat passing move with a accurate finish, In Gillingham's last away league fixture, The Gills had to battle back from a goal down against Shrewsbury Town, and now, Gillingham have to try and replicate that come-back against Shrewsbury Town to ensure that Gillingham get something out of this match against MK Dons.
Twenty One Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham created a half chance to try and equalise just three minutes after MK Dons had opened the scoring, Gillingham were awarded a throw on down the left side of the pitch in MK Dons Final Third, and from the resulting throw on, Connor Ogilvie throws the ball back to Zech Medley, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Zech Medley passes the ball square to Jack Tucker on the halfway line, And Jack Tucker takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down-field down the left side of the pitch, And Jordan Graham manages to keep the ball in play before working his way towards the byline, and Jordan Graham cuts back on to his favoured right foot before twisting and turning and running away from goal, And Jordan Graham back-heals the ball towards Connor Ogilvie on the over-lap, And Connor Ogilvie whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross first time and George Williams manages to header the ball clear and away from goal and out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, Twenty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham created another half decent opportunity to try and score a equaliser, Gillingham create the chance from the resulting throw on and Connor Ogilvie’s long throw is headed clear back out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, who passes the ball short to Scott Robertson, And Scott Robertson takes a touch to control the ball before twisting and turning in possession of the ball inside MK Dons Penalty Area, And Scott Robertson manages to pick out Declan Drysdale on the edge of MK Dons Penalty Area with a decent pass, and Declan Drysdale see’s his low effort on goal blocked by Dean Lewington and George Williams was also in the right place at the right time to clear Jordan Graham’s in-swinging cross.
Twenty Three Minutes Into The Match, And MK Dons had the chance to go 2-0 up, David Kasumu passes the ball square to Scott Fraser inside Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Scott Fraser takes a touch to control the ball before managing to pick out Daniel Harvie with a decent pass down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third - Gillingham’s Right - And Daniel Harvie takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick and Carlton Morris’s side-foot volleyed effort fails to hit the target and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - But that was the chance for MK Dons to go 2-0 up though.
But after that goal-scoring opportunity for the hosts, Gillingham create a succession of goal-scoring opportunities to try and get themselves back on to level terms, the first of these successive goal-scoring opportunities see’s Jack Bonham kick the ball long down-field from the resulting goal-kick, and Vadaine Oliver knocks the ball down into Kyle Dempsey’s path, And Kyle Dempsey plays a short return pass back to Vadaine Oliver, And Vadaine Oliver runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Jordan Graham, And Jordan Graham manages to get the ball under control before evading the challenge from Regan Poole, And Jordan Graham whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Richard Keogh headers the ball partially clear and away from danger, and Connor Ogilvie headers the ball back out-wide to Jordan Graham, And Jordan Graham manages to skip past Regan Poole’s attempted challenge, But Jordan Graham is limping momentarily and Referee Neil Hair awards Gillingham a free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Jordan Graham whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Dean Lewington manages to header the ball clear down the right side of the pitch, and Jack Tucker gets to the loose ball ahead of Cameron Jerome, And Cameron Jerome pushes Jack Tucker down to the deck, and Gillingham have been awarded another free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Scott Robertson has whipped in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick, and Regan Poole has done just about enough to header the ball away from goal and Jack Tucker shields the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Jordan Graham passes the ball short to Scott Robertson on the edge of MK Dons Penalty Area, And Scott Robertson’s chip is mis-kicked and the ball goes out of play for A MK Dons Goal-Kick - A Corner Kick Routine which unfortunately did not come off for The Gills, But since Cameron Jerome’s Goal from MK Dons, we have seen a much better improvement from The Gills and we are putting some pressure on to MK Dons Goal.
Twenty Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham are on the front-foot again, Richard Keogh kicks the ball towards the halfway line with a rushed clearance and Scott Robertson manages to header the ball forwards towards Jordan Graham, And Jordan Graham takes a touch to control the ball before taking on Regan Poole one on one, and Jordan Graham works his way out-wide and fires in a low dangerous cross and David Kasumu is in the right place at the right time to kick the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On - Jordan Graham has been a constant nuisance for MK Dons to deal with, It’s just that Gillingham’s crossing in the final third has been more miss than hit at this moment in time.
But In The Twenty Ninth Minute Of The Match, we had the big controversial talking point, Because Gillingham should have been awarded a penalty kick, Gillingham have a free kick on the halfway line and Zech Medley plays a one / two with Jack Tucker before passing the ball out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie takes a touch to control the ball before continuing his run forwards down the left side of the pitch, And Connor Ogilvie stands a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick and Vadaine Oliver wins the aerial battle to header the ball backwards towards Dominic Samuel, And Dominic Samuel gets the ball under control before being clipped from behind by Dean Lewington and Gillingham should have been awarded a penalty kick, But Referee Neil Hair inexplicably awards MK Dons a free kick for simulation by Dominic Samuel - REF!!!! Was my reaction to the penalty kick not being awarded to Gillingham - Because that was a stonewall penalty kick, there is no arguments or debates about this penalty decision, because this isn’t a penalty kick where you can say, some of these decisions are given, and some of these decisions are not given, Dean Lewington has clipped Dominic Samuel and Gillingham should have been awarded a penalty kick.
Dean Lewington is down injured with a head injury after thirty minutes, But I am still shocked that Gillingham were not awarded a penalty kick, How have the official’s awarded a free kick against Gillingham when Dominic Samuel was the player being fouled ??? - This is going to be a controversial talking point, Because if a penalty kick was awarded to Gillingham, then Gillingham had the chance to level the game up at 1-1.
Thirty One Minutes Into The Match, And MK Dons created a half decent goal-scoring opportunity, As Regan Poole whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Daniel Harvie couldn’t make contact with the ball at the far post, and Ryan Jackson must have got the faintest of touches on the ball to divert Regan Poole’s in-swinging cross out of play for A MK Dons Throw, And from the resulting throw on, MK Dons almost scored for 2-0, Daniel Harvie throws the ball short to Scott Fraser, And Scott Fraser plays a first time short pass inside to Cameron Jerome, And Cameron Jerome lays the ball off to Daniel Harvie, And Daniel Harvie places a low cross across the face of goal and Carlton Morris’s first time effort towards goal is blocked by Connor Ogilvie and Carlton Morris’s effort was on target as well, and Gillingham survive the latest attacking onslaught on to our goal, and Louie Thompson is penalised and booked for his lunging challenge on Dominic Samuel in Gillingham’s Own Defensive Final Third.
And from the resulting free kick, Gillingham had the chance to equalise, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie wins the aerial challenge to flick the ball on towards Jordan Graham, And Jordan Graham gets the ball under control before trying to pick out Kyle Dempsey with a pass inside centrally, But Scott Fraser passes the ball back to Regan Poole, who passes the ball back to Goalkeeper Lee Nicholls, And Lee Nicholls takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie headers the ball forwards and Regan Poole wins the initial aerial challenge, and Kyle Dempsey manages to get on to the second ball, And Kyle Dempsey runs forwards in possession of the ball down the left side of the pitch before back-healing the ball to Jordan Graham, And Jordan Graham see’s his first time pass deflect into Kyle Dempsey’s Path, And Kyle Dempsey plays a short pass back to Scott Robertson, And Scott Robertson passes the ball out-wide to Jordan Graham, And Jordan Graham takes a touch to control the ball before twisting and turning and Jordan Graham whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross low towards the near post and George Williams partially clears the ball towards the edge of MK Dons Penalty Area, and Declan Drysdale’s first time effort towards goal clears MK Dons Crossbar by some considerable distance - and after that shot went over, I experienced a momentarily lag on I Follow, before the video worked again.
Thirty Four Minutes Into The Match, And MK Dons have the chance to go 2-0 up, Scott Fraser manages to pick out Cameron Jerome with a threaded pass down the left side of the pitch inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Cameron Jerome out-strength’s Zech Medley by the byline, And Cameron Jerome tries to pick out Carlton Morris with a clipped cross across the face of goal across the six yard box, But Carlton Morris cannot make contact with the ball, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Much to the relief of every Gillingham Supporter who was watching the match on I Follow, listening to this match on the radio, or following MK Dons V Gillingham on social media.
Thirty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham have won themselves a corner kick, and it is from this corner kick where Gillingham almost equalised, Jordan Graham passes the ball short to Kyle Dempsey, who runs towards the edge of MK Dons Penalty Area in possession of the ball and Kyle Dempsey whips in a sensational low in-swinging cross and somehow both Dominic Samuel and Vadaine Oliver do not make contact with the ball and the ball goes out of play for A MK Dons Goal-Kick - BUT WHAT WAS THE CHANCE FOR GILLINGHAM TO EQUALISE!!!! - Fantastic cross from Kyle Dempsey and if Dominic Samuel or Vadaine Oliver make contact and direct the ball goal-wards then Gillingham level the game up at 1-1.
Forty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Lee Nicholls long kick down-field is over-hit and runs through to Jack Bonham who makes a comfortable save and Gillingham create two half decent opportunities to try and level the match up at 1-1 before half time, the first of these two goal-scoring opportunities see’s Jack Bonham kick the ball long down-field and Jordan Graham gets the ball under control down the left side of the pitch in MK Dons Final Third, And Jordan Graham passes the ball back to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie takes a touch to control the ball before threading a pass through to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey plays a first time pass out-wide to Jordan Graham, And Jordan Graham uses his pace to take on Regan Poole, But Jordan Graham’s Cross towards the back-stick is over-hit, and the ball goes out of play for A MK Dons Goal-Kick - Jordan Graham has been getting a lot of the ball in MK Dons Final Third, but his crossing has been very disappointing, and Gillingham’s decision making in the final third just has been underwhelming to say the least - And the final noteworthy moment of the first half see’s Jordan Graham clip the ball forwards to Connor Ogilvie from a uncontested drop ball, and Connor Ogilvie tries to header the ball square towards Vadaine Oliver inside MK Dons Penalty Area, But Goalkeeper Lee Nicholls comes off his goal-line quickly to gather the loose ball, and Gillingham go in at half time at Stadium MK Losing 1-0 to MK Dons.
HALF TIME: MK DONS 1-0 GILLINGHAM
I put the following status update on to Twitter at Half Time,,,,,, HALF TIME: MK DONS 1-0 GILLINGHAM - Cameron Jerome's goal is the difference between both teams at the break, but the big talking point has to be the penalty kick not awarded to Gills for Dean Lewington's foul on Dominic Samuel, and that penalty was a 100% stonewall penalty not given. MK Dons have had chances to score with Carlton Morris, and Cameron Jerome both having chances to score in the opening stages of the match, Dominic Samuel has fired one effort across the face of goal, And Kyle Dempsey's cross just needed a touch for Gills to score the equaliser. Gillingham have looked particularly strong down the left side of the pitch with Jordan Graham getting possession of the ball on numerous occasions, I am just surprised that Gillingham have opted for short throws when long throws can cause MK Dons more problems defensively.
I am stunned Gillingham were not awarded a penalty for that foul on Dominic Samuel. I would say from 25 minutes onwards, Gillingham have grown into the game, just that our decision making in the final third has been more miss then hit, the lack of long throws is also a surprise, I also noted in the first half that MK Dons Goalkeeper Lee Nicholls probably had just as many touches of the ball outside his penalty area as well as inside his penalty area, And Gillingham could catch MK Dons out at the back, if there is a poor pass amongst there back three with Goalkeeper Lee Nicholls pushing so advanced off his goal-line.
Gillingham were 1-0 down at half time against Shrewsbury Town and managed to salvage a point in our previous away league game, and Gillingham need to find a way to try and do the same-thing against MK Dons at Stadium MK, Mind you, with the next four matches against Portsmouth, Fleetwood Town, Ipswich Town and Sunderland coming up in quick succession, It’s all three points that Gillingham need against MK Dons heading into those four league matches, and if Gillingham can just improve in the final third, then there is every chance that Gillingham can turn this 1-0 deficit around, as for any substitution suggestions at half time, I don’t think Steve Evans will be opting to be making any changes, Because after MK Dons had opened the scoring and until half time, Gillingham were on the front-foot and we were causing MK Dons plenty of problems defensively, So here’s hoping that a half time team talk and some words of encouragement will do the trick - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!
But we couldn’t have made a worst possible start to the second half, Because MK Dons manage to double there advantage and go 2-0 up, Kyle Dempsey is penalised for his foul on David Kasumu in MK Dons half of the pitch, and it is from this free kick where MK Dons manage to go 2-0 up, George Williams kicks a long diagonal cross-field cross and Ryan Jackson wins the initial aerial challenge and Declan Drysdale wins the fifty / fifty challenge with Scott Fraser to header the ball towards Dominic Samuel, and Dominic Samuel losses possession of the ball and Dean Lewington is on to the loose ball, and Dean Lewington passes the ball forwards to Cameron Jerome, who gets the ball under control on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Cameron Jerome passes the ball square to Louie Thompson, who cannot get the ball under control and Jack Tucker passes the ball forwards to Jordan Graham, who does really well to manage to thread the ball through to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey passes the ball out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie kicks the ball long down-field, and although Vadaine Oliver wins the initial aerial challenge, Ryan Fraser flicks the ball towards Carlton Morris, And Carlton Morris runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Ryan Fraser, And Ryan Fraser passes the ball back to David Kasumu, and David Kasumu passes the ball square to George Williams, And George Williams plays a first time pass forwards towards Louie Thompson, And Louie Thompson manages to pass the ball forwards to Cameron Jerome on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Cameron Jerome passes the ball back to Louie Thompson, And Louie Thompson passes the ball through to Carlton Morris inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Carlton Morris takes one touch to control the ball, and another touch to accurately place the ball past the advancing Jack Bonham to stick the ball into the back of the net to give MK Dons A Two Goal Lead - MK DONS 2-0 GILLINGHAM.
The first goal MK Dons scored was a very good goal, the second goal was a poor goal to concede, Jack Tucker, Declan Drysdale and Zech Medley were all drawn towards Cameron Jerome, and this just gave Carlton Morris plenty of time and space inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and it’s a good finish from Carlton Morris, but the defending from Gillingham was very poor, 1-0 down, Gillingham still had a chance, 2-0 down, your asking for a monumental performance from Gillingham to pull back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at the very least.
And once there is a stoppage in play, John Akinde comes on to replace Declan Drysdale, And John Akinde will play alongside Vadaine Oliver, just to give Gillingham more of a attacking option, Because MK Dons three man central defence of George Williams, Richard Keogh and Dean Lewington have perhaps not been severely tested with just Vadaine Oliver in the middle to deal with, And Vadaine Oliver isn’t the quickest of strikers either, But John Akinde and Vadaine Oliver up-front is very much going to see Gillingham knock the ball long and get the ball forwards very quickly.
And In The Fiftieth Minute Of The Match, Gillingham had a golden goal-scoring opportunity to try and get themselves back into this match, John Akinde manages to retain possession of the ball for Gillingham before playing a short pass inside to Dominic Samuel, And Dominic Samuel takes a touch to control the ball before managing to pick out Ryan Jackson with a pass down the right side of the pitch just inside MK Dons Half, And Ryan Jackson uses his pace and trickery to take on Daniel Harvie, And Ryan Jackson passes the ball back to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey takes a few touches in possession of the ball before whipping in a fantastic low cross towards the back post and Vadaine Oliver can only divert his effort towards goal wide of the far post, AND THAT WAS THE CHANCE FOR GILLINGHAM TO SCORE TO BRING THEMSELVES BACK INTO THIS MATCH AT 2-1 DOWN!!!!! - Maybe, Vadaine Oliver was on the stretch and it was difficult for Vadaine Oliver to divert his effort on goal on target, But had that gone in for 2-1, Then Gillingham would still have a chance of getting something out of this match against MK Dons at Stadium MK.
Fifty Five Minutes Into The Match, And I thought Scott Robertson had won the physical battle up against Louie Thompson, only for a free kick to be awarded to MK Dons, and after that free kick decision had been awarded to the home side, there was a off the ball incident between George Williams and Scott Robertson, a off the ball incident which see’s both players shown a yellow card by Referee Neil Hair - And from the resulting free kick, MK Dons had the chance to go 3-0 up, George Williams kicks the ball long down-field and Jack Tucker wins the initial aerial challenge and Kyle Dempsey hooks the ball further away from goal and Dominic Samuel does really well to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Scott Robertson, And Scott Robertson takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, who runs down the left flank in possession of the ball towards the halfway line, And Connor Ogilvie runs into trouble and just about does enough to pass the ball back to Zech Medley, And Zech Medley passes the ball square to Jack Tucker, who passes the ball back to Jack Bonham, And Jack Bonham takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Dominic Samuel wins the initial aerial challenge and George Williams kicks the ball clear down-field, and Carlton Morris does exceptionally well to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Regan Poole, And Regan Poole passes the ball inside to David Kasumu, And The MK Dons Midfielder runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball forwards to Scott Fraser, And Scott Fraser hits a fiercely driven effort towards goal from the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Jack Bonham make a important save to keep Gillingham in this match and Ryan Jackson and Kyle Dempsey between the two of them manage to clear Gillingham’s Defensive Lines.
Fifty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And John Akinde is penalised for a foul, and from the resulting free kick, MK Dons had the chance to go 3-0 up, George Williams passes the ball forwards to Cameron Jerome, who lays the ball off to Louie Thompson, And Louie Thompson passes the ball inside to Cameron Jerome, And Cameron Jerome passes the ball back to George Williams, And George Williams passes the ball down the line towards Regan Poole, who does exceptionally well to retain possession of the ball and pass the ball back to George Williams, And George Williams manages to thread the ball down the line towards Louie Thompson, who passes the ball inside centrally to David Kasumu, And David Kasumu lays the ball off to Louie Thompson, And Louie Thompson passes the ball forwards to Scott Fraser, who steps over the ball to allow the ball to run through to Daniel Harvie, And Daniel Harvie has failed to hit the target with his first time effort towards goal - But this was another opportunity for MK Dons to score that all important third goal - and had MK Dons scored, then 3-0 would have been a impossible goal tally for Gillingham to battle back from to try and salvage a point from a losing position.
Sixty One Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham created a half chance to try and half the deficit, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Vadaine Oliver wins the initial aerial challenge and Dominic Samuel manages to get on to the loose ball down the right side of the pitch, And Dominic Samuel gets the ball under control and his pass inside deflects nicely into Vadaine Oliver’s Path, And Vadaine Oliver see’s his first time effort towards goal fail to hit the target by some considerable distance and the ball goes out of play for A MK Dons Goal-Kick.
Sixty Five Minutes Into The Match, And David Kasumu is penalised for a foul on Vadaine Oliver, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in there own half of the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Gillingham had the chance to score to bring themselves back into the game at 2-1 down, and from the resulting free kick, Kyle Dempsey passes the ball short to Jack Tucker, who kicks the ball long down-field, and John Akinde manages to bring the ball under control and pass the ball out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie takes a touch to control the ball before running forwards in possession of the ball, and Connor Ogilvie whips in a fantastic cross and Dominic Samuel on the stretch can only divert the ball over MK Dons Crossbar - It would have been a difficult technique to pull off with the ball bouncing high off the turf, But Dominic Samuel could not hit the target with Gillingham’s latest goal-scoring opportunity.
And after the ball had gone out of play, Gillingham make a double substitution and Josh Eccles and Trae Coyle come on to replace Scott Robertson and Dominic Samuel, And Gillingham have made there third and final substitution with twenty four minutes of this match plus stoppage time remaining, And In The Sixty Seventh Minute Of The Match, MK Dons really should have scored for 3-0, David Kasumu passes the ball forwards to Carlton Morris, who retains possession of the ball and passes the ball back to Scott Fraser, And Scott Fraser plays a first time threaded through-ball through to Cameron Jerome, And Cameron Jerome is through on goal inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Cameron Jerome takes one touch to set himself, and Jerome’s second touch see’s his shot blocked by Zech Medley at the expense of conceding a corner kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Regan Poole has whipped in a dangerous in-swinging cross which is comfortably saved by Jack Bonham.
Sixty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And MK Dons make there first substitution of the match, As Joe Mason comes on to replace Cameron Jerome, And In The Sixty Ninth Minute, MK Dons create another goal-scoring opportunity to try and go 3-0 up, MK Dons have a throw on down there left side of the pitch, And Daniel Harvie throws the ball short to Carlton Morris, And Carlton Morris passes the ball out-wide to Daniel Harvie, And Daniel Harvie runs right towards the corner flag in possession of the ball, And Ryan Jackson manages to intercept the ball and kick the ball down-field, But Ryan Jackson’s clearance goes straight towards Scott Fraser, And Scott Fraser gets the ball under control and threads a accurate pass forwards towards Carlton Morris, who lays the ball off to Daniel Harvie, And Daniel Harvie skips past Jack Tucker’s Attempted Challenge before seeing his shot towards goal on the stretch go wide of the far left post - And that was the chance for MK Dons to score to make the score-line 3-0 - Which would surely give Gillingham no chance at all of getting anything out of this match.
Seventy One Minutes Into The Match, And Dean Lewington is penalised for handball and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Gillingham had the chance to score for 2-1 down, Jordan Graham whips in a dangerous cross and John Akinde’s looping header was comfortable for Goalkeeper Lee Nicholls to save, John Akinde’s header towards goal needed to be a powerful header to severely test Lee Nicholls, or, John Akinde headers the ball down to a team-mate inside MK Dons Penalty Area to try and score.
And having not taken that opportunity at one end of the pitch, MK Dons almost scored for 3-0 In The Seventy Third Minute Of The Match, And Scott Fraser just manages to pick out Joe Mason with one simple through-ball and Gillingham’s Back Four has completely disappeared, and Joe Mason gets the ball under control before seeing his shot towards goal saved by Jack Bonham’s out-stretched leg and Gillingham are just about still in this match - But where was the defence ??? And how comes one pass from Scott Fraser see’s Joe Mason through one on one with Jack Bonham ???
Seventy Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Regan Poole’s dangerous in-swinging cross is blocked by Connor Ogilvie and the ball deflects out of play for A MK Dons Corner Kick, And before the corner kick can be taken, MK Dons make there second substitution as Former Gillingham Midfielder Jordan Houghton comes on to replace Scott Fraser, and from the resulting corner kick, Regan Poole whops in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Richard Keogh’s header fails to hit the target by some considerable distance and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.
Seventy Nine Minutes Into The Match, And MK Dons Striker Carlton Morris see’s his shot towards goal take a huge deflection off Zech Medley, and the ball diverts out of play for A MK Dons Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Regan Poole whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jack Bonham cannot keep hold of the ball from the cross and Jack Tucker is in the right place at the right time to clear Gillingham’s Defensive Lines - And that was another opportunity for MK Dons to score the third goal which would guarantee that the hosts would pick up all three points from this League One Fixture.
Eighty One Minutes Into The Match, And Trae Coyle is penalised for his foul on Jordan Houghton, And Jordan Houghton was quick to get up and pass the ball short to George Williams, who goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball, And George Williams threads a pass through towards Louie Thompson on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Louie Thompson manages to pass the ball through to Carlton Morris, who is unmarked inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Carlton Morris gets the ball under control before seeing his one on one effort towards goal brilliantly saved by Jack Bonham and Kyle Dempsey was fouled on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Gillingham have been awarded a defensive free kick - Carlton Morris was unmarked for MK Dons second goal of the game, and he was left unmarked inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area again, but this time, Jack Bonham has made a incredible save to keep the score-line at 2-0.
Eighty Three Minutes Into The Match, And David Kasumu is penalised and booked for his challenge on Vadaine Oliver and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Jordan Graham’s curling free kick towards goal has failed to hit the target by some considerable distance, and really, if Gillingham were to stand any chance of getting something out of this match, Then Jordan Graham needed to score for 2-1 to set up a grand-stand finish, Ben Gladwin has also come on to replace Louie Thompson for the hosts as MK Dons make there third and final substitution of the game.
Ninety Minutes Into The Match, And there is a opportunity for Gillingham to cause MK Dons problems defensively, and a goal now with five additional minutes still gives Gillingham a glimmer of hope that we can get something out of this match, Ryan Jackson throws the ball short to Josh Eccles, who passes the ball back to Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker passes the ball square to Zech Medley, who passes the ball back to Jack Bonham, And Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Vadaine Oliver wins the aerial challenge to flick the ball on and Daniel Harvie gets the ball clear and away from goal and Ryan Jackson kicks the ball up into the air and Ryan Jackson lays the loose ball off to Jack Tucker, who passes the ball inside centrally to Josh Eccles, And Josh Eccles manages to pick out Connor Ogilvie with a diagonal cross-field cross pass in MK Dons Final Third, And Connor Ogilvie gets the ball under control and his low dangerous in-swinging cross is cleared by George Williams and the chance had gone for The Gills.
And right at the end of the match, Gillingham are awarded two free kicks in quick succession, the first of those free kicks see’s David Kasumu penalised for a foul on Jordan Graham on the halfway line, and from the resulting free kick, Zech Medley kicks the ball long down-field and Richard Keogh wins the initial aerial challenge and David Kasumu just smashes the ball long down-field and anywhere will do as far as MK Dons are concerned, And In The Ninety Fourth Minute Of The Match, Josh Eccles is tripped by Ben Gladwin, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Jordan Graham whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Connor Ogilvie’s looping header fails to hit the target and the ball loops out of play for A MK Dons Goal-Kick - And that was the final noteworthy moment of the match, And Referee Neil Hair blows his full time whistle after five minutes of additional time, and the full time whistle at Stadium MK is MK Dons 2-0 Gillingham.
FULL TIME: MK DONS 2-0 GILLINGHAM
I put the following status update on to Twitter after the full time whistle had been blown at Stadium MK, FT: MK DONS 2-0 GILLINGHAM - Morris's goal for MK Dons right at the start of the second half gave Gillingham a real uphill battle to try and get something out of this match at Stadium MK, Akinde & Coyle came on as Gills went 4-2-4, But Gills never severely tested Nicholls in goal, And had it not been for Jack Bonham (who saved efforts on goal from Fraser, Mason and Morris) We could have been talking about a more one sided score-line for MK Dons this afternoon, But these goal-scoring chances were created whilst Gillingham were chasing the game at 2-0 down. I don't think Gillingham have tested Lee Nicholls in The MK Dons Goal, Akinde, Ogilvie, Samuel and Oliver all have had chances to score for The Gills (especially the goal-scoring opportunities created for Samuel and Oliver) But The MK Dons Goalkeeper hasn't had to make a save.
Gills In The Blood gave Jack Bonham A Seven Out Of Ten Rating, And I replied with the following message,,,, I can see why Jack Bonham was given 7 out of 10, Jack Bonham saved efforts on goal from Fraser, Mason & Morris in the second half, and if those saves kept Gills in the match and we somehow managed to pull the match back from 2-0 down to 2-2, Bonham would have earned Gills a point, What is especially frustrating about The 2-0 defeat against MK Dons is the fact that Gillingham play against Portsmouth, Fleetwood Town, Ipswich Town and Sunderland in the next four league games, and ideally, we would have liked to have seen Gillingham go into those four league games off the back of a away win against MK Dons.
Yes, it was a stonewall penalty and how a foul was given against Dominic Samuel, I have no idea, But Carlton Morris was given so much time and space for the second goal, and Gillingham did not learn there lesson, Because Carlton Morris was one on one with Jack Bonham again, only this time, Jack Bonham made a very important save, And Jack Bonham also made important saves to prevent Joe Mason and Scott Fraser from scoring efforts on goal in the second half as well.
And because of those saves, Jack Bonham was My Choice For Man Of The Match, Vadaine Oliver and John Akinde as a partnership just did not work as Gillingham knocked the ball long and MK Dons always had the spare man in defence with George Williams, Richard Keogh and Dean Lewington as MK Dons Three Man Central Defensive Partnership, MK Dons dominated possession, but they also showed great game management to see out the rest of the match, moving the ball backwards and sideways just to maintain possession and not give Gillingham any opportunities to score, But if we did score with one of those chances either from Dominic Samuel or Vadaine Oliver in the second half, then maybe Gillingham could have fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.
This result is a disappointing result, but there can be no arguments about the score-line, MK Dons deserved to pick up all three points, they created the better goal-scoring opportunities, I do think if Gillingham were awarded that penalty kick in the first half and if we levelled the game up at 1-1, we could be talking about a completely different outcome, But MK Dons could have won 4-0 based on the chances they created in the second half, And Jack Bonham’s saves kept Gillingham in the match at 2-0 down, and if Gillingham did draw 2-2, then Jack Bonham would probably still be Man Of The Match, Because his saves would have earned Gillingham a point.
I personally think that Trae Coyle should have perhaps come on for Declan Drysdale, and Gillingham could have lined up with Dominic Samuel and Vadaine Oliver in attack, and Jordan Graham and Trae Coyle on the wings, Scott Robertson coming off for Josh Eccles appeared to be a planned substitution, and there are concerns with Kyle Dempsey, Because Kyle Dempsey picked up a knock towards the end of the match against MK Dons, And Kyle Dempsey could have picked up another serious injury again.
And now, Gillingham go into two very important league matches against Portsmouth and Fleetwood Town at Priestfield Stadium, Hopefully, Gillingham can recover from this disappointing defeat against MK Dons and Gillingham can pick up four or six points against Portsmouth and Fleetwood Town, A Win And A Draw from these two matches would be superb, But back to back home wins against two excellent League One Teams would be out-standing, And back to back home league wins would be a great way for Gillingham to put this disappointing defeat against MK Dons begins us - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
