FOM BLOG: GILLINGHAM 0-0 SWINDON TOWN - LEAGUE TWO - 2022 / 2023 SEASON
Gillingham’s Team Sheet Appeared On Twitter, And Gillingham Lined Up As Follows….. Glenn Morris (GK), Haji Mnoga, Max Ehmer, Elkan Baggott, Ryan Law, Stuart O’Keefe, Shaun Williams, Ben Reeves, Hakeeb Adelakun, Scott Kashket, Mikael Mandron Substitutes: Jake Turner (GK), Will Wright, David Tutonda, Alex MacDonald, Jordan Green and Lewis Walker - It was a bit of a surprise to see Gillingham lining up with a back four, Because I had predicted Gillingham to line up with a back five, Ryan Law starts at Left Back ahead of David Tutonda, and Mikael Mandron retains his spot in the starting line up after his disappointing performance against Carlisle United in our previous league game.
Robbie McKenzie clearly wasn’t fit enough to make the substitutes bench, and Cheye Alexandra, Olly Lee and Dominic Jefferies also miss out on the eighteen man match-day squad and Gillingham can only name six substitutes on the bench, there were practical reasons as to why this is the case, and those practical reasons are as follows,,,,, Gillingham have to name “A Club Development Player” on the substitutes bench and one of the substitutes has to be a player who comes through the youth set up at the football club, so that means one of Freddie Carter, Bailey Akehurst, Matt Macarthur or Joseph Gbode have to be named on the bench, and this rule change places greater importance on youth development at Gillingham Football Club, I didn’t know about this rule before kick off for Gillingham V Swindon Town and I only found out about this rule change in Neil Harris’s Post Match Comments after the game.
I had to wait for KFG because I had got his Friends For A Fiver Ticket for Gillingham V Swindon Town and his train was running late, the train I was on arrived at 13.24PM instead of 13.16PM so there were problems with the trains on this Saturday Afternoon, And KFG mentioned that there was a altercation between Gillingham and Swindon Town Supporters close to Gillingham Train Station, it’s foolish and stupid and no need to get involved in anything like that, Now I always arrive early and leave late both before and after the game, and one of the reasons why I have done that is to avoid being caught up in any ridiculous incidents like this.
And with the train running late and KFG avoiding getting caught up in the crossfire meant I had to wait before going inside the ground, and once KFG paid a fiver for his ticket, it was close to 2.30PM before I was inside the ground, and I queued up to get two match-day programmes for £6 (I got a third one for KFG at half time so I ended up queuing up twice) and once I picked up both match-day programmes, I spoke with Neil briefly before having to head up towards my seat, which is at the back of The Medway Lower, As it was getting bit packed in The Medway Lower.
I spoke with other supporters about Carlisle United V Gillingham, and that long trip to Carlisle United saw me get up at 4AM in the morning, I was on the coach at 6AM, arrive in Carlisle at 2PM, Gillingham lost 1-0, and we were back on the coach, and the long journey back home saw me get back indoors at 1.15AM On Sunday Morning, and it is not like we can say Gillingham lost 1-0 and Tomas Holy has made five or six outstanding saves and on another day Gillingham get a point at least, the fact that David Tutonda and Elkan Baggott had our best chances in the first half summed up our lack of fire-power, and Lewis Walker’s header had to hit the target at the very least, and at the end of the game, some supporters politely clapped, but most supporters were frustrated and irritated, and quite rightfully so, because the performance was poor, Gillingham lost 1-0, it’s another defeat, and another game where Gillingham have failed to stick the ball into the back of the net.
And as we turn our attentions to Gillingham V Swindon Town, Neil Harris has spoken about how this match with a unusual rivalry could well be the match that kick starts Gillingham’s Season, And even though Swindon Town have not made a fantastic start to this season, Swindon Town have won one, drawn four and lost one, So Swindon Town are struggling for wins, but they are also difficult to beat, and Swindon Town are also very much a side who just love to dominate possession of the ball with a pass, pass, pass style of play, Gillingham are going to have to be at our very best off the ball, and good on the ball, because this could well be a match where Gillingham get 30% - 35% of the ball and we are going to have to be patient when the goal-scoring opportunities come our way.
And Gillingham V Swindon Town was played just a few days after the transfer window had closed, Robbie McKenzie returning to Gillingham Football Club is a excellent signing because Robbie McKenzie can cover any position in defence and midfield, a very consistent versatile utility player who should be playing in League One for someone like Ipswich Town, Portsmouth, Peterborough United, Bolton Wanderers or Charlton Athletic, So to see Gillingham re-sign Robbie McKenzie was a very pleasant surprise, Haji Mnoga is highly rated at Portsmouth, hence Portsmouth giving Haji Mnoga a long term contract, And Neil Harris has been looking to sign a centre back to add depth and quality to the squad, and Gillingham have clearly missed out on a number of experienced centre back’s, and Haji Mnoga comes in to reinforce our defensive options alongside Robbie McKenzie, Max Ehmer, Will Wright and Elkan Baggott.
But the one position Gillingham failed to strengthen was up-front, and Gillingham should have signed a striker on Deadline Day, We all know that the striker Gillingham missed out on was Harry Smith from Leyton Orient, who chose to sign for Exeter City, And even though Gillingham failed to sign Harry Smith, Neil Harris was given the green light to sign another striker and now Gillingham have to look at the free agent market at the likes of Josh Parker, Tom Elliott, Leon Clarke or someone else, and Neil Harris has got to sign another striker because Gillingham have got to add additional reinforcements up-front, we saw last season how there were no alternative attacking options besides Vadaine Oliver, and although Gillingham have got more attacking options in the squad compared to last season, Mikael Mandron, Lewis Walker and Scott Kashket are the three strikers capable of playing centrally, and even though, Scott Kashket has played more out-wide then through the middle for Gillingham, Neil Harris needs to sign another striker, personally, in my opinion, Gillingham need to sign Tom Elliott, Because Tom Elliott has worked with Neil Harris during there time together at Millwall, Tom Elliott is a physical striker and capable of playing up-front as a central striker, and I think Tom Elliott would just bring some much needed experience in a crucial area of the pitch for The Gills.
As for score predictions, I went for Gillingham 2-1 Swindon Town, I know Gillingham have not been scoring goals recently, but I think supporters were more hoping then expecting for a win against Swindon Town, and maybe the rivalry will see Gillingham wake up, put in a very creditable performance, and pick up the three points that Gillingham need to kick start the season, and hopefully, that is precisely what happens, and with both teams walking out on to the pitch, the atmosphere raises in volume inside Priestfield Stadium as both teams line up in-front of The Medway Stand, and at least Gillingham are kicking towards The Brian Moore Stand In The First Half, Which Means That Gillingham are kicking towards The Rainham End In The Second Half, and with this match just about to kick off, let’s hope for a win for Gillingham this afternoon - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!
And after Gillingham and Swindon Town respectfully observe the one minute’s applause for Danielle, this League Two Fixture gets under way with Swindon Town kicking this League Two Fixture off, and the first noteworthy moment of the match see’s Frazer Blake-Tracy kick the ball long down-field towards Jacob Wakeling, But Glenn Morris was able to gather that long ball down-field from Frazer Blake-Tracy with ease, and from here, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field towards Hakeeb Adelakun, and the ball goes out of play for A Swindon Town Throw On Down The Medway Stand Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw, Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring, Frazer Blake-Tracy throws the ball square to Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan almost losses possession of the ball to Stuart O’Keefe and has to pass the ball back to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed is forced to rush his clearance and Shaun Williams plays a first time pass forwards towards Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe gets the ball under control and passes the ball forwards towards Ben Reeves on the edge of Swindon Town’s Penalty Area, And Ben Reeves gets the ball under control before initially looking to pass the ball out-wide to Ryan Law, But Ben Reeves turns back on himself and curls a shot towards goal just over Scott Kashket’s head and Sol Brynn has to make a unsighted difficult save in goal for Swindon Town and Ben Reeves had the chance to open the scoring for Gillingham there.
And having almost conceded with that effort on goal from Ben Reeves, Swindon Town almost opened the scoring instantly themselves, Elkan Baggott has to hook a long pass down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch clear and away from danger and Marcel Lavinier wins the initial aerial challenge for Swindon Town and Stuart O’Keefe’s first time pass through to Scott Kashket is cut out by Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald kicks the ball long down-field, and although Elkan Baggott wins the initial aerial challenge, the second ball drops kindly towards Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan retains possession of the ball before playing a really poor pass out-wide towards Frazer Blake-Tracy, and Frazer Blake-Tracy keeps the ball in play by passing the ball down the line towards Jonny Williams, who plays a first time pass centrally towards Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan turns back on himself and passes the ball back towards Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball out-wide to Frazer Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy manages to pick out Angus MacDonald with a pass inside centrally on the halfway line, and Angus MacDonald losses the ball to Ben Reeves on the halfway line and Mikael Mandron passes the ball forwards towards Hakeeb Adelakun, And Hakeeb Adelakun tries to dummy the ball through to Scott Kashket, but Louis Reed makes a crucial interception, plays a one / two before laying the ball off towards Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin passes the ball back towards Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball back towards Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, and Sol Brynn passes the ball square to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball down the line towards Fraser Blake-Tracy on the halfway line, and Fraser Blake-Tracy gets the ball under control before passing the ball inside centrally to Jonny Williams, And Jonny Williams lays the ball off to Saidou Khan, Saidou Khan then takes several touches in possession of the ball before threading a pass through to Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin gets the ball under control, works his way towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Ben Gladwin shrugs off the attempted challenge from Shaun Williams, And Ben Gladwin’s low effort towards goal goes just wide of the far right post and Swindon Town almost took the lead.
So we are two minutes into this match and both teams have had opportunities to take the lead, and so early on into this match, we have seen the pass, pass, pass style of play from Swindon Town that so many Gillingham Supporters have spoken about before kick off, and with this style of play is a element of risk, but with that risk comes domination of possession and Swindon Town will create meaningful goal-scoring opportunities, and had Ben Gladwin’s low effort on goal been on target, I don’t think Glenn Morris saves that effort on goal and Swindon Town would have taken the lead.
And from the resulting goal-kick, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field and Tom Clayton chests the ball under control before booting the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer wins the first aerial challenge and Mikael Mandron wins the second aerial challenge, Fraser Blake-Tracy wins the third aerial challenge and Louis Reed plays a one / two with Ben Gladwin before playing a very poor pass forwards and Ryan Law has time in possession of the ball, and Ryan Law takes several touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball down the line towards Scott Kashket, And Scott Kashket retains possession of the ball and passes the ball back towards Ryan Law, And Ryan Law passes the ball back to Elkan Baggott, And Elkan Baggott takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball square to Max Ehmer, And Max Ehmer returns the pass back to Elkan Baggott, And Elkan Baggott see’s his pass forwards towards Scott Kashket cut out and Ben Gladwin tries to thread a pass through to Jacob Wakeling, and fortunately, from A Gillingham Point Of View, Ben Gladwin’s pass was over-hit and the ball runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - And Elkan Baggott can consider himself very lucky that Swindon Town didn’t capitalise on that poor pass.
And from the resulting goal-kick, having almost seen Swindon Town capitalise on a poor pass from Elkan Baggott, Gillingham had the chance to take the lead, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field and Mikael Mandron wins the aerial challenge to try and flick the ball on towards Scott Kashket and Mikael Mandron’s header goes all the way through to Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, and Sol Brynn rolls the ball short to Tom Clayton, who takes a touch to control the ball, And Tom Clayton plays a short pass out-wide to Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy tries to thread a pass down the line which is cut out by Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe keeps the ball in play by passing the ball back to Max Ehmer, And Max Ehmer’s clearance is more up and under and the ball runs through to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball back towards Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, And Sol Brynn takes a touch to control the ball before pressure from Scott Kashket forces Sol Brynn into a rushed clearance and Hakeeb Adelakun manages to divert the ball with a out-stretched leg into Scott Kashket’s path, And Scott Kashket’s first time effort towards goal goes over the crossbar and that was a great opportunity for Gillingham to open the scoring, looking at the highlights, it is important to note that Scott Kashket had to go for goal first time because Angus MacDonald was right there, but better composure in-front of goal could have seen Scott Kashket give Gillingham the lead after four minutes, in what you have to say has been a very fast end to end approach to this match from both teams.
And from the resulting goal-kick, Gillingham had the chance to score again, Sol Brynn passes the ball short to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton’s pass down the line towards Fraser Blake-Tracy see’s Haji Mnoga intercept the ball in Swindon Town’s Final Third, And Haji Mnoga runs forwards in possession of the ball and lays the ball off to Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe is challenged inside the penalty area fairly, and there was a pass on for Scott Kashket to get on to the end of - And Swindon Town just look so vulnerable in there own defensive final third and Swindon Town just cannot deal with the pressing from Gillingham in there own final third.
Five Minutes Into The Match, And Haji Mnoga is penalised and booked for a foul on Ben Gladwin and Swindon Town have been awarded a free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Ben Gladwin plays a one / two with Tom Clayton before passing the ball back towards Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald gets the ball under control before passing the ball out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball inside centrally towards Tyrese Shade, and Tyrese Shade is twisting and turning before passing the ball back to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball square to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton tries to pick out Jacob Wakeling with a clipped pass down the line which runs all the way through to Glenn Morris to make a comfortable save in goal for Gillingham.
A Minute Later, And Ryan Law is penalised for a foul on Marcel Lavinier In Swindon Town’s Half Of The Pitch, Down The Gordon Road Stand Side, and from here, Louis Reed passes the ball back to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald passes the ball forwards to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball square to Tom Clayton down the opposite side of the pitch, And Tom Clayton passes the ball down the line towards Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy retains possession of the ball and passes the ball inside to Ben Gladwin, Ben Gladwin then see’s his attempted pass cut out by Mikael Mandron and Ben Reeves is on to the loose ball and passes the ball back to Max Ehmer, And Max Ehmer plays a one / two with Shaun Williams before kicking the ball long down-field and Tom Clayton headers the ball down towards Louis Reed, And Louis Reed see’s his pass out-wide intercepted by Mikael Mandron, And Mikael Mandron works his way into a shooting position, cuts inside and squares the ball to Hakeeb Adelakun, And Hakeeb Adelakun manages to retain possession of the ball and pass the ball out-wide to Ben Reeves, And Ben Reeves gets the ball under control before twisting and turning and working his way into a decent position, And Ben Reeves plays a fantastic threaded through pass through to Hakeeb Adelakun, And Hakeeb Adelakun see’s his first time cross blocked by Fraser Blake-Tracy and the ball still remains in play and does not go out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And Hakeeb Adelakun tries to pick out A Gillingham Player with a cross towards the far post which is over-hit and the chance has gone for The Gills.
Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham had another chance to open the scoring, Ben Reeves manages to intercept the ball off Angus MacDonald In Swindon Town’s Final Third, And Been Reeves runs forwards in possession of the ball before laying the ball off to Mikael Mandron on the edge of Swindon Town’s Penalty Area, And Mikael Mandron’s first time effort towards goal takes a massive deflection off Angus MacDonald, and the ball loops over Swindon Town’s Crossbar at the expense of conceding a corner kick - Swindon Town are over playing the ball in there own final third, the front four of Ben Reeves, Hakeeb Adelakun, Scott Kashket and Mikael Mandron are just causing Swindon Town so many problems by pressing there defence in there own final third, and that pressing from the front is something that Swindon Town just are struggling to deal with, and for the most part, it is Swindon Town’s over passing the ball in there own final third which is allowing Gillingham to press from the front so successfully.
And from the resulting corner kick, Shaun Williams in-swinging cross is poor and goes all the way back towards Haji Mnoga, and with Haji Mnoga urged to shoot from The Gillingham Supporters, Haji Mnoga hits a fiercely driven effort towards goal which is blocked and Jacob Wakeling runs away with possession of the ball for Swindon Town as Swindon Town look to hit Gillingham on the counter attack, And Haji Mnoga has slide in and mis-timed his challenge and the foul on Jacob Wakeling was the correct decision and Haji Mnoga has been shown two yellow cards inside ten minutes of his Gillingham Debut and the sending off is the right decision, and for me, there are no complaints about either challenge being a yellow card for Haji Mnoga, But it is such a stupid and reckless sending off, because Ryan Law and Hakeeb Adelakun are both back defending and if you go to ground with a sliding challenge and you have already been booked, then those challenges have to be timed to perfection.
ADDITIONAL MENTION: I did see a small handful of comment criticising Neil Harris for starting Haji Mnoga, But at the end of the day, once the players cross the white line, it is down to the players to put in the performances, and Haji Mnoga may well be only twenty, but he is old enough to know that once you have been booked, you are walking on thin ice and the criticism for the sending off for me has to go towards the player, But I do agree with other comments that a more experienced defender would not have dived into that challenge - and had Gillingham signed A Aaron Pierre or Alex Baptiste, both of those players would have the experience and know how to not make that challenge once they had been booked.
But Gillingham’s promising and encouraging start to the game now goes out of the window, And Neil Harris has to think what to do now, and of all the teams to go down to ten men against, It’s A Swindon Town Side that love to retain possession of the ball, MK Dons constantly retain possession and we have seen how MK Dons play whenever Gillingham have played against MK Dons home or away, and Swindon Town very much play the same way, with not as much quality in there side, hence the difference of being in League One and League Two.
And that early dominance started when Swindon Town have a throw on down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw, Tyrese Shade throws the ball square to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball square to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball inside centrally towards Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin spins and switches the play towards Marcel Lavinier Down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Marcel Lavinier plays a one / two with Saidou Khan before seeing his pass into midfield cut out, but Marcel Lavinier is on to the loose ball, and Marcel Lavinier has to pass the ball all the way back towards Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, and Sol Brynn passes the ball short to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball square to Angus MacDonald, Angus MacDonald then passes the ball down the line towards Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier plays a one / two with Ben Gladwin before passing the ball centrally towards Louis Reed, And Louis Reed almost losses the ball to Scott Kashket and has to rush to pass the ball back to Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, who has to rush his clearance, and Shaun Williams manages to win possession of the ball in midfield, And Shaun Williams see’s his pass down the line go out of play for A Gillingham Throw - But the challenge on Shaun Williams was late and Gillingham should have been awarded a free kick.
And from the resulting throw, Ryan Law throws the ball short to Shaun Williams, And Shaun Williams takes a touch to control the ball and just threads a pass down the line to keep the ball in Swindon Town’s Final Third, And Ryan Law times his challenge on Tyrese Shade to perfection and the ball goes out of play for A Swindon Town Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw, Swindon Town had the chance to open the scoring, Marcel Lavinier throws the ball short to Ben Gladwin, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Ben Gladwin manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier kicks the ball long down-field and although Ryan Law wins the initial challenge, Ben Gladwin is on to the second ball, And Ben Gladwin wins the initial aerial challenge and Louis Reed is on to the second ball, And Louis Reed passes the ball square to Fraser Blake-Tracy Down The Medway Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Fraser Blake-Tracy runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball down the line towards Jonny Williams, And Jonny Williams gets the ball under control before passing the ball inside to Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan works his way into a shooting position before dragging his effort towards goal wide of the near post which Glenn Morris had covered.
But that sending off has changed how Gillingham were pressing on the front foot and Swindon Town couldn’t cope with Gillingham’s pressing in there own final third, and now Swindon Town can play there patient possession based style of play, And Gillingham now line up as follows,,,, Glenn Morris in goal, Hakeeb Adelakun is playing at Right Back, Max Ehmer, Elkan Baggott and Ryan Law complete the back four, Shaun Williams sits in-front of the back four, Stuart O’Keefe and Ben Reeves in central midfield, Scott Kashket in the attacking midfielder role and Mikael Mandron up-front, But the rest of this match is going to be all about Gillingham staying compact, organised and hard to break down, and Swindon Town are just going to dominate possession of the ball.
Fourteen Minutes Into The Match, And Max Ehmer’s long ball down-field towards Scott Kashket went all the way through to Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, and from here, Sol Brynn throws the ball out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier gets the ball under control before laying the ball off to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald passes the ball square to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball forwards towards Ben Gladwin on the halfway line, and Ben Gladwin quickly passes the ball out-wide to Fraser Blake-Tracy, who gets the ball under control before running into a more central position on the pitch in possession of the ball, and Fraser Blake-Tracy passes the ball square to Tyrese Shade, And Tryese Shade passes the ball inside to Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin lays the ball off to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton runs forwards in possession of the ball before threading a pass down the line towards Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy runs down the left flank in possession of the ball and whips in a dangerous low cross towards Jacob Wakeling, and Jacob Wakeling cannot get the ball under control because Elkan Baggott is touch tight on The Swindon Town Striker, but the ball goes across Gillingham’s Penalty Area towards Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier’s shot towards goal is blocked by Ryan Law, and Marcel Lavinier, is penalised for a foul on Ryan Law and Gillingham have been awarded a defensive free kick - Superb Defending From Ryan Law - But it has to be noted that both full backs are high and wide for Swindon Town in Fraser Blake-Tracy and Marcel Lavinier, and Swindon Town will want both full back’s to provide additional width in Gillingham’s Final Third.
Sixteen Minutes Into The Match, And Ryan Law puts in a strong robust but fair challenge in on Ben Gladwin, but a minute later, Hakeeb Adelakun looked liked he had nipped in and intercepted the ball off Jonny Williams, And Swindon Town were awarded a free kick, that looked liked a soft free kick awarded in Swindon Town’s Favour There, and from the resulting free kick, Swindon Town had the opportunity to open the scoring, Jonny Williams passes the ball back to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed takes a touch before passing the ball square to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald passes the ball square to Marcel Lavinier Down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Marcel Lavinier takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball down the line towards Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade runs into a more central area of the pitch before passing the ball back to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball forwards towards Saidou Khan in a left / central of the pitch roughly twenty five yards from goal, and Saidou Khan passes the ball back to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball forwards towards Jonny Williams, who controls the ball on the half turn, and Jonny Williams manages to retain possession of the ball despite Shaun Williams closely marking him, and Jonny Williams passes the ball square to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball out-wide to Ben Gladwin Down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Ben Gladwin passes the ball inside centrally to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade threads a pass through to Jacob Wakeling right by the byline, And Jacob Wakeling tries to pass the ball across the face of goal, and there was Elkan Baggott to make a crucial block at the expense of conceding a corner kick for Swindon Town - That pass, pass, pass, patient possession style of play that Many Gillingham Supporters have spoken about before kick off is really coming into fruition here with Swindon Town understandably dominating possession.
And from the resulting corner kick, Louis Reed and Ben Gladwin play a short corner kick between the two of them, and Ben Gladwin passes the ball back towards Jonny Williams, And Jonny Williams takes a touch to control the ball before seeing his fiercely driven effort towards goal blocked by Mikael Mandron and although Gillingham have prevented Swindon Town from testing Glenn Morris in-between the sticks, It is the visitor’s who continue to pile on the pressure, With Stuart O’Keefe penalised for fouling Jonny Williams and there is a sense of frustration among many home supporters that every Gillingham Tackle is a foul in Swindon Town’s Favour, and from the resulting free kick, Ben Gladwin passes the ball short to Jonny Williams, who takes several touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball square to Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan passes the ball back to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed plays a first time pass out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, Marcel Lavinier then goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball, And Marcel Lavinier’s pass through to Tyrese Shade goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.
And In The Twenty First Minute Of The Match, Tom Clayton’s pass down the line is cut out by Hakeeb Adelakun, And Hakeeb Adelakun runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Mikael Mandron right in-front of the dugouts, and Mikael Mandron takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball centrally to Shaun Williams, And Shaun Williams plays a first time pass back towards Max Ehmer, And Max Ehmer takes a touch to control the ball before clipping the ball forwards towards Mikael Mandron, And Mikael Mandron lays the ball off to Ben Reeves, And Ben Reeves flicks the ball back into Mikael Mandron’s path, and Mikael Mandron passes the ball down the line towards Hakeeb Adelakun, And Hakeeb Adelakun is through inside Swindon Town’s Penalty Area, And Hakeeb Adelakun’s dangerous cross towards the near post is blocked by Angus MacDonald at the expense of diverting the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick.
And from the resulting corner kick, Ben Reeves in-swinging cross is headed behind by Ben Gladwin at the expense of conceding another corner, and from the second corner kick, Ben Reeves whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Mikael Mandron is penalised for a foul and Swindon Town have been awarded a defensive free kick, and with Swindon Town having the numeric advantage, and with Swindon Town playing a patient possession style of play, any chances that Gillingham get to cause Swindon Town problems defensively are opportunities where Gillingham have got to test Swindon Town at the very least.
And straight from the re-start, Swindon Town created a half decent goal-scoring opportunity, Goalkeeper Sol Brynn passes the ball short to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball square to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball out-wide to Tyrese Shade, who plays a first time pass back to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald passes the ball square to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball forwards towards Marcel Lavinier on the halfway line, and Marcel Lavinier plays a short pass forwards to Louis Reed, Louis Reed then plays a first time pass back out-wide to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade plays a cross-field pass towards Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton lays the ball off to Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan passes the ball out-wide to Jonny Williams, who passes the ball first time centrally to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed clips the ball out-wide to Tyrese Shade down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Tyrese Shade threads a pass through to Marcel Lavinier in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Marcel Lavinier whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross first time which Glenn Morris was able to gather with ease.
Twenty Five Minutes Into The Match, And Elkan Baggott times his challenge to perfection on Jacob Wakeling, And Elkan Baggott boots the ball clear down the line and Tom Clayton passes the ball back to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald threads a pass out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball inside centrally to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade lays the ball off to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed plays a pass out-wide to Fraser Blake-Tracy, and although Fraser Blake-Tracy keeps the ball in play, the second ball goes to Shaun Williams, And Shaun Williams passes the ball back to Elkan Baggott, And Elkan Baggott passes the ball out-wide to Ryan Law, And Ryan Law passes the ball inside to Shaun Williams and Shaun Williams passes the ball back to Elkan Baggott - Keep the ball Gillingham was very much the thought process, just keep possession and relieve some of the pressure that has been building on to our goal - Elkan Baggott passes the ball back to Glenn Morris, who passes the ball forwards to Max Ehmer, And Max Ehmer takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Tom Clayton wins the first aerial challenge and Stuart O’Keefe wins the second aerial challenge to header the ball forwards towards Mikael Mandron, And Mikael Mandron is challenged by Tom Clayton and Saidou Khan is on to the loose ball, and Saidou Khan takes several touches in possession of the ball for Swindon Town before passing the ball out-wide to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade runs centrally in possession of the ball and lays the ball off to Ben Gladwin, and Ben Gladwin runs wide towards The Gordon Road Stand before whipping in a high and hanging cross towards the far post, and Ben Gladwin’s cross is too high for Jonny Williams to get on to the end of, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Swindon Town do not really have a striker like A Tom Eaves or Vadaine Oliver who have got the aerial presence to get on to the end of crosses, and maybe that contradicts with Swindon Town’s possession based style of play, but the lack of a physical striker does prevent Swindon Town from having the option to knock the ball long, if they need to go with A Plan B Option.
Hakeeb Adelakun puts in a great challenge to prevent Jonny Williams from getting on to the end of Tom Clayton’s pass, But Swindon Town created a great opportunity to open the scoring after twenty eight minutes, Jonny Williams has possession of the ball in Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Jonny Williams is twisting and turning and looking for passing options centrally, And Jonny Williams has to pass the ball back to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton lays the ball off to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed managed to pick out Tyrese Shade with a cross-field cross pass, And Tyrese Shade threads a pass down the line towards Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin fires a dangerous cross / shot across the face of goal and neither Jacob Wakeling or Jonny Williams can get a connection to get on to the end of that cross / shot from Ben Gladwin, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.
But that cross / shot from Ben Gladwin not being capitalised on was only a temporary reprieve for Gillingham, because a minute later, Swindon Town had the opportunity to open the scoring, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field and Mikael Mandron wins the aerial challenge to try and flick the ball on towards Scott Kashket and Fraser Blake-Tracy times his initial challenge to perfection and Louis Reed passes the ball back to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald passes the ball square to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Tyrese Shade down The Gordon Road Stand Side of The Pitch, And Tyrese Shade runs inside centrally in possession of the ball before passing the ball square to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball out-wide to Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan passes the ball inside centrally to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade takes a few touches in possession of the ball before squaring the ball to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed manages to pick out Fraser Blake-Tracy with a cross-field cross pass and Fraser Blake-Tracy chests the ball under control, lays the ball off to Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan passes the ball back to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball square to Louis Reed, Louis Reed then passes the ball out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball inside to Tyrese Shade on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Tyrese Shade see’s his driven effort towards goal blocked by Shaun Williams and Jonny Williams sticks his leg out to make contact with the deflected effort on goal from Tyrese Shade, And Hakeeb Adelakun lets the ball go out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.
However, Referee Martin Woods points for A Swindon Town Corner Kick, And you can tell from the reaction from The Gillingham Supporters In The Medway Stand, Gordon Road Stand and Rainham End that the corner kick was the incorrect decision, but most importantly, Hakeeb Adelakun let the ball go out of play, there is no way Hakeeb Adelakun does not let the ball go out of play thinking that Swindon Town would be awarded a corner kick, And Max Ehmer is furious with Referee Martin Woods, and from the resulting corner kick, Louis Reed whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Max Ehmer headers the ball partially clear and away from goal and Louis Reed keeps the ball in play for Swindon Town, And Louis Reed whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross first time and Glenn Morris manages to gather that cross with ease and Glenn Morris eases the pressure building on to Gillingham’s Goal - We would have been furious had Swindon Town scored with a controversial corner kick - And given the numerical advantage and the domination in possession, it does appear that it is only going to be a matter of time before Swindon Town do in-fact open the scoring.
Saidou Khan is penalised for a foul on Shaun Williams and from the resulting free kick, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field, Mikael Mandron wins the aerial challenge and Scott Kashket slips at the crucial moment when it looked liked Gillingham were going to create a rare goal-scoring opportunity since the sending off, and moments later, Ben Reeves threads a pass towards Scott Kashket down the line, And Scott Kashket is tackled by Angus MacDonald, Now if Scott Kashket was a bit faster and had got to the ball first, maybe Scott Kashket could have been through on goal for Gillingham ???
Thirty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Jonny Williams runs into a central area of the pitch in possession of the ball, And Jonny Williams passes the ball square to Tryese Shade, and Tryese Shade takes a touch to control the ball before threading the ball down the line towards Marcel Lavinier, and Ben Reeves positions himself in-between Marcel Lavinier and the ball to shield the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, And In The Thirty Sixth Minute Of The Match, Swindon Town were looking to make the breakthrough as Ben Gladwin runs forwards in possession of the ball, And Ben Gladwin tries to thread a pass through to Jonny Williams, And Hakeeb Adelakun makes the crucial interception and Hakeeb Adelakun unfortunately see’s his pass go straight to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade gets the ball under control before passing the ball square to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed threads a first time through-ball through to Jonny Williams and Hakeeb Adelakun times his challenge to perfection, and Saidou Khan gets to the loose ball first and pass the ball out-wide to Ben Gladwin, And Hakeeb Adelakun times his sliding challenge to perfection to clear the ball out of play for A Swindon Town Throw On - Hakeeb Adelakun is putting in a very creditable performance for Gillingham At Right Back.
And from the resulting throw, Fraser Blake-Tracy throws the ball short to Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball back towards Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball short to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball towards Angus MacDonald in a right / central area of the pitch, and Angus MacDonald plays the ball inside to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball short to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton takes a few touches in possession of the ball before threading a pass down the line towards Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy passes the ball back to Tom Clayton, who passes the ball square to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald tries to hit a diagonal cross-field cross pass which is headed clear and away from goal by Hakeeb Adelakun, And Swindon Town have a throw on in Gillingham’s Final Third, and from the resulting throw on, Swindon Town had the chance to open the scoring, Fraser Blake-Tracy quickly throws the ball short to Jonny Williams, And Jonny Williams gets the ball under control before flicking the ball through to Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan passes the ball back to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball square to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball down the line towards Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball inside centrally to Tyrese Shade, Tyrese Shade then passes the ball back to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed quickly switches the play to Tom Clayton, who lays the ball off to Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin plays a cross-field cross pass towards Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier gets the ball under control before passing the ball back to Tyrese Shade on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Tyrese Shade passes the ball square to Jonny Williams, who evades the attempted challenge from Scott Kashket, And Jonny Williams lays the ball off to Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan has to pass the ball out-wide to Marcel Lavinier very quickly, and Marcel Lavinier whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross low towards the near post and Jonny Williams gets to the loose ball first, And Jonny Williams fiercely driven effort towards goal flashes over Gillingham’s Crossbar.
But that was a huge goal-scoring opportunity for Swindon Town though!!!!!! - Had Jonny Williams effort on goal been on target, Swindon Town would have taken the lead, And had Swindon Town taken the lead, given the how Swindon Town play and how Gillingham are struggling with a numerical disadvantage, then Gillingham would do well to recover from 1-0 down to draw 1-1 with ten men, all the while the score-line is 0-0, Gillingham have still got a chance of getting a point, or maybe, just maybe, pick up all three points, but for the players still out there on the pitch, it is going to require a monumental effort.
And from the resulting goal-kick, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field and Mikael Mandron wins the aerial challenge to flick the ball on towards Scott Kashket, and Goalkeeper Sol Brynn was able to gather the ball right inside his penalty area on the eighteen yard line, and from here, Goalkeeper Sol Brynn rolls the ball short to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed plays a short first time pass towards Marcel Lavinier, who passes the ball forwards towards Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade is intercepted by By Ben Reeves, And Ben Reeves turns back on himself and plays a one / two with Shaun Williams, And Ben Reeves passes the ball out-wide to Ryan Law, and Ryan Law fires in a dangerous low cross first time which is blocked by Louis Reed and Scott Kashket passes the ball out-wide to Ryan Law, And Ryan Law lays the ball off to Ben Reeves, who is twisting and turning and passes the ball back to Shaun Williams, And Shaun Williams passes the ball down the line towards Scott Kashket, And Scott Kashket fires in a dangerous low cross first time which is cleared by Angus MacDonald and Shaun Williams wins the first aerial challenge, Ben Gladwin headers the ball forwards and Ben Reeves times his fifty / fifty challenge to perfection to pass the ball back to Elkan Baggott, And Elkan Baggott passes the ball out-wide to Ryan Law, and Ryan Law passes the ball inside centrally to Shaun Williams, And Shaun Williams passes the ball down the line towards Scott Kashket, And Scott Kashket retains possession of the ball and passes the ball back to Ryan Law, And Ryan Law passes the ball back to Elkan Baggott, And Elkan Baggott plays a one / two with Ben Reeves before evading the attempted challenge from Ben Gladwin, And Elkan Baggott clips the ball long down-field, and Scott Kashket is though on goal for Gillingham and Scott Kashket turns past Angus MacDonald’s attempted challenge, And Scott Kashket’s low effort towards goal crashes against the outside of the post with Goalkeeper Sol Brynn well and truly beaten.
CHANCE - I do think if Mikael Mandron had made the run towards the far post, then Scott Kashket could have passed the ball across the face of goal and Mikael Mandron could have scored a easy tap in, or maybe Scott Kashket took too long to make a decision and Scott Kashket opted to go for goal himself, Had Gillingham been scoring goals, then Scott Kashket and Mikael Mandron would be in more confident form and our strikers would not be over-thinking every decision in the final third, and the only way to get back to natural and more confident finishing is for Gillingham to be scoring more goals, But I also think that Neil Harris was given the green light to sign Harry Smith from Leyton Orient, there are clearly funds available for Neil Harris to sign another striker, and that is precisely what Neil Harris should be doing, looking at the free agent market to see which strikers are available, and most importantly, affordable.
Forty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Marcel Lavinier has possession of the ball for Swindon Town, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball down the line towards Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade passes the ball inside centrally towards Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald fires a cross-field cross pass towards Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy passes the ball back to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton switches the play towards Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier lays the ball off to Ben Gladwin, Ben Gladwin then tries to pick out Louis Reed with a clipped pass inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, But Max Ehmer was in the right place at the right time to header the ball out of play for A Swindon Town Corner Kick, And from the resulting corner kick, Louis Reed passes the ball short to Jonny Williams, And Jonny Williams is twisting and turning before seeing his shot towards goal blocked and Ben Reeves is fouled by Jonny Williams, And Ben Reeves was trying to over-play the ball in Gillingham’s Final Third, and really, Jonny Williams should have been shown a yellow card, not for the foul on Ben Reeves, but for kicking the ball away in frustration, and that should be a booking for The Swindon Town Midfielder.
And from the resulting free kick, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field and Tom Clayton headers the ball forwards for Swindon Town and Elkan Baggott wins the next aerial challenge, but the second ball drops kindly to Tyrese Shade, who gets the ball under control before passing the ball through to Marcel Lavinier on the over-lap, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball down the line towards Ben Gladwin, and Elkan Baggott times his challenge to perfection to clear the ball out of play for a throw on, and from the resulting throw on, Marcel Lavinier throws the ball short to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade gets the ball under control before passing the ball back to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald passes the ball square to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball out-wide to Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy passes the ball back to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald passes the ball square to Louis Reed, Louis Reed then threads a pass through to Ben Gladwin, and Ben Gladwin passes the ball first time out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball down the line towards Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade’s first time cross is blocked by Ben Reeves at the expense of conceding a corner kick.
And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Swindon Town created a clear cut goal-scoring opportunity, Louis Reed passes the ball short to Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post, And Fraser Blake-Tracy’s bullet header towards goal was brilliantly saved by Glenn Morris and Mikael Mandron headers the ball half clear and Hakeeb Adelakun boots the ball clear and away from danger - excellent save from Glenn Morris to keep the score-line at 0-0 just as we are approaching half time.
And the final noteworthy moment of the first half went to Swindon Town, Louis Reed manages to pick out Tyrese Shade with a cross-field cross pass down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Tyrese Shade takes on Ryan Law and fires in a dangerous cross across the face of goal and Jonny Williams cannot quite get the ball under control, But Fraser Blake-Tracy lays the ball off to Louis Reed on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Louis Reed has dragged his low effort towards goal well wide, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, and after two additional minutes of added time, the half time score at Priestfield Stadium Is Gillingham 0-0 Swindon Town.
HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 0-0 SWINDON TOWN
I queued up at The Kiosk to buy KFG’s Match-Day Programme for Gillingham V Swindon Town as his message just came through to me at half time, and it took a while to queue up just to buy a match-day programme, and why there are not programme sellers around the ground which just saves on people queuing up who just buying a match-day programme I have no idea, it also makes the queue shorter for people who want to buy food and drink, and people who want to buy match-day programmes.
But after queuing up and paying for the match-day programme, I head back up to my seat, and I got speaking with The Gillingham Supporter sitting in-front of me, and we spoke about how Gillingham have done very well to get to half time with the 0-0 score-line in-tact, unfortunately, Gillingham have now broken the record for the most minutes without scoring a goal in consecutive matches, but Gillingham V Swindon Town is exceptional circumstances because of Haji Mnoga’s early sending off, and prior to that sending off, with the way Gillingham were playing and performing, Swindon Town were struggling to cope with Gillingham’s high press.
And now, that sending off means that Gillingham have got to keep the scoreline to 0-0, because the last time Gillingham won from a losing position was back in The 2020 / 2021 Season, that is a horrendous stat and a stat that Gillingham have got to eliminate, but this is not the match to put that stat to the test though, as for any tactical changes, I don’t see Neil Harris making a substitution at half time, but with five substitutes in The Football League This Season, Gillingham have got more opportunities to substitute tiring players, Will Wright and David Tutonda both give Gillingham the option to freshen up in the full back positions if we have to substitute Hakeeb Adelakun and Ryan Law.
Neither Gillingham or Swindon Town made any changes at half time, and with the substitution rule changing, clubs can make five substitutions in three stoppages plus half time, and with no substitutions at half time, both teams have a maximum of three stoppages to make five subs, this is to prevent clubs from making five individual substitutions in The 84th, 86th, 88th, 90th and a final sub in stoppage time, and therefore prevent any time wasting substitutions from happening.
And Swindon Town make a very fast start to the second half, Jacob Wakeling is on to a loose clearance into midfield, and Jacob Wakeling passes the ball out-wide to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade gets the ball under control before working his way towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Tyrese Shade’s shot towards goal is blocked by Elkan Baggott and Ryan Law gets to the loose ball first ahead of Marcel Lavinier, And Ryan Law has been fouled by Marcel Lavinier and Gillingham have been awarded a defensive free kick - this is going to be a very long second half for The Gills, Forty Six Minutes into The Match, Gillingham have a throw on right in-front of the dugouts, and Ryan Law throws the ball down the line, Marcel Lavinier wins the first aerial challenge and Elkan Baggott gets stuck into Jacob Wakeling and kicks the ball long down the line and the ball goes out of play for A Swindon Town Throw On - And Jacob Wakeling has gone to the deck and clearly needs treatment from the physio and this stoppage in play, all be it at the start of the second half, just allows Gillingham to slow the tempo of the game down a bit into our favour.
Forty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Mikael Mandron is penalised for a foul on Angus MacDonald and Swindon Town have been awarded a defensive free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Swindon Town had the chance to open the scoring, Louis Reed passes the ball short to Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy passes the ball back inside to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed played a one / two with Ben Gladwin before passing the ball square to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald passes the ball out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, who passes the ball inside to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade plays the ball back to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald passes the ball square to Tom Clayton, who takes a few touches in possession of the ball, And Tom Clayton passes the ball forwards towards Jacob Wakeling, and Jacob Wakeling gets the ball under control before passing the ball back to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball square to Jonny Williams, Jonny Williams then plays a one / two with Fraser Blake-Tracy before running centrally and passing the ball square to Louis Reed, who passes the ball short to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball out-wide to Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy works his way down by the byline, and Fraser Blake-Tracy passes the ball back to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton curls a dangerous cross towards the far post and Tyrese Shade wins the aerial challenge up against Ryan Law and Saidou Khan is on to the second ball first, and Saidou Khan’s first timed volleyed effort towards goal clears Gillingham’s Crossbar by some considerable distance.
Fifty Minutes Into The Match, And Max Ehmer is penalised for a foul on Jonny Williams down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Fraser Blake-Tracy passes the ball back to Tom Clayton, who plays a one / two with Louis Reed before playing another one / two this time with Angus MacDonald, and Tom Clayton passes the ball out-wide to Fraser Blake-Tracy, who passes the ball forwards to Jonny Williams, And Jonny Williams passes the ball centrally to Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin fires a diagonal cross-field cross pass towards Tyrese Shade, who gets the ball under control, And Tyrese Shade runs inside into a central position on the pitch before passing the ball inside to Louis Reed on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Louis Reed losses possession of the ball, however, Angus MacDonald clips the ball forwards and Hakeeb Adelakun does enough to prevent Jonny Williams from getting to the ball first inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Hakeeb Adelakun just smashes the ball forwards and Angus MacDonald is forced into a rush pass back to Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, and Sol Brynn slices the ball completely out of play for A Gillingham Throw On In Swindon Town’s Final Third.
And from the resulting throw on, Ryan Law throws the ball short to Ben Reeves, and Ben Reeves passes the ball back out-wide to Ryan Law, And Ryan Law whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Mikael Mandron tries to header the ball down towards Scott Kashket, But Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, makes a comfortable save in goal for Swindon Town, Fifty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Shaun Williams wins a throw on for Gillingham, and from the resulting throw on, Ryan Law throws the ball long down the line and Marcel Lavinier kicks the ball long down-field and Shaun Williams wins the next aerial challenge and Mikael Mandron flicks the ball on towards Scott Kashket, And Scott Kashket chases after his own pass and Tom Clayton passes the ball back to Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, And Sol Brynn gets the ball under control and plays a short pass to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald see’s his pass intercepted by Scott Kashket and Stuart O’Keefe is first to the ricochet, and Stuart O’Keefe gets the ball under control and threads a pass through to Scott Kashket inside Swindon Town’s Penalty Area, And Scott Kashket’s cross is blocked by Angus MacDonald at the expense of conceding a corner kick - But well done Scott Kashket for so much off the ball running there.
Before the corner kick can be taken, Swindon Town make there first substitution of the match as Luke Jephcott comes on to replace Jacob Wakeling as Swindon Town bring on a striker with a bit more experience and know how, and from the resulting corner kick, Ben Reeves whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Ben Gladwin headers the ball half clear and away from danger and Ben Reeves is first to the loose ball and passes the ball inside centrally to Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe is fouled by Jonny Williams on the edge of Swindon Town’s Penalty Area, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick and Jonny Williams has been booked for that challenge as well, and from the resulting free kick, Ben Reeves effort on goal from the free kick is blocked and cleared and Ryan Law is on to the loose ball and runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Shaun Williams, And Shaun Williams takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a dangerous cross from a deep position on the pitch, And Max Ehmer wins the aerial challenge to header the ball across the face of goal and Angus MacDonald was in the right place at the right time to header the ball clear and Tyrese Shade keeps the ball in play by passing the ball down the line towards Louis Reed, And Louis Reed pass forwards towards Luke Jephcott see’s Hakeeb Adelakun make the all important clearance and Scott Kashket gets the ball under control and Scott Kashket fires a speculative effort from distance which fails to hit the target by a large margin, and there were better passing options in Stuart O’Keefe and Mikael Mandron that Scott Kashket could have chosen there.
Fifty Sixth Minute Into The Match, And Max Ehmer blocks Jonny Williams dangerous low cross at the expense of conceding a corner kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Jonny Williams passes the ball short to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball back to Ben Gladwin, and Ben Gladwin gets the ball under control before passing the ball square to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball out-wide to Fraser Blake-Tracy. And Fraser Blake-Tracy passes the ball inside centrally to Louis Reed, Louis Reed then passes the ball centrally to Ben Gladwin, and Ben Gladwin takes a touch to control the ball before clipping a pass towards the far side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Ryan Law headers the ball away from Fraser Blake-Tracy at the expense of conceding a corner kick - Ben Gladwin is capable of threading those eye of a needle passes - and he is the one player who has been trying to pick out those type of passes for Swindon Town, and from the resulting corner kick, Louis Reed whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Fraser Blake-Tracy’s header towards goal is blocked by Stuart O’Keefe and Angus MacDonald headers the ball forwards for Swindon Town and Glenn Morris saves the ball and goes down on to the deck just to relieve some of the pressure building on to Gillingham’s Goal.
And from here, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field and Mikael Mandron wins the aerial challenge to header the ball on towards Scott Kashket and pressure from Scott Kashket forces Angus MacDonald to kick the ball into the back of The Rainham End at the expense of conceding a corner for Gillingham, I perhaps failed to notice during the game at the time, But Mikael Mandron won more then his fair share of aerial battles, but the off the ball running from Scott Kashket has to be commended and applauded, and from the resulting corner kick, Ben Reeves in-swinging cross is headed half clear and away from goal and Stuart O’Keefe’s high and hanging cross was comfortable for Goalkeeper Sol Brynn to save, and from here, Sol Brynn rolls the ball quickly to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier runs forwards in possession of the ball before laying the ball off to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade switches the play to Fraser Blake-Tracy down the opposite flank, and Fraser Blake-Tracy passes the ball down the line towards Jonny Williams, who flicks the ball through to Saidou Khan, and Saidou Khan passes the ball back to Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy plays a one / two with Louis Reed and Saidou Khan before passing the ball inside centrally to Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin threads a pass out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier see’s his driven cross blocked by Ryan Law, and Swindon Town have a throw on in Gillingham’s Final Third.
And the pressure continue’s to be pilled on to Gillingham’s Goal as Hakeeb Adelakun times his challenge to perfection on Saidou Khan and knock the ball out of play for A Swindon Town Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw, Fraser Blake-Tracy throws the ball short to Saidou Khan, who passes the ball out-wide to Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy plays a short pass back to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball square to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed squares the ball to Tyrese Shade, who lays the ball off to Angus MacDonald, and Angus MacDonald passes the ball forwards to Ben Gladwin, Ben Gladwin passes the ball back to Louis Reed, and Louis Reed passes the ball down the line towards Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy whips in a dangerous cross and Max Ehmer headers the ball away from goal and Tryese Shade is on to the loose ball and passes the ball back to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier whips in a dangerous cross and Ben Gladwin’s up and under headed effort towards goal is comfortable for Glenn Morris to save, and we are just coming up to the hour mark, and maybe Neil Harris is considering making a few substitutions ???
But it is Swindon Town looking to make a change, as Ronan Darcy comes on to replace Saidou Khan, And Swindon Town have one stoppage remaining if they want to bring on there three remaining substitutions, as for Gillingham, I think if we are looking to make a change, David Tutonda on for Ryan Law stands out as one option, but another option would be Jordan Green on for Mikael Mandron, just so that Gillingham have got the option to hit Swindon Town on the counter attack.
Sixty Five Minutes Into The Match, And Marcel Lavinier threads a pass down the line towards Ronan Darcy, and Elkan Baggott has come across to shield the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, And From The Resulting Goal-Kick, Glenn Morris has kicked the ball long down-field and Marcel Lavinier wins the initial aerial challenge and Shaun Williams tries to pick out Scott Kashket with a long ball down-field and the bounce of the ball favoured Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, now if the ball didn’t bounce as high off the turf, I think Scott Kashket could have been in on goal here, and from here, Goalkeeper Sol Brynn rolls the ball short to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball square to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball down the line towards Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy plays a short pass forwards towards Jonny Williams, And Jonny Williams runs into a more central area of the pitch in possession of the ball, And Jonny Williams tries to knock the ball long but Max Ehmer headers the ball down to Shaun Williams, And Shaun Williams passes the ball out-wide to Hakeeb Adelakun, and Hakeeb Adelakun kicks the ball long down-field and pressure from Scott Kashket forces Tom Clayton to pass the ball back to Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, and Sol Brynn passes the ball out-wide to Tom Clayton, who keeps the ball in play but is closely marked by Mikael Mandron, And Tom Clayton’s pass inside to Louis Reed is not great and Louis Reed is double marked by Ben Reeves and Mikael Mandron and although Louis Reed wins Swindon Town a throw on, It is in Swindon Town’s Final Third - But well done Gillingham, defending from the front with ten men.
And from the resulting throw, Fraser Blake-Tracy throws the ball short to Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin gets the ball under control before managing to pick out Marcel Lavinier with a cross-field cross pass, and Marcel Lavinier runs forwards in possession of the ball for Swindon Town, And Marcel Lavinier passes the ball out-wide to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade tries to take on Ryan Law, But over-runs the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.
Sixty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Tyrese Shade whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Hakeeb Adelakun makes a very crucial clearance for Gillingham and Goalkeeper Sol Brynn has the ball for Swindon Town, And Sol Brynn passes the ball short to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed looks to switch play with a cross-field cross pass and Hakeeb Adelakun wins the first aerial challenge, Jonny Williams wins the second aerial challenge and Shaun Williams is on to the loose ball and passes the ball forwards and Mikael Mandron wins the fifty / fifty challenge up against Tom Clayton and lays the ball off to Stuart O’Keefe, who passes the ball forwards towards Scott Kashket, And Scott Kashket passes the ball out-wide to Mikael Mandron, And Mikael Mandron manages to pass the ball inside centrally to Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe passes the ball square to Elkan Baggott, And Elkan Baggott passes the ball down the line towards Ryan Law, And Ryan Law runs forwards in possession of the ball inside Swindon Town’s Penalty Area, And Ryan Law see’s his low driven effort towards goal blocked by Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier takes several touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball square to Ronan Darcy, And Ronan Darcy lays the ball off to Jonny Williams, Jonny Williams then runs forwards in possession of the ball for Swindon Town, And Jonny Williams passes the ball out-wide to Ronan Darcy, And Ronan Darcy passes the ball centrally to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed plays a short pass square to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball out-wide to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade passes the ball back to Louis Reed, Louis Reed then passes the ball centrally towards Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton plays a one / two with Ronan Darcy before passing the ball out-wide to Jonny Williams, And Jonny Williams tries to pick out Ben Gladwin with a pass towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, But Mikael Mandron was in the right place at the right time to make the all important clearance.
Seventy Two Minutes Into The Match, And Neil Harris makes a double substitution with Lewis Walker and Alex MacDonald both coming on for Mikael Mandron and Ben Reeves - Lewis Walker might give Gillingham some fresh legs in Swindon Town’s Final Third to try and stretch Swindon Town defensively, although I did wonder if Jordan Green could have come on and done that job more effectively, And Alex MacDonald replacing Ben Reeves just allows Gillingham to protect Ben Reeves, who picked up a lot of injuries last season, So Harris might want to rest Reeves to ensure that he is available for selection for the league games we have got coming up against Grimsby Town and Mansfield Town.
And after that double substitution, Swindon Town had the chance to take the lead, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field for Gillingham and Tom Clayton wins the aerial challenge and Tyrese Shade retains possession of the ball down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Tyrese Shade passes the ball down the line towards Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball inside centrally to Luke Jephcott, And Luke Jephcott lays the ball off to Ronan Darcy, And Ronan Darcy passes the ball square to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball forwards towards Jonny Williams and Jonny Williams passes the ball out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier works his way inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball back to Jonny Williams, who clips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Max Ehmer headers the ball partially clear and away from goal and Tyrese Shade see’s his first time effort towards goal blocked by Hakeeb Adelakun, and Marcel Lavinier, is on to the second ball, cuts inside centrally to avoid the attempted challenge from Scott Kashket, And Marcel Lavinier’s driven effort towards goal fails to hit the target by some considerable distance.
And from the resulting goal-kick, Swindon Town had the chance to open the scoring again, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field and Lewis Walker wins the first aerial challenge, Ben Gladwin wins the second aerial challenge and Stuart O’Keefe is first to the knock down, But Fraser Blake-Tracy and Ben Gladwin manage to intercept the ball between the two of them for Swindon Town and Louis Reed managed to switch the play to Jonny Williams Down The Medway Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Jonny Williams runs forwards in possession of the ball before threading a pass through to Luke Jephcott, And Luke Jephcott passes the ball out-wide to Ronan Darcy, And Ronan Darcy passes the ball back to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball inside centrally towards Angus MacDonald, And Angus MacDonald passes the ball towards Fraser Blake-Tracy down the left side of the pitch, And Fraser Blake-Tracy threads a pass down the line towards Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade’s first time low cross is blocked by Elkan Baggott at the expense of conceding a corner kick.
And from the resulting corner, Swindon Town really should have opened the scoring, Louis Reed whips in a high and hanging cross towards the far post and Fraser Blake-Tracy wins the aerial challenge to header the ball down towards Luke Jephcott, And Luke Jephcott’s first time volleyed effort fails to hit the target from inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and the ball has somehow cleared the crossbar and gone out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Because the ball was quickly headed towards Luke Jephcott, maybe he didn’t have the time to readjust, But Luke Jephcott should have opened the scoring for Swindon Town, and that is a massive let off for The Gills.
And from the resulting goal-kick, Gillingham created a half decent goal-scoring opportunity, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field and Lewis Walker wins the aerial challenge and Alex MacDonald wins the fifty / fifty challenge in midfield and Lewis Walker passes the ball back to Shaun Williams, And Shaun Williams passes the ball out-wide to Ryan Law, And Ryan Law passes the ball down the line towards Alex MacDonald, And Alex MacDonald works his way into a crossing position, And Alex MacDonald’s cross is saved and gathered at the second attempt by Goalkeeper Sol Brynn.
Seventy Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Will Wright comes on to replace Scott Kashket, With Gillingham now switching to A 5-3-1 Formation for the rest of this match, Neil Harris clearly wants to make sure that Gillingham held on for this 0-0 draw against Swindon Town now, and Will Wright will play alongside Max Ehmer and Elkan Baggott in the heart of Gillingham’s Defence as our three man central defensive partnership, David Tutonda and Jordan Green are Gillingham’s two remaining out-field substitutions left, and given that Gillingham can only stop the game one more time, I do wonder if both players will come on in the closing stages of the match to help Gillingham see out the rest of this match ???
But In The Eightieth Minute Of The Match, Swindon Town should have opened the scoring, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field and Marcel Lavinier headers the ball down towards Louis Reed, And Louis Reed gets the ball under control and passes the ball out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier runs forwards in possession of the ball towards the halfway line and laying the ball off to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed manages to pick out Fraser Blake-Tracy with a cross-field cross pass, And Fraser Blake-Tracy runs forwards in possession of the ball, plays a short pass forwards to Ronan Darcy, And Ronan Darcy passes the ball out-wide to Tyrese Shade, who runs inside into a more central area of the pitch, And Tyrese Shade takes on Hakeeb Adelakun and Stuart O’Keefe before curling a excellent strike towards goal which is matched in quality with a excellent save from Glenn Morris who parries the ball wide and away from goal - Fantastic Save From Glenn Morris.
Eighty Five Minutes Into The Match, And Swindon Town had another opportunity to open the scoring, Fraser Blake-Tracy has possession of the ball in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Fraser Blake-Tracy plays a one / two with Tyrese Shade before whipping in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick and Marcel Lavinier’s first time effort towards goal goes over the crossbar by some considerable distance - and this effort on goal succeeded a domination of possession for Swindon Town, And Swindon Town wanted a penalty for a foul on Jonny Williams, and no penalty was awarded for the visitor’s.
Eighty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Louis Reed’s mis-placed pass towards Marcel Lavinier see’s Alex MacDonald run on to the loose ball and Alex MacDonald is challenged by the on rushing Swindon Town Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, who did win the ball, and Sol Brynn kicks the ball long down-field and Glenn Morris makes a comfortable routine save for Gillingham, Swindon Town had a chance to find the winning goal a minute later as Marcel Lavinier boots the ball long down the line and Max Ehmer headers the ball forwards for Gillingham and Lewis Walker wins the aerial challenge and tries to chase his own flick on and Angus MacDonald passes the ball back to Goalkeeper Sol Brynn, who passes the ball square to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton runs forwards in possession of the ball before laying the ball off to Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin passes the ball square to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball forwards towards Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball down the line towards Jonny Williams, Jonny Williams then passes the ball back to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball back to Louis Reed, who hits a diagonal cross-field cross pass and Fraser Blake-Tracy gets the ball under control, And Fraser Blake-Tracy passes the ball back towards Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade see’s his low shot towards goal turned around the post brilliantly by Glenn Morris - and that save by Glenn Morris was superb, because Tyrese Shade’s shot towards goal took a massive deflection off Will Wright, and that deflection was going to take the ball into the bottom corner of the net until Glenn Morris made that fantastic save.
And from the resulting corner kick, Swindon Town had the chance to open the scoring again, And Swindon Town take the corner very quickly, and the cross from Fraser Blake-Tracy is headed clear by Max Ehmer, and Marcel Lavinier is on to the loose ball, and Marcel Lavinier passes the ball square to Ronan Darcy, And Ronan Darcy passes the ball square to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball square to Jonny Williams, And Jonny Williams passes the ball down the line towards Angus MacDonald, And Angus MacDonald turns back on himself and passes the ball short to Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin passes the ball square to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton passes the ball out-wide to Tyrese Shade, who passes the ball back to Ben Gladwin, And Ben Gladwin passes the ball short to Louis Reed, who plays the ball back to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier’s pass to Ben Gladwin runs through to Tom Clayton, And Tom Clayton played a one / two with Luke Jephcott before passing the ball out-wide to Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy passes the ball centrally to Tyrese Shade on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Tyrese Shade’s effort on goal is blocked by Max Ehmer, And Tyrese Shade lays the ball off to Louis Reed, who clips in a dangerous cross and Will Wright headers the ball half clear and then clears the ball towards the edge of the penalty area, And Tyrese Shade gets the ball under control before seeing his driven effort towards goal saved by Glenn Morris.
David Tutonda comes on for Hakeeb Adelakun, who gets a magnificent reception after his substitution for a exceptional performance at Right Back For Gillingham, David Tutonda will hopefully come on and provide Gillingham with fresh legs in defence to help Gillingham see out the rest of this match, and even though Gillingham still have one substitute remaining, this is our third stoppage in the game, so therefore, Gillingham cannot make another substitute because we have stopped the game three times.
Swindon Town had the chance to score a late winner just as we are approaching stoppage time, Tom Clayton has possession of the ball for Swindon Town, and Tom Clayton passes the ball forwards towards Fraser Blake-Tracy, And Fraser Blake-Tracy goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Tyrese Shade, And Tyrese Shade passes the ball back to Louis Reed, And Louis Reed passes the ball square to Angus MacDonald, And Angus MacDonald passes the ball out-wide to Marcel Lavinier, and Marcel Lavinier whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Ben Gladwin’s glancing header goes narrowly wide of the far post, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.
And from the resulting goal-kick, Glenn Morris kicks the ball long down-field and Angus MacDonald wins the first aerial challenge and Stuart O’Keefe and Lewis Walker win the next two aerial challenges and Shaun Williams is on to the loose ball in midfield, And Shaun Williams passes the ball down the line towards Ryan Law, And Ryan Law runs forwards in possession of the ball and passes the ball inside to Lewis Walker inside Swindon Town’s Penalty Area, and there were question marks over whether Lewis Walker was fouled by Marcel Lavinier and should Gillingham be awarded a penalty - didn’t look much in it, although I did appeal for the penalty at the time.
And the final noteworthy moment of the match see’s Glenn Morris save Marcel Lavinier’s dangerous in-swinging cross and after six additional minutes of added time, Referee Martin Woods blows his whistle for full time, And Gillingham have given it everything they have to secure themselves a point against A Swindon Town Side who love to play a possession based style of play, and considering that Gillingham were down to ten men as early as the tenth minute of the match, this is a excellent point for The Gills.
FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 0-0 SWINDON TOWN
Post Match, I saw a lot of praise and plaudits from Gillingham Supporters towards the players for heading out for a 0-0 draw against Swindon Town, Because the sending off did change the way Gillingham had to play, because prior to the sending off, Gillingham were on the front-foot, we were pressing Swindon Town in there own final third and Swindon Town couldn’t cope with the pressure, but the sending off just saw Swindon Town dominate possession of the ball and Gillingham had to sit in The 0-0 draw, and this is a good point, yes, the lack of goals is a concern, and that is something that Gillingham need to address going forwards, But Haji Mnoga’s Sending Off meant that Gillingham’s game plan went out of the window.
Hakeeb Adelakun, Glenn Morris and Scott Kashkrt were the three players who stood out for me, and given that Hakeeb Adelakun put in a fantastic performance for Gillingham by playing out of position at Right Back, Then Hakeeb Adelakun would be my choice for Man Of The Match, And Hakeeb Adelakun got a fantastic reception when he was substituted as well, Gillingham also have gone 630 minutes without scoring a goal, but the sending off against Swindon Town meant that we have to take this match into exceptional circumstances territory, because once Gillingham went down to ten men, it was always going to be difficult to create meaningful clear cut goal-scoring opportunities.
But Scott Kashket’s chance in the first half when he hit the post, If Mikael Mandron made the run to the far post, Scott Kashket could have squared the ball and Mikael Mandron would have scored a simple tap in, I also think the lack of goals scored means that our attacking players are over-thinking everything and not taking goal-goal-scoring opportunities with confidence or composure, It is also worth mentioning that if Gillingham kept this match at eleven verses eleven and Gillingham continued to play the way Gills played in the first ten minutes of the match, Gillingham would have won against Swindon Town, once Gillingham went down to ten men so early on in the match, avoiding defeat was crucial, and the point has to be considered a excellent point.
But the rule change that one of the substitutes has to be A Academy Player / Club Development Player was something we only found out in Neil Harris’s Post Match Press Comments, So One Of Freddie Carter, Bailey Akehurst, Matt Macarthur or Joseph Gbode have to be named on the substitutes bench otherwise Gillingham have to name just six substitutes on the bench, and that explained only six substitutes on the bench for Gillingham V Swindon Town, And had Crawley Town V Gillingham gone ahead, Jake Turner would have started in goal and Taite Holtham would have been named on the bench, And Taite Holtham would have been The Club Development Player In The Match-Day Squad.
But all in all, taking in the circumstances of the sending off, and Gillingham having to play for over eighty minutes with ten men against A Swindon Town Side who are very good in possession of the ball, this is a very good result for Gillingham, Yes, we want to see Gillingham scoring more goals and winning more football matches, but this is a good point and another clean sheet for Gillingham, hopefully, this excellent defensive performance and the point and clean sheet against Gillingham can see Gills build on this performance and result against Swindon Town in the next few league matches - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!
