FOM BLOG: TRANMERE ROVERS 2-2 GILLINGHAM
My Thoughts On Tranmere Rovers V Gillingham………
I made sure I had the following things on me,,,,, Money, Keys, My Tranmere Rovers Ticket, My Sony Xperia XA1, Lightweight Jacket, 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola, Match-Day Programmes, Football League And Non League Newspapers, Spare Lids, Bag, Polo’s, Pad and Pens, Can Of Lynx, Charger and Portable Chargers - And I double checked I had everything on me before leaving the house at 7.05AM, And I made the ten minute walk from My House to the pick up point out-side The Cricketers Pub, And I arrived In The Cricketers Car Park at 7.20AM And while I was waiting, Stephen sent me a message saying what time he will arrive in Rainham.
Chris and Stephen then arrived at 7.40AM and I got in the car and we were on our way to Tranmere Rovers, and making sure that we avoided The M1, Because The M1 was terrible for my trip to St Andrews via coach, and for that journey, I arrived outside St Andrews Stadium at 14.40PM For A 15.00PM Kick Off, And the traffic disruptions on The M1 are not going to be resolved anytime soon and I can see there being disruptions on other motorway routes as more people avoid the disruptions on The M1, And for future away games, If you have to travel via The M1 then it would be a good idea to add additional time on to your travel journey.
I Posted The Following On Facebook And Twitter,,,,, On my way to Prenton Park as Gillingham take on Tranmere Rovers In League One This Afternoon, After losing against Colchester United In The Football League Trophy, It is vital that Gillingham get back to winning ways today against Tranmere Rovers - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!, I also responded to The D3D4 Podcast Post with the following response, Prenton Park, Tranmere Rovers V Gillingham, Tranmere Rovers 2-2 Gillingham - Olly Lee and Mikael Mandron to get themselves on the score-sheet for Gillingham Today, Either Coco Pops or Toast - The final question was favourite cereal.
Gills In The Blood And Gills Debate had posted polls for predicting Gillingham’s Result Against Tranmere Rovers Today, and Gills Debate also posted how is everyone following the match, Now we will be in the away end at Prenton Park, But I guess the majority of Gillingham Supporters following the game will be listening on Radio or following the match on Social Media, especially as England play against Bulgaria In A European Championship Qualifier and that match kicks off at 5PM, I think those who are going to Tranmere Rovers will have brought there match tickets in advance, and the only pay on the day fans will be those who are exile supporters who live much closer to Tranmere then we do, However, It has been quite a few season’s since Tranmere Rovers have played in League One, Stephen is going to this match to tick off a new stadium, And I do think that quite a few fans will be ticking off a new stadium for this up and coming Tranmere Rovers V Gillingham Match.
I Re-Tweeted A Photo Of Brian Moore Hosting The Big Match, While Gillingham Town had a change in management, And looking at fixtures In The Kent Non League Scene, Bearsted are hosting Glebe and with Nicholas not traveling to The Tranmere Rovers Match, then he could go and watch Bearsted play instead, I know a lot of Gillingham Supporters who opt to watch Local Kent Non League Football whenever Gillingham play away from home, And I did this when Bury V Gillingham was postponed and I went to watch Whitstable Town play against Sittingbourne instead, and Roman Campbell scored for Sittingbourne that day, Stephen asked me if I thought that Roman Campbell could break into Gillingham’s First Team, and his goal-scoring record so far for Sittingbourne has been superb, We have seen players like Noel Mbo, Andy Pugh and Luis Cumbers impress in Gillingham’s Youth Team and Reserve Teams, But none of those three players stepped up and established themselves in Gillingham’s First Team, But I do think that The Gills have got a striker with a lot of potential in Roman Campbell, And With Reserve Team Football Basically Scrapped These Days, Gillingham send there young players out on loan to Kent Non League Teams, so that our young players boost there match fitness and match sharpness levels, and also, our young players get to experience playing first team football at a decent level as well.
I do think there will come a point where Ryman Division One South Football will become too easy for Roman Campbell, But I think Mark Patterson and Bryan Bull were asked this question in previous Q & A’s that they would rather see Gillingham’s Youngsters Start For A Ryman Division One South Side, Then Not Playing For A Conference South Side, But If Roman Campbell continue’s to score goals for Sittingbourne, then I think we will either recall Roman Campbell back into Gillingham’s First Team, Or, Send Roman Campbell out on loan to A Conference South Side who will give Campbell game-time.
The three of us got speaking about Gillingham’s 3-2 Defeat Against Colchester United, And Mikael Mandron scored on Tuesday Night and he has put himself in contention to start for Gillingham against Tranmere Rovers, And I do think that Mikael Mandron deserves to start, as for the competition itself, Chris thought that The Football League Trophy should be scrapped, where as Stephen and Myself think that The B Teams should be taken out of the competition, and you either go back to the previous knockout format of the competition, or, you invite sixteen Conference National Teams Into The Football League Trophy, And I think that the latter suggestion would be a good idea.
Because of the early start, It meant getting some sleep in the car as we made our way up north to Tranmere, And as I woke up, we had arrived at Norton Caines Services at 10.50AM and this was an opportunity to stretch our legs and we had actually arrived at Norton Caines Services just before The Kings Ferry Coach, So Me And Stephen could speak with Brian, Diane, Louis and Charlie at the services, and Me and Stephen spoke how we are traveling via car to Tranmere Rovers and as far as traffic problems go, other then traffic slowing down on The M25 our journey has been decent so far, Diane mentioned that The Kings Ferry Coach will leave from Norton Caines Services at 11.25AM.
I Brought A 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola From The Newsagents, And Charlie mentioned to me that Max Ehmer is a serious doubt and he got speaking with KitMan Malcolm Steadman back in Gillingham and Jack Tucker was traveling up to Tranmere Rovers via train, And it would be terrible news if Max Ehmer is unavailable because of injury, Both of us agreed that Mikael Mandron should start in place of Brandon Hanlan, Now I like Brandon Hanlan, His work-rate is excellent, he can play with his back to goal and I think Hanlan has got a lot of potential and a lot of ability, But with Mikael Mandron scoring against Colchester United In The Football League Trophy On Tuesday Night, then this is the opportunity for Mikael Mandron to start.
Me, Stephen and Chris headed back to the car and we left Norton Caines Services at 11.05AM, and as we left the services, I re-tweeted a few tweets and Tony had tweeted for people to make the effort to go along and watch your local club play this afternoon, regardless of the fact that there is A International Break, Fans should go and watch there local clubs play, and with the devastating news surrounding Bury’s Departure From The Football League, perhaps this will spark an interest in Lower League English Football and we will see supporters of other clubs rally round and get behind Lower League And Non League Sides when there teams are not playing.
And Accrington Stanley Chairman Andy Holt had drawn a graft showing the financial disparity between The Premier League, The Championship and League’s One and Two, and even more alarming is the stat that Championship Clubs recorded A Half A Billion Lose between all Twenty Four Clubs because everyone is chasing the golden ticket of The Premier League and you look at the teams in The Championship who are struggling, Barnsley, Stoke City, Huddersfield, Wigan Athletic, and Hull City, those five clubs would all be challenging for promotion in League One providing that they have excellent player recruitment and get things right on and off the pitch, If any of those five clubs mentioned were relegated, you expect those clubs to challenge for promotion, and we’re seeing that already this season, Ipswich Town are in the playoffs, Rotherham United you expect to be there or thereabouts come the end of the season, and financial problems at Bolton Wanderers see a very different Bolton Wanderers Side In League One, compared to the last time Bolton Wanderers were in the third tier where they just looked a class above the majority of the clubs in this division.
I Then Re-Tweeted A Few Tweets With Gillingham’s Official Twitter Account Posting There - It’s Match-Day Tweet - And they wished Gillingham Supporters a safe journey up to Tranmere Rovers for this afternoon’s match, And looking at the team news for some of the early kick off’s In League One, Luke O'Neill, Scott Wagstaff, Callum Reilly and Joe Pigott were all In The Starting Line Up For AFC Wimbledon Today, Luke O’Neill spoke in AFC Wimbledon’s Local Media that the move to AFC Wimbledon was because Luke O’Neill believed that AFC Wimbledon have got more ambition, and while the new stadium will be ready for The 2020 / 2021 Season, I don’t see a move to AFC Wimbledon as a step up compared to say, if Luke O’Neill had signed for Portsmouth, Peterborough United or Ipswich Town for example, clubs you expect to see there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
And the three of us got speaking about AFC Wimbledon’s Ground, And I was checking the capacity of AFC Wimbledon’s Stadium on Football Ground Guides, And AFC Wimbledon have got a stadium capacity of 4,850, And the minimum stadium capacity for Football League Clubs is 5,500, Barnet had to build a small seated stand in the corner at Underhill to bring there football stadium up to Football League Requirement, and maybe with the planning permission for the new stadium is why AFC Wimbledon are given a grace period and are allowed to continue playing at Kingsmeadow, even though the capacity of the stadium is below Football League Requirements.
The sight-lines from the terraces at AFC Wimbledon is appalling (Which Is Why I always buy seating for AFC Wimbledon Away), But what AFC Wimbledon have been able to achieve has simply been remarkable, to re-form in 2002 and work there way up into The Football League is an out-standing achievement, the football club is fan owned and the move into a new stadium is essential for AFC Wimbledon, because the limited stadium capacity is holding the football club back in League One, And as for MK Dons, the past is the past and nothing is going to change how MK Dons were formed, But If MK Dons decided to drop The Dons and change there name to Milton Keynes FC and the club released a statement explaining why they made the name change, I think that would do something to try and repair the damage between both football clubs.
And looking at the news from elsewhere, Steve Watt has been appointed as Hythe Town Manager, Faversham Town won 7-1 against Hythe Town On Tuesday Night, Former Manager Sam Denly had resigned on The Wednesday and Steve Watt was appointed as Hythe Town Manager On The Saturday, And Me and Stephen got speaking about Dartford and they sacked Adam Flanagan and Jamie Coyle after Dartford lost 3-2 against Tonbridge Angels, Tony Burman takes over on temporary charge, And I think Dartford will take the time to try and get this appointment right, Former Dover Athletic Manager Chris Kinnear is linked with The Dartford Job and my guess is that he would be favourite for the managerial position, and a very good appointment as well.
We stopped off at Birkenhead Retail Park at 1PM to get something to eat and drink, and once we got out of the car, Me and Stephen both paid Chris our share of the fuel costs, which was £25 each, And Stephen also paid for his match ticket, and we headed into Harvester to get something to eat and drink and met up with A Gillingham Supporter who lives locally and has been looking forward to Tranmere Rovers V Gillingham, because this match is easier for him to travel to, and we sat down and ordered our food and drink from the menu, I ordered A Bottle Of Coca Cola, And A Bacon Cheese-Cheese-Burger and Chips, and because we gave ourselves more time to travel to Tranmere, this meant that we had the luxury to sit and order food and drink.
Whilst waiting for the food and drink to arrive, I Re-Tweeted A Few Tweets From Gillingham’s Official Twitter Account, Because Gillingham had arrived at Prenton Park and the players had traveled up to Tranmere the day before, and trained at Melwood, Which Is Liverpool’s Training Ground, We didn’t have too long to wait for the food to arrive, and once the food had arrived, it was time to eat, For away games, I often find it is drink you need more then food as you get more dehydrated throughout the day, While sitting around the table, we spoke about the situation at Bury and how can we ensure that another Bury isn’t around the corner, one suggestion made was regionalisation of League’s One And Two To North And South, A Suggestion I rejected, because traveling to the likes of Exeter City, Plymouth Argyle and Torquay United are trips just as long as traveling to Rochdale, Accrington Stanley and Tranmere Rovers, and with regionalisation, it means that The Championship would have to accept four relegation spots to ensure that two teams are promoted from both Northern And Southern Divisions.
The problems Bury had were there before Steve Dale, But all of us found it shocking that Steve Dale brought Bury Football Club and he had no idea that Bury had A Football Club and he isn’t A Football Fan, but even more concerning is the number of companies that have been liquidated under his name, and The Fit And Proper Person’s Test needs looking into, club accounts need to be checked, double checked and triple checked, Gillingham have already lost out financially because there will be no home game against Bury, However, Rochdale really have missed out, Because they would have generated £100,000 in revenue for there home game against Bury and that revenue isn’t going to be there this season.
Once finishing our meals, we asked for the bill, And My Bacon Cheese-Burger, Chips And Coca Cola came to £14, And I paid my share of the costs for the bill, and after paying the bill, Me, Stephen and Chris headed back to the car and we were on our way towards Prenton Park at 13.45PM, and we just needed to double check that we could park in the car park, and we arrived at Prenton Park at 13.54PM, parking the car is going to be a problem if away fans have to park in a residential area, thankfully, we could park in the car park, and after paying £5 to park the car, Chris parked his car towards the back end of the car park, and all in all, not a bad trip up to Tranmere, we stopped off for food and drink, and arrived with time to spare as well.
Chris and Stephen were going into The Fan Park out-side the ground, as there was A Bar, and places to get something to eat and drink, and plenty of standing room for anyone who wants something to drink before the match kicks off, And The Fan-Park was packed and very successful and something I am sure Gillingham Supporters would like to see in the car park at Priestfield Stadium, I said to Stephen that I will buy his Match-Day Programme as he wanted a programme, and while the team news was not in yet, Ben Pringle was confirmed in Gillingham’s Starting Line Up For This Match.
I said C Ya To Stephen and Chris before walking all the way around the ground and headed towards the entrance for away supporters In The Cowshed Stand, And My Gillingham Bag was searched before being allowed in the away end, And I gave My Ticket To The Turnstile Operator, and once I got my ticket back, I went through the turnstiles, And I caught up with Brian and Paul in the away concourse, and we spoke about our pre-match predictions, and Brian predicted A Gillingham Win, While Paul and Myself went for a draw, we were hoping that Gillingham would win against Tranmere Rovers, But I went with a draw, which would be better then losing and Gillingham have won one, drawn two and lose two of our five league fixtures so far this season, so therefore Gillingham do not come into this match with the best of form.
I then went to The Match-Day Programme Seller and brought Two Programmes For £6 and I queued up at The Refreshments Stand and brought one 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola for £2, And I walked up the steps and went pitch side, And the last time I went to Prenton Park was The 2013 / 2014 Season and Gillingham won 2-1 against Tranmere Rovers On A Friday Night and Adebayo Akinfenwa scored twice for Gillingham, But the home match against Tranmere Rovers was a match I won’t forget, because that home game was essentially winner stays up and loser goes down game, And Bradley Back opened the scoring for Gillingham, And Cody McDonald scored with the last kick of the match to wrap up all three points, While this match doesn’t have that same level of importance, It is still vital for Gillingham to pick up all three points and start to build some momentum in the league.
Eventually, Gillingham’s News Appeared On Twitter, And Gillingham Lined Up As Follows,,,,,,,, Jack Bonham, Barry Fuller, Max Ehmer, Connor Ogilvie, Tom O’Connor, Alfie Jones, Mark Byrne, Ben Pringle, Olly Lee, Mikael Mandron, Alex Jakubiak, SUBS: Joe Walsh (GK), Jack Tucker, Stuart O’Keefe, Ousseynou Cissé, Mark Marshall, Mikael Ndjoli, and Brandon Hanlan - Charlie mentioned that Jack Tucker had traveled up to Tranmere Rovers via train, clearly, Lee Hodson had either picked up a knock or was ill between yesterday and today, And we got speaking about the decision to start Mikael Mandron, and that decision was the correct decision, But Brandon Hanlan can still contribute from the substitutes bench if and when he is required.
Diane and Charlie spoke about how they traveled to Tranmere Rovers, And The Kings Ferry Coach parked outside the away end at 13.30PM, I mentioned that we got something to eat and drink from the food and drink complex close to Prenton Park and we parked the car in The Tranmere Rovers Car Park at five to two, And at least we arrived at Prenton Park with time to spare, which was not the case at St Andrews when Gillingham played against Coventry City, And Speaking Of Prenton Park, Tranmere Rovers have got themselves an excellent stadium, and to think that Tranmere Rovers had A 16,587 Stadium Capacity In The Conference National Two Year’s Ago, And there rise up through the division’s has to be commended, consolidation after securing promotion would be a successful season for any club promoted the season before, So I am sure that Tranmere Rovers will be delighted if they avoided relegation.
Me, Diane and Charlie moved close to the back of the away end, and we applauded the players who had grouped together in-front of the away end before they went down the tunnel to get themselves ready for kick off, I had this match down as a draw for The NoirCat Prediction League, Charlie thought this match would be a draw as well, but we are hoping that we are wrong and Gillingham can pick up all three points, Because Gillingham need to win league games and start to win league games very quickly as well.
I was curious if Tranmere Rovers get supporters from Liverpool and Everton whenever Everton and Liverpool are not playing, Looking Around Prenton Park, And the attendance looks like it is going to be a decent one, whether Tranmere Rovers will get a higher league attendance this afternoon because this match against Gillingham is being played on A International Break, I am not entirely sure.
We spoke about the earlier matches being played in League One, MK Dons won 2-1 against AFC Wimbledon and Doncaster Rovers V Rotherham United was still on-going, But from the commentary I saw regarding The MK Dons V AFC Wimbledon Match, AFC Wimbledon played five at the back and were playing a cautious game and MK Dons looked comfortable and could have gone 4-0 or 5-0 up, AFC Wimbledon halved the deficit but they could not find the equaliser, and with Bolton Wanderers bottom with minus eleven points, Southend United Twenty Third With Zero Points, And AFC Wimbledon Twenty First With Two Points, Gillingham can move six points clear of The League One Relegation if we can win against Tranmere Rovers, and while the aim this season is to be higher then hovering above The League One Relegation Zone, the more points Gillingham can accumulate now, the larger the gap there will be between Gillingham and the relegation zone, and also, a win for Gillingham would open up a gap between ourselves and Tranmere Rovers as well.
Gillingham And Tranmere Rovers both walked out of the tunnel and lined up in-front of The Main Stand and the atmosphere raised in volume around Prenton Park, After The Pre-Match Line Up, The Gillingham Players came over to applaud The Gillingham Supporters In The Away End, And Initially, Gillingham Lined Up To Kick Towards The Kop In The First Half, And Tranmere Rovers were kicking towards The Cowshed Stand, However, Referee Michael Salisbury made both teams switch ends and this gives Gillingham a massive psychological advantage, this would be akin to away teams making Gillingham kick towards The Rainham End In The First Half, and this is an advantage that Gillingham need to take advantage of, and hopefully, Gillingham can take advantage and pick up all three points - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And Tranmere Rovers get this match underway with David Perkins passing the ball back to Darren Potter, And Darren Potter passes the ball square to Liam Ridehalgh, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Liam Ridehalgh kicks a long diagonal cross-field pass to try and pick out Paul Mullin, But Liam Ridehalgh’s long ball down-field is over-hit and runs all the way through to Jack Bonham, And I mentioned to Charlie that it was important for Jack Bonham to make a routine save just to build up some confidence, same applies to the out-field players, make sure your first touch is something simple, a five yard pass, or a good tackle and look to grow into the game as the match progresses.
And From Here, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Liam Ridehalgh wins the initial aerial challenge and Alfie Jones tries to pick out one of Mikael Mandron and Alex Jakubiak with a first time pass forwards which is cut out by George Ray and Liam Ridehalgh headers the ball on towards Paul Mullin, But Paul Mullin has come back from an offside position to try and flick the ball on towards Connor Jennings, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick on the halfway line, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Tom O’Connor whips in a high and hanging cross inside Tranmere Rovers Penalty Area and Manny Monthe manages to header the ball partially clear towards the edge of Tranmere Rovers Penalty Area and Mark Byrne fires in a first time volley which is blocked and ricocheted back towards Barry Fuller, who runs in from a right / central position on the pitch, And Barry Fuller lays the ball off to Mark Byrne, who plays a return pass down the line towards Barry Fuller, And Barry Fuller is pulled back by Paul Mullin, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick down the right side of the pitch in a very promising position on the pitch, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Ben Pringle whips in a high and hanging cross and Goalkeeper Scott Davies makes a routine save, and from here, Scott Davies tries to pick out Stefan Payne with a long ball which runs all the way through to Jack Bonham, And Jack Bonham rolls the ball short to Tom O’Connor, who kicks the ball long down-field and Sid Nelson jumps over Alex Jakubiak to header the ball clear and down the line towards Kieron Morris, And Kieron Morris kicks the ball long down-field towards the halfway line and Alfie Jones wins the initial aerial challenge and Darren Potter plays a one / two with David Perkins before playing the ball over the top towards Connor Jennings, And Connor Jennings manages to pass the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, who gets the ball under control and goes on a driving run forwards down the left side of the pitch, and manages to cut inside to evade the challenge from Mark Byrne, And Liam Ridehalgh lays the ball off to David Perkins, who runs forwards in possession of the ball, and David Perkins tries to pick out Stefan Payne with a threaded through-ball, But Max Ehmer is in the right place at the right time to clear the ball away from danger, and Manny Monthe headers the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, who plays a pass over the top to Paul Mullin, And Paul Mullin passes the ball back to Darren Potter, who has to slide at full stretch to pass the ball all the way back to Scott Davies In The Tranmere Rovers Goal, And Scott Davies kicks the ball long down the left side of the pitch, And Barry Fuller ducks so that the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.
The score-board was positioned directly above the away end, so unlike our previous two away trips to Coventry City and Doncaster Rovers, we were not able to look at the score-board to see how many minutes had been played in the match so far, Tranmere Rovers and Gillingham have both won one league game this season, and both of those wins were 5-0 home wins against Bolton Wanderers, So both teams are looking to get there second win of the season to pull themselves further away from The League One Relegation Zone.
And with Tranmere Rovers kicking towards The Kop Stand In The First Half, The Hosts are pushing to make the breakthrough and Connor Ogilvie manages to time his fifty / fifty challenge on Paul Mullin and the ball ricochets out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, Tranmere Rovers Supporters behind the goal felt that a corner kick should have been awarded, and a goal-kick was given instead, And From The Resulting Goal-Kick, And In The Fourth Minute Of The Match, Gillingham were looking to make the breakthrough, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Kieron Morris wins the aerial challenge to header the ball down-field and the ball bounces all the way through to Jack Bonham, who kicks the ball long down-field, and this time, Mikael Mandron manages to lay the ball off to Olly Lee, who, despite being under pressure from Kieron Morris, manages to work his way through towards the byline, and Olly Lee’s Cross was over-hit and went out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Goal-Kick - But from that passage of play, we saw what Mikael Mandron can bring to Gillingham’s Forward Line and Mandron can play with his back towards goal.
And From The Resulting Goal-Kick, Scott Davies kicks the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie wins the aerial challenge to header the ball towards Mikael Mandron, who manages to retain possession of the ball and lay the ball off to Olly Lee, and Olly Lee plays a first time pass out-wide for Mark Byrne to run on to, And Mark Byrne goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball and Mark Byrne tries to pick out Mikael Mandron with a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and Sid Nelson wins the initial aerial challenge and David Perkins kicks the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, and anywhere will do as far as Tranmere Rovers are concerned, And From The Resulting Throw On, Barry Fuller is quick to throw the ball down the line towards Alex Jakubiak, And Alex Jakubiak manages to retain possession of the ball before trying to take on Manny Monthe, which was always going to be difficult, and David Perkins kicks the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer is penalised for pulling Paul Mullin down to the ground, and there is no doubts in my mind that this was defiantly a foul, And Tranmere Rovers have been awarded a free kick.
And this free kick decision In The Sixth Minute Of The Match could have seen Tranmere Rovers open the scoring, Scott Davies passes the ball short to David Perkins, who takes a touch to control the ball, And David Perkins takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down the line down the left side of the pitch, And Paul Mullin manages to keep the ball in play before losing out to Max Ehmer, who kicks the ball clear and away from danger, however, David Perkins manages to get the ball under control, and take another few touches in possession of the ball and thread the ball through to Paul Mullin down the left side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Paul Mullin gets the ball under control before whipping a curling effort towards goal which crashes against the far right post and somehow manages to stay out and Connor Ogilvie manages to kick the ball clear and away from danger - THAT WAS THE CHANCE!!!!!! - That was the chance for Tranmere Rovers to open the scoring, and the hosts have created the best goal-scoring opportunity of the match so far and that is a massive let off for The Gills.
Gillingham have a throw on down the right side of the pitch on the halfway line after seven minutes, And Barry Fuller throws the ball long down the line and although Mikael Mandron manages to retain possession of the ball despite being closely marked by Manny Monthe, Mikael Mandron losses out to Liam Ridehalgh, who kicks the ball long down-field and the ball goes out of play for another Gillingham Throw On, And Barry Fuller throws the ball short to Ben Pringle, And Ben Pringle gets the ball under control before passing the ball out-wide to Barry Fuller, And Barry Fuller manages to keep the ball in play and pass the ball down the line towards Ben Pringle, And Ben Pringle fires in a dangerous low cross across the face of goal and there was Sid Nelson in the right place at the right time to clear the ball into touch at the expense of conceding A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Mark Byrne hurls in a dangerous long throw and Sid Nelson headers the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And Mark Byrne can try again by hurling in another dangerous long throw and Manny Monthe headers the long throw clear and Connor Jennings can only help his clearance on towards Ben Pringle, who lays the ball off to Olly Lee, And Olly Lee is intercepted by Connor Jennings, who is swarmed by Max Ehmer, Alfie Jones and Olly Lee, And Connor Jennings somehow manages to work the ball back to Manny Monthe and Tranmere Rovers manage to survive that scare - But it is good to see Mark Byrne hurling in long throws, Because I have no idea why Mark Byrne stopped taking long throws for The Gills.
Nine Minutes Into The Match, Tranmere Rovers could and perhaps should have been awarded a penalty, Scott Davies kicks the ball long down-field and the ball bounces over Stefan Payne’s Head and runs all the way through to Paul Mullin, who falls down to the deck underneath Tom O’Connor’s Challenge, And despite the huge calls from The Tranmere Rovers Supporters For A Penalty Kick In The Kop Stand, Referee Michael Salisbury waved away those penalty concerns, and I thought with the pressure from the home fans calling for a penalty and the way Paul Mullin went to ground, I was fearing the worst and expecting The Referee to point to the penalty spot and that was a massive let off for The Gills.
Gillingham were then awarded a throw on, on the halfway line right in-front of the dugouts, and from the resulting throw on, Tom O’Connor throws the ball long down the line and Mikael Mandron cannot retain possession of the ball and Kieron Morris kicks the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie kicks the ball back into Tranmere Rovers Half Of The Pitch First Time and Kieron Morris gets to the loose ball first, but he cannot prevent the ball from going out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Tom O’Connor throws the ball down the line and Olly Lee flicks the ball around the corner and George Ray kicks the ball long down-field and into touch for another Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Tom O’Connor throws the ball down the line towards Alex Jakubiak, And Alex Jakubiak works his way into a crossing position, And Alex Jakubiak see’s his cross blocked and the ball almost ricochets towards Olly Lee, But Darren Potter takes no chances and kicks the ball into touch for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Mark Byrne hurls in a dangerous long throw and Mikael Mandron wins the initial flicks on and the loose ball runs all the way through and Goalkeeper Scott Davies makes a comfortable save, and from here, Scott Davies kicks the ball long down-field and Stefan Payne is penalised for his challenge on Connor Ogilvie, And Gillingham have been awarded A Defensive Free Kick.
And when play resumed, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field, and the high ball ricochets down towards Liam Ridehalgh, who takes no chances and kicks the ball into touch for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Tom O’Connor throws the ball long down the line and Sid Nelson wins the aerial challenge up against Mikael Mandron and Ben Pringle is first to the second ball and Ben Pringle’s first time pass see’s Mikael Mandron take a heavy touch and the loose ball runs all the way through to Scott Davies to gather with ease, and from here, Scott Davies rolls the ball short to Manny Monthe, And Manny Monthe kicks the ball long down towards the halfway line and Alfie Jones wins the ball on the halfway line and Connor Jennings pulls Alfie Jones down to the ground and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick.
And From The Resulting Free Kick, Barry Fuller kicks a high and hanging ball towards the back-stick and Sid Nelson wins the initial aerial challenge and Connor Jennings wins the second aerial challenge to get more height then distance on his headed clearance, and Alex Jakubiak losses out to Liam Ridehalgh, And Tranmere Rovers can counter with David Perkins running forwards in possession of the ball and David Perkins continue’s his run down the left side of the pitch, And Ben Pringle is closely marking David Perkins and Mark Byrne tracks back and times his challenge to perfection on The Tranmere Rovers Midfielder with a robust challenge, And no-one in the away end can believe it that Referee Michael Salisbury had awarded a free kick to Tranmere Rovers, let alone show Mark Byrne A Yellow Card, two shocking decisions there because Mark Byrne timed his challenge to perfection on David Perkins.
And From The Resulting Free Kick, Liam Ridehalgh whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Alfie Jones manages to header the ball partially clear and away from danger, and Darren Potter manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Sid Nelson, And Sid Nelson kicks the ball long down-field towards Stefan Payne, And Connor Ogilvie has done enough to shield the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.
Gillingham are looking to make the breakthrough Fifteen Minutes Into The Match, But Ben Pringle’s Pass through to Olly Lee is over-hit and runs all the way through to Scott Davies, and from here, Scott Davies kicks the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie wins the initial aerial challenge and the ball runs through to Olly Lee down the left side of the pitch in-front of the dugouts, And Olly Lee manages to pass the ball back to Ben Pringle, who retains possession of the ball and passes the ball forwards to Mikael Mandron, And Mikael Mandron lays the ball off to Olly Lee, who runs down the left flank in possession of the ball, and even though Kieron Morris is closely marking Olly Lee, Olly Lee manages to whip in a cross towards the near post which is cut out by Sid Nelson, and the ball ricochets out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick.
And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Gillingham manage to open the scoring, Olly Lee whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Max Ehmer see’s his initial shot towards goal saved by Scott Davies and there was Alex Jakubiak to tap in the re-bound to give Gillingham the lead at Prenton Park, and there is nothing that Scott Davies can do about the re-bound and Olly Lee is starting to provide Gillingham with some quality from set plays, Because Mikael Mandron scored for Gillingham from A Olly Lee Corner Kick Against Colchester United In The Football League Trophy, And now Alex Jakubiak has scored from A Olly Lee Corner Kick - But this goal gives Gillingham the lead in what is a very important League One Fixture between two teams who can really do with all three points to pull themselves away from The League One Relegation Zone.
The goal celebration in the away end was something to savour, Despite the huge travel distance between Gillingham and Tranmere Rovers, Gillingham had taken a decent sized away support with them up to Tranmere and hopefully, we will be the ones going home celebrating a valuable win and three vital points for The Gills, But there is a long way to go in this match before we can start to think about who is going to win, but that opening goal gives Gillingham plenty of momentum now.
And when play resumed, Connor Jennings is penalised for his challenge on Olly Lee, And Barry Fuller is penalised for his foul on Paul Mullin and Tranmere Rovers are awarded a free kick, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Liam Ridehalgh whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Stefan Payne gets the ball under control and Connor Ogilvie manages to kick the ball clear and away from danger and Liam Ridehalgh wins the aerial challenge up against Olly Lee and the ball deflects out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On (When the throw on should have been awarded for The Gills) And From The Resulting Throw On, Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball down the line and Max Ehmer takes no chances and heads the ball out of play for another throw on, and from the resulting throw on, Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball short to Connor Jennings, who is twisting and turning, but his pass back out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh was poor, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On.
And From Here, Gillingham should have doubled there lead to 2-0, Barry Fuller throws the ball long down the line and Manny Monthe wins the aerial challenge up against Mikael Mandron and David Perkins flicks the ball on and Alfie Jones wins the next aerial challenge and Barry Fuller kicks the ball long down-field and Alex Jakubiak just cannot get around the defensive unit that is Manny Monthe and the ball goes out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, And From Here, Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball long down the line and Stefan Payne flicks the ball on to Paul Mullin, And Paul Mullin see’s his cross-field pass intercepted by Tom O’Connor, who manages to pass the ball forwards to Mikael Mandron, And Mikael Mandron passes the ball back to Olly Lee, And Olly Lee see’s his pass cut out by Darren Potter, who passes the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, And Liam Ridehalgh plays a one / two with David Perkins before kicking the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie headers the ball forwards to Ben Pringle, who runs wide left in possession of the ball and Connor Jennings times his challenge to perfection and Kieron Morris passes the ball back to Darren Potter, who passes the ball back to Sid Nelson, And Sid Nelson passes the ball out-wide to Kieron Morris, who plays a horrendous back-pass back towards George Ray, And Mikael Mandron is now through on goal one on one, And Mikael Mandron has to run wide left of Tranmere Rovers Penalty Area, And Mikael Mandron see’s his first shot on goal saved by the out-rushing Scott Davies And The Tranmere Rovers Goalkeeper also saved Mikael Mandron’s follow up effort to divert the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick - AND THAT WAS THE CHANCE FOR 2-0 FOR THE GILLS!!!!!!!! - A better first touch from Mikael Mandron would have set up a much better goal-scoring opportunity as well.
And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Olly Lee whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and Connor Ogilvie could not divert the ball goal-wards, and had Connor Ogilvie made better contact with the ball, then Gillingham would have doubled there lead, But we still could not believe that Mikael Mandron missed that chance to score earlier though.
And failing to take those chances could prove to be costly at the other end of the pitch, Because Kieron Morris see’s his cross charged down and Tranmere Rovers have been awarded a corner kick, and the hosts have the chance to equalise from this set play, and from the resulting corner kick, Kieron Morris whips in a low cross towards the near post and Barry Fuller manages to get the ball clear and away from goal and out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, And Tranmere Rovers were looking to score the equaliser from the resulting throw on, as Kieron Morris throws the ball short to Darren Potter, who passes the ball back out-wide to Kieron Morris, And Kieron Morris plays a neat give and go with Connor Jennings down the right side of the pitch, And Kieron Morris is through by the byline, And Kieron Morris whips in a dangerous cross and Max Ehmer headers the ball clear and Darren Potter is on to the loose ball, And Darren Potter runs wide in possession of the ball before passing the ball down the line to Connor Jennings, who retain possession of the ball and passes the ball back to Darren Potter, And Darren Potter’s cross deflects up into the air and Stefan Payne manages to bring the ball down and plays the ball back out-wide to Kieron Morris, And Kieron Morris whips in a dangerous cross and Max Ehmer is in the right place at the right time to partially header the ball clear and away from danger, and David Perkins passes the ball back to Manny Monthe, who kicks the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie headers the ball partially clear and away from goal and Connor Jennings Dipping Volley from the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area fails to hit the target - and that was the chance for Tranmere Rovers to score the equaliser.
Barry Fuller tries to pick out Mikael Mandron with a long ball down the right side of the pitch, But Manny Monthe had done enough to shield the ball out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Goal-Kick, That is going to be a proper Centre Back V Centre Forward Battle between those two, And it is from the resulting goal-kick where Tranmere Rovers almost scored the equaliser, Scott Davies kicks the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie wins the aerial battle up against Stefan Payne and the second ball drops kindly to Liam Ridehalgh, who passes the ball short to David Perkins, who goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball before threading the ball through to Connor Jennings down the left side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Connor Jennings passes the ball back to Liam Ridehalgh, and Liam Ridehalgh whips in a low cross across the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Alfie Jones misses the ball and Paul Mullin has possession of the ball and turns back on himself so that he is facing towards Gillingham’s Goal, And Paul Mullin plays a neat give and go with Stefan Payne and Paul Mullin tries to place the ball into the bottom right corner of the net and Jack Bonham has dived at full stretch to turn the ball around the post and that was a great save by Jack Bonham - I have no idea how or why The Official’s Awarded A Goal-Kick For Gillingham - even from our position in the away end at the opposite end of the pitch, we could see that Jack Bonham had made an excellent save to keep the score-line 1-0 To The Gills.
Twenty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Stefan Payne is penalised for his late challenge on Connor Ogilvie, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in there half of the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Sid Nelson wins the aerial challenge up against Mikael Mandron and Alfie Jones and Ben Pringle win the next two aerial challenges and David Perkins wins the fifty / fifty challenge against Mikael Mandron and Manny Monthe kicks the ball clear long down-field and Alfie Jones wins the aerial challenge on the halfway line and headers the ball towards Mark Byrne, who passes the ball back to Alfie Jones, And Alfie Jones clips a long pass over the top for Mark Byrne to run on to, And Mark Byrne is through by the byline, And Mark Byrne whips in a fantastic first time cross and Mark Byrne’s cross just about goes over Mikael Mandron’s Head and Sid Nelson has done just enough to header the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw, Barry Fuller throws the ball down the line to Mark Byrne, who cannot get the ball under control and David Perkins is on to the loose ball and David Perkins tee’s himself up to hook the ball clear and away from goal and Ben Pringle wins the initial aerial challenge, But Connor Jennings passes the ball out-wide to Kieron Morris, And Kieron Morris goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball before threading a pass down the line for Connor Jennings to run on to, And Connor Jennings losses out to Tom O’Connor who kicks the ball into touch for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On.
And From The Resulting Throw On, Kieron Morris throws the ball short to Darren Potter, who passes the ball back out-wide to Kieron Morris, And Kieron Morris passes the ball square to Connor Jennings, who manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Kieron Morris, And Kieron Morris passes the ball back to David Perkins, And David Perkins takes the safe option of passing the ball all the way back to Goalkeeper Scott Davies, who kicks the ball long down-field and Stefan Payne wins the aerial challenge up against Connor Ogilvie, And Max Ehmer headers the ball back to Jack Bonham, who kicks the ball long down-field and Manny Monthe wins the aerial challenge up against Mikael Mandron and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From Here, Barry Fuller throws the ball down the line and Manny Monthe headers the ball out of play for another Gillingham Throw On, which almost see’s Gillingham double there lead to 2-0, Because Mark Byrne hurls in a dangerous long throw and Liam Ridehalgh wins the aerial challenge up against Max Ehmer, but the second ball drops kindly to Olly Lee inside Tranmere Rovers Penalty Area, And Olly Lee hits a first time snap-shot effort which flashes just wide of the far right post by inches, and if Olly Lee’s low shot was on target, then Gillingham would have doubled there lead to 2-0.
Thirty One Minutes Into The Match, And Stefan Payne is penalised for his challenge on Max Ehmer, and from the resulting free kick, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Olly Lee flicks the ball on and Tranmere Rovers manage to clear there defensive lines and Liam Ridehalgh passes the ball down the line towards Connor Jennings, who passes the ball back to David Perkins, And David Perkins passes the ball forwards to Darren Potter, who passes the ball back to Manny Monthe, And The Tranmere Rovers Centre Back has to pass the ball back to Scott Davies, And Scott Davies kicks the ball long down-field down the right side of the pitch, And Connor Jennings flicks the ball on and Ben Pringle can only divert the ball out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Sid Nelson throws the ball down the line and Connor Ogilvie kicks the ball clear and away from Gillingham’s Goal and Mikael Mandron manages to retain possession of the ball and drop the ball back to Alex Jakubiak, who passes the ball square to Mikael Mandron, And Mikael Mandron losses out to Manny Monthe and Liam Ridehalgh has possession of the ball for Tranmere Rovers, And Liam Ridehalgh kicks the ball long down-field and Alfie Jones headers the ball down the line to Barry Fuller, who flicks the ball on to Olly Lee, who cannot retain possession of the ball and David Perkins passes the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, who kicks the ball long down the line and Paul Mullin flicks the ball on to Stefan Payne and Max Ehmer wins the initial fifty / fifty challenge and Paul Mullin is first to the second ball, and manages to retain possession of the ball and pass the ball back to Liam Ridehalgh, who passes the ball square to Darren Potter, And Darren Potter lays the ball off to David Perkins, And David Perkins passes the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, who clips the ball down the line to Darren Potter, who clatters into Max Ehmer, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in there own defensive final third.
Gillingham are new pushing for the all important second goal which would give Gillingham the all important two goal cushion, Sid Nelson is penalised for pushing Mikael Mandron down to the deck, and it is from this free kick where Gillingham create a decent goal-scoring opportunity, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Olly Lee whips in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick and Liam Ridehalgh has no choice but to header the ball out of play for a corner kick because Max Ehmer was well positioned to header the ball back across the face of goal, and from the resulting corner kick, Ben Pringle whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Sid Nelson wins the initial aerial challenge and Connor Ogilvie headers the ball back across the face of goal and George Ray headers the ball towards the edge of Tranmere Rovers Penalty Area and Olly Lee see’s his shot on target blocked towards Mikael Mandron, who see’s his attempted pass cut out by Liam Ridehalgh, but the ball ricochets back to Mark Byrne, who passes the ball out-wide to Ben Pringle, And Ben Pringle takes a touch to control the ball, cuts inside and whips in a curling effort towards the top left corner of the net and Scott Davies can only palm the ball against Max Ehmer and the ball ricochets back to Alfie Jones who scores a simple tap in and extend’s Gillingham’s Lead further to 2-0, and that is precisely what Gillingham needed as well.
Because we would still be talking about that one on one chance from Mikael Mandron and how that needed to be scored, But 2-0 gives Gillingham a solid lead and Alfie Jones is an unexpected name on the score-sheet, But what we have seen from both goals is the quality crosses that Olly Lee and Ben Pringle can whip in, and both players provide Gillingham with options from set plays.
And Tranmere Rovers are just starting to lose there way a bit, because Stefan Payne is booked for a high foot challenge on Connor Ogilvie right on the halfway line and as soon as we saw the challenge from Stefan Payne, we knew straight away that challenge warranted a yellow card, and Referee Michael Salisbury shows Stefan Payne A Yellow Card for his challenge on Connor Ogilvie.
And From The Resulting Free Kick, Tom O’Connor kicks the ball high and long down-field and Connor Jennings wins the initial aerial challenge and the second ball drops kindly to Ben Pringle, who passes the ball square to Mark Byrne, And Mark Byrne takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a high and hanging cross into Tranmere Rovers Penalty Area and Sid Nelson wins the initial aerial challenge, but he can only header the ball across the face of goal and Connor Ogilvie’s Header from the second ball is on target and saved by Scott Davies and that was the chance for Gillingham to extend the score-line further to 3-0 - And 3-0 would have put Gillingham in a commanding position to pick up all three points.
Alex Jakubiak is then penalised for fouling Kieron Morris, and it is from this free kick where we thought that Tranmere Rovers had been awarded a penalty kick, Kieron Morris whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Manny Monthe goes down to the deck underneath Max Ehmer’s Challenge, and considering that this foul happened right in-front of The Kop where The Tranmere Rovers Supporters are situated, I was anticipating Referee Michael Salisbury pointing to the penalty spot, But Michael Salisbury awards a-goal-kick to The Gills, and what Gillingham need to do is get to half time with the two goal lead in-tact and build from there, a third goal for The Gills would be ideal, But hanging on to the two goal is just as important.
Manny Monthe then times his challenge to perfection on Alex Jakubiak and kicks the ball against Barry Fuller and the ball ricochets out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, And From Here, Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball long down the line and Barry Fuller wins the initial aerial challenge and Mark Byrne kicks the ball into touch for A Tranmere Rovers Throw, And Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball down the line towards Stefan Payne and Mark Byrne wins the initial aerial challenge and David Perkins gets the ball under control and tries to pick out Paul Mullin with an over the top pass, and Connor Ogilvie cuts that pass out by kicking the ball clear and away from danger, and Manny Monthe wins the fifty / fifty challenge up against Alex Jakubiak, And The Tranmere Rovers Centre Back passes the ball forwards to Connor Jennings, And Alfie Jones times his challenge to perfection and knocks the ball out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball long down the line and all Barry Fuller can do is header the ball out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Corner Kick, Because Barry Fuller was under pressure from Paul Mullin, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Kieron Morris whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Alfie Jones has done just about enough to header the ball out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On.
And From The Resulting Throw On, Kieron Morris throws the ball down the line towards Connor Jennings, who is challenged by Ben Pringle and The Linesman down by the byline flags for A Corner Kick, And Referee Michael Salisbury awards Gillingham A Goal-Kick - That looked liked a corner kick even from where we were positioned in the away end - and that’s twice now where goal-kicks have been awarded in Gillingham’s Favour where the ball has gone out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Corner Kick.
Gillingham were then awarded a free kick when Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and David Perkins wins the first aerial challenge and Connor Jennings gets the ball under control, but the loose ball runs kindly to Mikael Mandron, who plays a neat one / two with Ben Pringle before getting clipped by David Perkins, and with no advantage, Michael Salisbury awards Gillingham A Free Kick, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Tom O’Connor passes the ball square to Barry Fuller, And Barry Fuller takes a touch to control the ball before clipping in a high and hanging diagonal cross-field pass, and although Mikael Mandron wins the initial aerial challenge, Mikael Mandron is flagged for offside.
But Tranmere Rovers finish the first half strongly by creating the final two goal-scoring opportunities of the first half, the first goal-scoring chance see’s Scott Davies kick the ball long down-field and Tom O’Connor headers the ball clear and away from danger and out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, And From Here, Sid Nelson throws the ball long down the line and Stefan Payne flicks the ball on and Jack Bonham was able to gather the ball with ease, and the final goal-scoring opportunity see’s Tranmere Rovers create a much better goal-scoring opportunity, as Sid Nelson manages to pick out Liam Ridehalgh with a cross-field diagonal pass and Liam Ridehalgh headers the ball towards Stefan Payne inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Jack Bonham comes rushing off his goal-line and gathers the ball with ease - and Jack Bonham stays down on the deck to waste a bit of time and kill some of the momentum that Tranmere Rovers are building up.
And that was the final noteworthy moment of the first half, And Gillingham go in at the break with the score-line 2-0 to The Gills at Prenton Park, And The Nil is the most crucial aspect to that score-line, Because Gillingham have conceded five goals between The 38th and 45th Minutes In Three League One Fixtures already this season.
HALF TIME: TRANMERE ROVERS 0-2 GILLINGHAM
I uploaded the following tweet on to Twitter At Half Time, HT: TRANMERE ROVERS 0-2 GILLINGHAM - Jakubaik and Jones both on the score-sheet for Gillingham Today, Mandron saw his one on one effort saved while the score-line was 1-0, Tranmere hit the post and had two penalty appeals turned down in the first half. Mandron has been superb. - It was also worth mentioning that the internet reception wasn’t the best and everyone around me was struggling to get online or see what the scores were like from the remaining fixtures in League One.
I got speaking with Charlie at half time, and from what we have seen in this match so far, there is no way this match will see both teams keep a clean sheet, Jack Bonham has made two decent saves in this match, one of those saves should have seen Tranmere Rovers awarded a corner kick, Tranmere Rovers also hit the post and Stefan Payne and Paul Mullin are giving Max Ehmer and Connor Ogilvie a old school centre back v centre forward battle, and if Ogilvie and Ehmer come off the pitch with bumps and bruises and Gillingham pick up all three points, then we will gladly take all three points.
You can tell looking at this Tranmere Rovers Squad that they have made back to back promotions into League One both in a positive and negative manner, Because the step up into League One is such a huge step up, And Gillingham have also experienced this, getting promoted as League Two Champions In 2012 / 2013 and retaining our League One Status the season afterwards, I also think that James Norwood moving on was a contributing factor, And Gillingham also saw one of there key players from last season sign for Ipswich Town this summer, As Tomas Holy made the move from Gillingham to Ipswich Town.
I mentioned to both Charlie and Louis that 2-0 at half time is a funny score-line, and if only Mikael Mandron converted that one on one chance, Because 3-0 would put Gillingham in a very strong position, one thing that does help Gillingham In The Second Half is the fact that Tranmere Rovers are not kicking towards The Kop, and that could help Gillingham out, as far as any substitutions go, I think with Mark Byrne on A Yellow Card, then I can see Stuart O’Keefe coming on to replace Mark Byrne, but other then that, I don’t see any obvious changes.
But one thing that needs to happen is for Gillingham to keep things tight and compact for the opening fifteen minutes of The Second Half, If it means opting for the old adage of - if in doubt, boot it out - and kicking the ball into touch to concede throw on’s, make sure that the game is broken up by conceding a few fouls and do ugly defensive work then so be it, Because 2-1 changes the entire match, 3-0, And we can be confident that Gillingham can pick up all three points - A Big Second Half Approaches For Gillingham, And Let’s Hope That Gillingham can maintain this 2-0 score-line and pick up all three points - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
While there are no half time substitutions for Gillingham, Tranmere Rovers make a double substitution, as Oliver Banks and Calum Woods replace Sid Nelson and Kieron Morris, I suppose Tranmere Rovers had to do something to try and get themselves back into this match, While Gillingham still have three substitutes remaining if we need to make tactical changes or look to freshen the team up.
And The First Noteworthy Moment Of The Second Half See’s Tranmere Rovers looking to push for the consolation goal which will bring the hosts back into this match, Mark Byrne gets the second half underway by kicking the ball back to Barry Fuller, who kicks the ball long down-field and George Ray wins the initial aerial challenge and Connor Jennings wins the second aerial challenge and Paul Mullin lays the ball off to Oliver Banks, who kicks the ball long down-field and Jack Bonham makes a routine save, And From Here, Jack Bonham throws the ball-out-wide to Barry Fuller, And Barry Fuller gets the ball under control before kicking the ball long down-field and Manny Monthe wins the aerial challenge up against Alex Jakubiak, and the second ball ricochets back to The Tranmere Rovers Centre Back, And Manny Monthe kicks the ball high up into the air and Barry Fuller wins the aerial challenge up against Stefan Payne and Olly Lee gets to the second ball and plays the ball short to Mark Byrne, who kicks the ball up into the air and Barry Fuller wins the fifty / fifty challenge up against Stefan Payne, But Connor Jennings passes the ball down the line and Max Ehmer takes no chances and headers the ball out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, David Perkins see’s his throw down the line cut out and the ball ricochets back to Connor Jennings, who passes the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, who passes the ball short to David Perkins, And David Perkins passes the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, who can only keep the ball in play and the loose ball runs through and Alfie Jones wins the fifty / fifty challenge and Mark Byrne kicks the ball long down-field and Manny Monthe manages to get the ball under control before passing the ball through to Connor Jennings, who lays the ball off to David Perkins, And David Perkins passes the ball square across the halfway line to Darren Potter, who passes the ball forwards to Oliver Banks, And Oliver Banks passes the ball out-wide to Calum Woods, And Calum Woods plays a give and go with Darren Potter before passing the ball inside to Oliver Banks, who lays the ball off to Darren Potter, And Darren Potter plays a one / two with Calum Woods before passing the ball through to Oliver Banks, who whips in a first time cross, which is partially headed clear by Max Ehmer and Connor Jennings jumps into Alfie Jones and clashes head to head with The Southampton Loanee.
And that stoppage in play allows Alfie Jones time to regain his composure and this is what Gillingham need to do now, stay compact, organised and structured defensively and try and break up play and prevent Tranmere Rovers from creating goal-scoring opportunity after goal-scoring opportunity, We might not see free flowing football from Gillingham In The Second Half, But if we are sensible in our play and break up play as and when required, then Gillingham’s chances of picking up all three points grows stronger the more this second half wears on.
And from the resulting free kick, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Manny Monthe wins the aerial challenge up against Alex Jakubiak and Manny Monthe wins the second aerial challenge up against Mikael Mandron and Calum Woods wins the next arial challenge, But Ben Pringle reacts quickest to the loose ball, And Ben Pringle works his way towards the byline and see’s his cross charged down by Calum Woods and Gillingham have been awarded a corner kick, Excellent work from Ben Pringle, and how long he cam remain out on there until he has to be substituted, I am not sure, But I mentioned to Charlie standing next to me, As there is no competitive first team fixture in mid-week, then ninety minutes for Ben Pringle here will do him the world of good, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Olly Lee whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and George Ray kicks the ball clear and away from danger and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw, Mark Byrne hurls in a dangerous long throw which is cleared away from danger by George Ray at the near post and Stefan Payne flicks the ball on and Connor Jennings runs on to the loose ball and falls down to the deck underneath Barry Fuller’s Challenge, but the ball had already gone out of play for A Gillingham Throw On.
And From The Resulting Throw On, Tranmere Rovers were looking to half the deficit, Barry Fuller throws the ball long down the line and Mikael Mandron wins the initial flick on and George Ray gets the ball under control, And George Ray is intercepted by Olly Lee who almost threads the ball through to Alex Jakubiak, But Calum Woods is in the right place at the right time to kick the ball clear and away from danger and Connor Ogilvie headers the ball clear and David Perkins and Darren Potter win the next two aerial challenges and the loose ball falls kindly to Oliver Banks, who passes the ball out-wide to Calum Woods, who kicks the ball long down the line and Connor Ogilvie wins the aerial challenge up against Stefan Payne and Tom O’Connor kicks the ball clear and George Ray can only header the ball down the line where Ben Pringle was able to intercept the ball, and Ben Pringle manages to pick out Alex Jakubiak with a threaded through-ball, But Manny Monthe manages to time his challenge to perfection and Darren Potter is quick to play a long pass down the left flank where Paul Mullin is situated, And Paul Mullin retains possession of the ball before passing the ball square to Oliver Banks on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Oliver Banks see’s his long shot on target blocked and diverted behind for A Tranmere Rovers Corner Kick Off Connor Ogilvie - and that deflection could have easily deflected on target and gone down as an own goal and Connor Ogilvie made sure he conceded a corner with that deflection and not an own goal - And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Oliver Banks whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Alfie Jones headers the ball partially clear and away from danger and Darren Potter’s pass out-wide is cleared away from goal by Mikael Mandron.
And From Here, Liam Ridehalgh gets on to the loose ball, and Liam Ridehalgh whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Olly Lee has to header the ball behind for another Tranmere Rovers Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Oliver Banks whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jack Bonham was able to punch the ball clear and away from goal and David Perkins passes the ball back out-wide to Oliver Banks, who see’s his cross charged down and Oliver Banks passes the ball back to David Perkins, who losses possession of the ball to Olly Lee, And Mark Byrne gets on to the loose ball and goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball deep into Tranmere Rovers Half Of The Pitch, And Mark Byrne passes the ball through to Olly Lee on the over-lap and Olly Lee cannot get the ball under control at the crucial moment, and the ball goes out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Goal-Kick.
And From The Resulting Goal-Kick, Tranmere Rovers create the best goal-scoring opportunity after Fifty One Minutes, And Scott Davies kicks the ball long down-field and Mark Byrne wins the initial aerial challenge and the second ball falls kindly to Liam Ridehalgh, Who gets the ball under control before kicking the ball long down the line and Connor Ogilvie completely misses the header and Paul Mullin gets the ball under control before playing the ball around the corner to Connor Jennings who is through one on one, and Connor Jennings takes a touch to control the ball before seeing his shot on target brilliantly saved by Jack Bonham, who made himself big, and that is a fantastic save which preserves Gillingham’s 2-0 Lead.
And From The Resulting Throw On, Tranmere Rovers manage to create another decent goal-scoring opportunity Because Calum Woods throws a long throw inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Stefan Payne misses the header and Alfie Jones kicks the ball partially clear and away from goal and Oliver Banks passes the ball down the line to Calum Woods, who gets the ball under control and cuts inside and runs into a central position on the pitch and Calum Woods tries an ambitious effort from twenty five yards out which comfortably clears Gillingham’s Crossbar and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-kick - But Gillingham Supporters In The Away End are still talking about that fantastic one on one save that Jack Bonham had made prior to keep Gillingham’s 2-0 lead in-tact.
Gillingham had the chance to extend the score-line to 3-0 In The Fifty Second Minute Of The Match, Barry Fuller passes the ball over the top for Olly Lee to run on to, And Olly Lee see’s his low cross deflect into Mikael Mandron’s Path, And Mikael Mandron see’s his shot on the turn blocked and the ball deflects back into Mikael Mandron’s Path right by the byline, And Mikael Mandron passes the ball out-wide to Mark Byrne, who see’s his low cross towards the near post partially cleared by Darren Potter, And Ben Pringle is first on to the loose ball and Ben Pringle passes the ball square to Alfie Jones on the edge of Tranmere Rovers Penalty Area, And Alfie Jones passes the ball to Olly Lee down the left side of Tranmere Rovers Penalty Area, And Olly Lee see’s his first time cross loop up into the air off Connor Jennings and Scott Davies makes a comfortable save.
And From Here, Tranmere Rovers really should have scored, Scott Davies kicks the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer wins the aerial challenge up against Stefan Payne and Olly Lee wins the next fifty / fifty challenge, But Calum Woods is on to the loose ball and passes the ball square to Darren Potter, who evades the challenge from Ben Pringle and threads the ball through to Connor Jennings, And Connor Jennings passes the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, who takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a low cross which is kicked up into the air by Max Ehmer and Alfie Jones wins the next aerial challenge, But Paul Mullin gets the ball under control and there is a mix up between Barry Fuller and Alfie Jones, And Paul Mullin cannot get to the loose ball, But Barry Fuller’s Clearance goes straight to Liam Ridehalgh, who passes the ball out-wide to Paul Mullin, who passes the ball back to David Perkins, and David Perkins tries to pick out Paul Mullin with a threaded through-ball which is cut out by Alfie Jones, But Paul Mullin is on to the loose ball and Paul Mullin tries to pick out the top right corner of the net with a curling effort which thankfully fails to hit the target - But Tranmere Rovers have been on top during the opening stages of The Second Half, And we’re only in The Fifty Third Minute Of The Match, So it is to soon for Gillingham to be thinking about defensive substitutions to try and see the game out.
Fifty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Mikael Mandron is flagged for offside from Tom O’Connor’s Long Pass Down-Field, And From Here, Tranmere Rovers were really pushing to score the consolation goal which would bring the hosts back into this match, Scott Davies passes the ball forwards to Darren Potter, who gets the ball under control before passing the ball forwards to Oliver Banks on the halfway line, And Oliver Banks whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross just in Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Connor Ogilvie headers the ball clear and away from danger and Ben Pringle gets the ball under control, But Darren Potter intercepts the ball and passes the ball out-wide to Oliver Banks, who passes the ball down the line to Paul Mullin, who flicks the ball around the corner to David Perkins, And David Perkins passes the ball out-wide to Oliver Banks, who whips in a high and hanging cross towards the far post and Jack Bonham palms the ball away from goal, However, Stefan Payne is on to the loose ball and Stefan Payne passes the ball back to Liam Ridehalgh, who stands the ball up towards the far post and Tom O’Connor’s poor defensive header is headed towards goal by Oliver Banks And Jack Bonham is off his line and manages to gather the ball at the second attempt, despite the fact that Paul Mullin and Connor Jennings were both there inside the six yard box, and that was a very lucky escape for The Gills.
But despite that high let off, Tranmere Rovers were on the front-foot again, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Liam Ridehalgh wins the aerial challenge and Max Ehmer wins the aerial challenge up against Stefan Payne, but the second ball drops kindly to David Perkins, who kicks the ball long down the line and Barry Fuller wins the aerial challenge up against Stefan Payne, But Stefan Payne wins the aerial challenge up against Alfie Jones and Connor Jennings gets the ball under control before whipping in a curling shot on target which is routinely saved by Jack Bonham, But nonetheless, It is a save that Jack Bonham has had to make.
Tom O’Connor tries to pick out one of Mikael Mandron or Olly Lee with an over-hit cross to the back-stick, which goes out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Goal-Kick, And From Here, Tranmere Rovers have created another goal-scoring opportunity as Scott Davies kicks the ball long down-field and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From Here, Barry Fuller throws the ball long down the line and George Ray wins the initial challenge and Mikael Mandron cannot retain possession of the ball up against Liam Ridehalgh, who kicks the ball against Mikael Mandron to win Gillingham a throw on, and from here, Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball long down the line and Paul Mullin flicks the ball on and Max Ehmer clears the ball away from danger and Mikael Mandron manages to retain possession of the ball before looking to pass the ball out-wide to Olly Lee, who losses out to Calum Woods, And Calum Woods passes the ball forwards to Paul Mullin, who shapes himself up into a better shooting position, And Paul Mullin tries to pick out the top left corner of the net with a decent shot on target, And Jack Bonham makes another save for The Gills.
And Gillingham have got to do something now, Because the midfield are not retaining possession of the ball, Tranmere Rovers are creating goal-scoring opportunities for fun, and we’re looking at the substitutes bench at options who can come on to help Gillingham out defensively, Ousseynou Cissé and Stuart O’Keefe can both come on and give Gillingham that additional defensive midfielder, Or, Gillingham go down the alternative route and look to score the third goal to put The Gils in a stronger position to pick up all three points, meaning that Brandon Hanlan, Mikael Ndjoli or Mark Marshall could come on and cause Tranmere Rovers problems defensively.
Fifty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Connor Ogilvie clears the ball down the line towards Tom O’Connor, who is fouled by Connor Jennings and that defensive free kick just relieves the pressure building up on to Gillingham’s Defence, However, the next passage of play see’s Tranmere Rovers stick the ball into the back of the net, Tom O’Connor kicks the ball long down-field and Liam Ridehalgh wins the initial aerial challenge and Connor Jennings lays the ball off to Oliver Banks, who kicks the ball long down-field and that leaves Connor Ogilvie and Paul Mullin to chase the long ball kicked down-field and Connor Ogilvie wins the initial aerial challenge and Paul Mullin chips the advancing Jack Bonham and Paul Mullin then headers the ball into the back of the net for 1-2, only for the goal to be ruled out either for offside or for a foul on Connor Ogilvie, I am not sure why the goal wasn’t given, but that was a massive let off for The Gills.
And that really should have been 1-2 on the score-board now, But Gillingham almost rubbed salt into the wounds in the next attack, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Mikael Mandron headers the ball on towards Alex Jakubiak, And Alex Jakubiak turns past George Ray and Alex Jakubiak is twisting and turning and working his way into a shooting position before dragging his shot wide of the far left post - If that had gone in - then Gillingham would be in a very commanding position at 3-0 up to see out the rest of the match.
Sixty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Ben Pringle losses possession of the ball for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw, Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball long down the line and Stefan Payne flicks the ball on to Connor Jennings, who see’s his attempted cross-field pass deflect off Ben Pringle and into Tom O’Connor’s Path, And Tom O’Connor clips the ball long down the line and Calum Woods passes the ball back to Scott Davies, who kicks the ball long down-field and Mark Byrne wins the aerial challenge and headers the ball to Olly Lee, who lays the ball off to Mark Byrne, And Mark Byrne runs forward in possession of the ball before cutting inside and seeing his curling effort towards goal routinely saved by Scott Davies.
And From Here, Scott Davies rolls the ball short to Calum Woods, And Calum Woods runs forward in possession of the ball before passing the ball forwards to Connor Jennings, who passes the ball back to Oliver Banks, And Oliver Banks passes the ball down the line towards Paul Mullin and Connor Ogilvie gets the ball partially clear and away from goal, But Oliver Banks passes the ball square to Connor Jennings, who passes the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, who passes the ball back to David Perkins, And David Perkins takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forwards to Stefan Payne, And Stefan Payne takes a few touches in possession of the ball before squaring the ball to Oliver Banks on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Oliver Banks clips the ball towards the back-stick and Barry Fuller headers the ball clear and Darren Potter is on to the loose ball first and lays the ball off to David Perkins, who passes the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, And Liam Ridehalgh passes the ball down the line towards Paul Mullin, who gets the ball under control before firing in a low cross towards the next post and Alfie Jones clears the ball away from goal, However, Barry Fuller does bundle Paul Mullin down to the deck with a clumsy challenge, and there can be no complaints about the penalty being awarded to Tranmere Rovers.
And From The Resulting Penalty Kick, up steps Paul Mullin and Paul Mullin has smashed the ball towards the bottom left corner of the net and Jack Bonham has dived to his right at full stretch to make a magnificent penalty save to preserve Gillingham’s Two Goal Advantage, and that penalty save is huge in-terms of the context of the match as well, Not often we are talking about defensive error’s from Barry Fuller and that was a defensive error from Last Season’s Player Of The Season, But Credit Goes To Jack Bonham for that magnificent penalty save, and Charlie called where Paul Mullin was going to place the penalty kick, And Jack Bonham dived the right way as well.
But from the resulting corner kick, Tranmere Rovers do in-fact score, Oliver Banks whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Manny Monthe’s Header is tipped on to the crossbar by Jack Bonham and George Ray cannot get a shot off on target and Manny Monthe gets the ball under control before losing possession of the ball to Alfie Jones and Max Ehmer, and Max Ehmer clears the ball straight into Darren Potter, who see’s his shot on target blocked and the ball ricochets back to Connor Jennings, who was able to stick the ball into the back of an unguarded net - A Scrappy Goal and a terrible goal for Gillingham to concede - because we had opportunities to get the corner kick cleared and there were enough players back inside the penalty area to clear the ball as well, And Jack Bonham has saved Paul Mullin’s Penalty Kick, and he has tipped Manny Monthe’s Header on to the crossbar, and those saves have now gone unrewarded, And Gillingham face a real uphill battle now, Tranmere Rovers have scored and it is game on now.
And that one way traffic has already begun, Tranmere Rovers have a throw on in there own defensive final third and Calum Woods throws the ball long down the line and Oliver Banks flicks the ball on and Connor Ogilvie kicks the ball long down-field and Scott Davies gathers the ball with ease, and from here, Scott Davies kicks the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer headers the ball clear and Darren Potter wins the fifty / fifty challenge, and Oliver Banks passes the ball out-wide to Calum Woods down the right side of the pitch, And Calum Woods passes the ball short to Darren Potter, who’s pass down the line is intercepted by Tom O’Connor, and Darren Potter manages to get on to the loose ball, and despite being fouled, Darren Potter passes the ball through to Paul Mullin, who tries to thread the ball through to Stefan Payne, But Jack Bonham was able to gather the ball with ease.
Gillingham are awarded a throw on in Tranmere Rovers Defensive Final Third, And From the Resulting Throw On, Mark Byrne hurls in a dangerous long throw and Mikael Mandron flicks the ball on and Alex Jakubiak’s looping header fails to hit the target, However, From The Resulting Goal-Kick, Tranmere Rovers manage to score the equaliser, Scott Davies kicks the ball long down-field and Ben Pringle headers the ball clear down the line and Calum Woods gets to the loose ball and manages to keep the ball in play before playing a long ball over the top and Connor Jennings flicks the ball on for Stefan Payne to run on to, And Stefan Payne is inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Stefan Payne passes the ball square to Paul Mullin, who evades the challenge from Barry Fuller before firing the ball into the roof of the net and neither Max Ehmer or Jack Bonham can prevent Tranmere Rovers Number Nine From Scoring The Equaliser - What was so strange about the goal was Stefan Payne giving it the big one to Gillingham Supporters In The Away End, Stefan Payne left Gillingham in 2012 and it was just so bizarre why Stefan Payne was giving it to The Gillingham Supporters ???
But that goal was so simple to concede, Paul Mullin was basically free inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and I am no longer thinking about Gillingham winning this match now, five minutes earlier, the score-line was 2-0 to Gillingham, Now it is 2-2, and Tranmere Rovers will go on and win this match based on what we have seen performance wise in The Second Half, and we’re looking at the substitutes bench, and there is very little changes that Gillingham can make, Mikael Ndjoli and Brandon Hanlan would be replacements for Mikael Mandron and Alex Jakubiak, and both strikers have played very well for Gillingham, Stuart O’Keefe and Ousseynou Cissé are both very different types of midfielders to Olly Lee and Ben Pringle, If Mark Marshall comes on then we’re looking at a change in formation and Jack Tucker isn’t going to come on at centre back unless there is an injury, I think we’re probably looking at Stuart O’Keefe or Ousseynou Cissé to come on, simply because this is Ben Pringle’s First Match and he may have to be substituted, But Tranmere Rovers are having shots on target for fun, and something needs to change and quickly.
And right now, it is damage limitation for Gillingham, Max Ehmer takes no chances and kicks the ball into touch for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, Seventy Minutes Into The Match, And Barry Fuller tries to pick out Olly Lee with a diagonal cross-field pass and Calum Woods was in the right place at the right time to header the ball back to Scott Davies, and from here, Scott Davies rolls the ball short to Darren Potter, who passes the ball back to Manny Monthe, And Manny Monthe takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, and Liam Ridehalgh kicks the ball long down the line and Stefan Payne manages to get the ball under control, and Stefan Payne is fouled by Max Ehmer right by the byline, And Tranmere Rovers have been awarded a free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Tranmere Rovers almost take the lead, Oliver Banks whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Connor Jennings headers the ball against Paul Mullin and the ball ricochets just wide of Jack Bonham’s far left post and Tranmere Rovers almost scored, the defending from Gillingham has been horrific to say the least and Tranmere Rovers should be winning, based on what we have seen In The Second Half, Tranmere Rovers should be winning this match.
And the one sided nature of this second half continue’s with Tom O’Connor kicking the ball into touch for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, And Mark Byrne doing his defensive duties by shielding the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, Tranmere Rovers wanted a free kick for a foul on Connor Jennings, And Gillingham Supporters In The Away End were infuriated with Connor Jennings Antics, as well as being infuriated with Gillingham’s Second Half Performance.
And our performance levels just are starting to get worse, when a simple pass from Mikael Mandron goes out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On as there is a mix up between Mikael Mandron and Barry Fuller, and from the resulting throw on, David Perkins throws the ball short to Oliver Banks, who passes the ball back to Darren Potter, who passes the ball back to George Ray, and George Ray passes the ball square to Calum Woods, And Calum Woods goes on a driving run down the right side of the pitch before laying the ball off to Connor Jennings, And Connor Jennings see’s his cross-field pass intercepted by Mikael Mandron, And Mikael Mandron runs forward in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Barry Fuller down the right side of the pitch, And Barry Fuller’s pass inside to Mark Byrne is intercepted by David Perkins, who goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball square to Oliver Banks on the halfway line, and Oliver Banks gets the ball under control before kicking the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer headers the ball clear and Mark Byrne kicks the ball clear and away from goal and Mikael Mandron tries to retain possession of the ball, but he is intercepted by Liam Ridehalgh and Manny Monthe passes the ball short to Darren Potter, who tries to pick out Paul Mullin with a long ball down-field and Barry Fuller manages to shield the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.
And once the ball has gone out of play, Gillingham make there first substitution of the match after Seventy Four Minutes, And Stuart O’Keefe comes on to replace Ben Pringle, And as much as I would like to see Ben Pringle play for the full ninety minutes, I can understand this substitution and why Ben Pringle has had to come off.
And when play resumes, Darren Potter is penalised for his challenge on Olly Lee in Tranmere Rovers Half Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Tom O’Connor kicks the ball long down-field and the ball is headed clear by Calum Woods, And Stuart O’Keefe headers the ball square to Mark Byrne, who runs wide in possession of the ball, And Mark Byrne passes the ball down the line to Max Ehmer, who lays the ball off to Mark Byrne, And Mark Byrne whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Manny Monthe headers the ball behind for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And The Atmosphere Raises In Volume From The Gillingham Supporters In The Away End, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Olly Lee whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and Calum Woods knocks the ball behind for another corner kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Olly Lee whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post and Calum Woods headers the ball clear and Mark Byrne wins the second ball and David Perkins kicks the ball into touch for A Gillingham Throw On.
And once the ball had gone out of play, Brandon Hanlan comes on to replace Mikael Mandron and hopefully, Brandon Hanlan can come on and score the winner for Gillingham, And From The Resulting Throw On, Barry Fuller throws the ball down the line to Brandon Hanlan, who runs down the right flank and manages to win a corner kick by kicking the ball against Liam Ridehalgh, well done Brandon Hanlan, Let’s Hope that Gillingham can score from the resulting corner kick, which is whipped in by Olly Lee and you have got to beat the first man at the near post and Stuart O;’Keefe hooks the ball over his shoulder and David Perkins headers the ball clear and away from goal - Winning Successive Corner Kicks and bringing on Brandon Hanlan and Stuart O’Keefe has helped Gillingham settle the game down a bit.
Brandon Hanlan manages to win Gillingham A Throw On, and it is from here where Tranmere Rovers turn defence into attack, because Mark Byrne hurls in a dangerous long throw and Darren Potter wins the initial aerial challenge and Olly Lee tried to flick the ball through to Alex Jakubiak and Calum Woods partially clears the ball away from goal, and David Perkins headers the ball clear and Stefan Payne flicks the ball on towards Paul Mullin, who flicks the ball around the corner for Connor Jennings to run on to, and Connor Jennings see’s his attempted through-ball hit Stuart O’Keefe and run all the way through to Jack Bonham to make a routine save.
Eighty Minutes Into The Match, And David Perkins whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Tom O’Connor headers the ball clear and gets an accidental whack from Paul Mullin and Gillingham are awarded a defensive free kick, and during this stoppage in play, Steve Evans makes Gillingham’s Third And Final Substitution, as Mikael Ndjoli comes on to replace Olly Lee and Gillingham are going for it with Ndjoli, Hanlan and Jakubiak as a potential front three.
But before we’re even thinking about going on for glory and finding a last gasp winner, Gillingham have some defending to do as Max Ehmer headers Manny Monthe’s Long Ball Down-Field away from goal and Alfie Jones headers the ball clear for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, and from here, Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball down the line to Stefan Payne and Max Ehmer headers the ball clear and clatters into Stefan Payne and headers the ball clear for another throw, and Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball short to Stefan Payne, who retains possession of the ball and passes the ball out-wide to Oliver Banks, who plays a one / two with Darren Potter and Oliver Banks passes the ball through to Connor Jennings, who passes the ball out-wide to David Perkins in Gillingham’s Final Third, And David Perkins passes the ball back to Liam Ridehalgh, who whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Paul Mullin manages to retain the ball, wait for support and pass the ball out-wide to Calum Woods, who whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Stuart O’Keefe headers the ball clear and David Perkins is on to the loose ball and David Perkins goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball and is intercepted by both Alex Jakubiak and Stuart O’Keefe, And Alex Jakubiak passes the ball down the line to Brandon Hanlan, and Brandon Hanlan uses his pace to take on Manny Monthe and Brandon Hanlan is fouled by Manny Monthe and George Ray kicks the ball into touch and no free kick was awarded in Gillingham’s Favour.
Tranmere Rovers then make there final substitution as Rushian Hepburn-Murphy comes on to replace Paul Mullin, And The Tranmere Rovers Striker got a great reception when he was substituted for scoring the equaliser and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy gives Tranmere Rovers something different in attack, and from the resulting throw on, Mark Byrne hurls in a dangerous long throw and George Ray headers the ball clear and Conor Jennings gets the ball partially clear and away from goal and Stuart O’Keefe headers the ball forwards and George Ray headers the ball clear, and Alex Jakubiak gets the ball under control before hitting the back of The Kop with an ambitious strike, Mind as well go for it at this stage Alex, if you don’t shoot, you don’t score.
Gillingham were then lucky to clear the ball out for a throw on, Because Liam Ridehalgh takes on Stuart O’Keefe and works his way inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Liam Ridehalgh’s attempted pull back is blocked by Alfie Jones straight back to Liam Ridehalgh and Stuart O’Keefe recovers and shields the ball and this allows Mark Byrne to kick thew ball clear down the left side of the pitch and Alex Jakubiak is on to the loose ball, and Alex Jakubiak just kicks the ball down the line and out of play for A Tranmere Rovers Throw On, And From Here, Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball down the line to Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, who passes the ball back to Liam Ridehalgh, and Liam Ridehalgh whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Mark Byrne intercepts the ball and goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball and Mark Byrne tries to pick out Mikael Ndjoli with a long pass down the line and Calum Woods has to kick the ball into touch for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Tom O’Connor throws the ball down the line to Brandon Hanlan, who manages to retain possession of the ball and Brandon Hanlan is twisting and turning and runs towards the byline and Calum Woods times his challenge to perfection and knocks the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick.
And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Stuart O’Keefe whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and George Ray headers the ball partially clear and away from danger and Max Ehmer gets on to the loose ball first and Max Ehmer whips in a high and hanging cross and it looked likely that David Perkins had headed the ball behind for A Gillingham Corner Kick, But Referee Michael Salisbury points to A Tranmere Rovers Goal-Kick Instead, Gillingham are then awarded a defensive throw on in there own final third as Calum Woods kicks the ball long down-field, and from the resulting throw on, Tom O’Connor throws the ball long down the line and Calum Woods headers the ball out of play for another throw on, and Tom O’Connor throws the ball long down the line again and Brandon Hanlan wins Gillingham another throw on off Calum Woods as Gillingham are playing for yards at this present moment in time, and from this throw on, Tom O’Connor tries to pick out Brandon Hanlan with a throw down the line but Oliver Banks intercepts the ball and Calum Woods kicks the ball long down-field, And Stefan Payne manages to retain possession of the ball up against Barry Fuller and lays the ball off to Connor Jennings, And Connor Jennings passes the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, who kicks the ball against Barry Fuller to win a throw on for Tranmere Rovers, and from here, Liam Ridehalgh throws the ball long down the line and Stefan Payne flicks the ball on and Jack Bonham is quick off his goal-line to gather the ball with ease.
Eighty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Calum Woods kicks the ball long down the line to try and pick out Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Tom O’Connor comes across and clears the ball out of play for a throw on, and from the resulting throw on, Calum Woods throws the ball down the line to Stefan Payne, who manages to retain possession of the ball despite being double marked by Alfie Jones and Tom O’Connor, And Stefan Payne looks to thread the ball through to Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, But The Linesman Down The Near Side Of The Pitch Had His Flag Raised For Offside.
And then the most contentious decision became a severe talking point just as we’re coming close to The Ninetieth Minute Of The Match, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and George Ray headers the ball clear and away from danger and Stuart O’Keefe gets on to the loose ball and manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball square to Alfie Jones, who passes the ball out-wide to Barry Fuller, And Barry Fuller takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down the line and Mikael Ndjoli and Manny Monthe are both competing for the initial ball and the second ball drops inside Tranmere Rovers Penalty Area and Manny Monthe has bundled Mikael Ndjoli down to the deck and every Gillingham Supporter in the away end at Prenton Park is convinced that is a penalty kick.
But Referee Michael Salisbury waves away the penalty appeals and Connor Jennings has now laid the ball off to David Perkins, who manages to retain possession of the ball before clipping a cross-field pass to Calum Woods, who headers the ball forwards to Stefan Payne and Max Ehmer wins the initial aerial challenge and Mark Byrne passes the ball back to Tom O’Connor, who kicks the ball long down-field and George Ray wins the initial aerial challenge and Alex Jakubiak is on to the second ball and Alex Jakubiak losses possession of the ball to Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, who passes the ball back to Liam Ridehalgh, and Liam Ridehalgh passes the ball square to David Perkins, who runs forwards in possession of the ball and passes the ball square to Oliver Banks, And Oliver Banks drops the ball back to Darren Potter, who passes the ball out-wide to Calum Woods, And Calum Woods passes the ball square to Darren Potter, who clips the ball out-wide to Liam Ridehalgh, and Liam Ridehalgh passes the ball forwards to Connor Jeninings, who spins past Alfie Jones and takes another touch to tee himself up before whipping a magnificent curling effort towards the top right corner of the net and Jack Bonham dives at full stretch to his left to make a remarkable save - And after that goal-scoring opportunity, we take the point, we will take the point right now.
And right at the very end of the match, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy uses his pace to run through towards the byline and pull a low cross across the face of goal and Max Ehmer diverts the ball away from goal and Stefan Payne is on to the loose ball and Stefan Payne passes the ball back to Liam Ridehalgh, who passes the ball short to David Perkins, And David Perkins whips in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy is penalised for jumping into the back of Tom O’Connor.
And that is the last noteworthy moment of the match and Gillingham have let a two goal lead slip, But Tranmere Rovers dominated that second half and they could have won this match with a number of goal-scoring opportunities, and after Referee Michael Salisbury blew his whistle for full time, The Gillingham Supporters applauded the players, who likewise, applaud the supporters for making the long trip to Prenton Park.
FULL TIME: TRANMERE ROVERS 2-2 GILLINGHAM
I spoke with Charlie post match, And I think if we were offered a draw before kick off then we would have taken a point for sure, But Gillingham were 2-0 up, and as soon as Tranmere Rovers scored for 1-2, the game completed changed and we conceded the equaliser soon afterwards, which was very annoying, And had James Norwood played up-front for Tranmere Rovers, then he would have scored a few of those chances created In The Second Half as well, but if we’re looking for positives, Ben Pringle and Olly Lee add quality to our midfield, Alex Jakubiak scored again for his fourth goal of the season, And the main thing was keeping Tranmere Rovers below Gillingham In The League One Table, but had Gillingham won, then we could have opened up a gap between ourselves and The League One Relegation Zone.
Ben, Colin And Myself had no idea why Stefan Payne was giving it the big one when Tranmere Rovers equalised, It was seven years since Stefan Payne left Gillingham and we thought it was strange, I then met up with Stephen and Chris, and we thought it would be a good idea to use the facilities before heading out towards the car, which is parked in The Car Park and we won’t be able to move anytime soon that is for sure, And, Stephen, Chris and myself double checked we had all our belongings on us before walking around towards The Car Park.
Chris And Stephen enjoyed The Fan Park, And I can see why The Fan Park was so successful, and at least we arrived with time to spare so supporters could enjoy The Fan Park, that trip to Birmingham for Coventry V Gillingham was just awful, I got My Prediction Spot On For The NoirCat Prediction League and so did Ann (Who has got six predictions spot on out of six) as we both predicted draws, Stephen predicted a defeat and this draw does feel like a defeat because Gillingham were 2-0 up and we have let a two goal lead slip yet again in the league and Gillingham cannot continue to do this, we have taken the lead in five out of our opening six League One Fixtures and the only match that Gillingham didn’t score first in was The 1-0 defeat against Coventry City.
I sent the following message on Twitter,,,, FULL TIME: TRANMERE ROVERS 2-2 GILLINGHAM - For the second time this season, Gillingham have thrown away a two goal lead and once Tranmere Rovers levelled the game up at 2-2, I thought Tranmere Rovers were going to win 3-2, Two Points Dropped For Gillingham Today, Bonham was MOTM - And once the car park started to clear up a bit, we were on our way back to Kent and Stephen got to tick off a new football ground and see Gillingham pick up a point away from home, The last time I went to Prenton Park was a night-time fixture and Gillingham won that game 2-1, and on that day, It was basically arrive at the ground and get into the back of the away end as soon as possible, where as this time, We had more time to spare and Chris and Stephen used that time to go into The Fan Park.
Neil thought it was interesting that I thought Tranmere Rovers V Gillingham was two points dropped, and yet, I had named Jack Bonham as Man Of The Match, And I replied back with the following,,,, Bonham saved a penalty and his performance in the second half was very good and he made a superb one on one in the early stages of the second half. When you go 2-0 up, To draw 2-2 is disappointing, especially as Gills were 2-0 up against Blackpool & drew 2-2 in that game as well, Neil added that it sounded like Gillingham had to work hard to stay in the game in the second half, And I replied back with the following,,,, If you want to see clips of some of the chances created and the goals from today's match, Then give @MJPhippsy a follow on Twitter. I thought Tranmere Rovers were going to win 3-2 after scoring the equaliser. (And I recommend that you follow @MJPhippsy On Twitter As Well).
Haydn Parry had tweeted the stats difference between Steve Lovell and Steve Evans first eight games as Gillingham Manager, and the stats for both manager’s are as follows,,,,, Steve Lovell’s first 8 games in charge - W5 D2 L1 - Steve Evans first 8 games in charge - W1 D3 L4, Ade Pennock’s First Eight Games As Gillingham Manager were as follows,,, W0 D6 L2.
I then Re-Tweeted A Tweet From Gillingham’s Twitter Account before seeing a stat that Gillingham had conceded 2625 away goals in The Third Tier Of English Football, which means that Gillingham have conceded the second most away goals in the third tier, Walsall are top with 3041 away goals conceded, And looking at results from elsewhere, Folkestone Invicta won 4-0 away from home against Whitstable Town In The FA Cup, Gillingham Town won 3-0 against Bridport FC Reserves, and Chatham Town won 6-0 away from home against Crowborough AFC.
Tranmere Rovers announced that the attendance at Prenton Park was 6687 with 313 away fans, And 313 Gillingham Supporters turning up in Tranmere is a respectable away attendance, Gillingham are also Sixteenth In The League One Table with six points, But had Gillingham won against Tranmere Rovers, Then Gillingham would not only be Thirteenth In League One, Gillingham would be seven points clear of The League One Relegation Zone if you take goal difference into consideration, And while we don’t want this season to be another relegation battle, the more points Gillingham get in the opening stages of the season, the less points Gillingham need later on in the season to avoid the drop.
I re-tweeted a few post match comments from Steve Evans On Gillingham’s Official Twitter Account, And the most interesting comment was not just Steve Evans praising Ben Pringle’s Performance, But Steve Evans is speaking about adding another two players to strengthen the squad and that we are looking for more reinforcements, Now the substitutes bench was strong for Tranmere Rovers V Gillingham, But Charlie and Myself were looking at the bench and thinking what changes can we make to change this match back into Gillingham’s Favour, and we were scratching our heads, And really, we have Jack Bonham to thank for making sure that Gillingham left Tranmere Rovers with a point as well.
I then uploaded a few photo’s I had taken on to Facebook and Twitter and I re-tweeted The League One Results and Wycombe Wanderers won 3-1 against Lincoln City and Gillingham have got to play against Wycombe Wanderers next in League One, Coventry City won 3-2 against Blackpool and MK Dons won 2-1 against AFC Wimbledon, Me and Stephen think that AFC Wimbledon are going to struggle to avoid the drop again this season, And Wally Downes is already under pressure at AFC Wimbledon, The stability the football club had under Neal Ardley has gone now and there is pressure on Wally Downes to keep AFC Wimbledon In League One, especially as they move into New Plough Lane for next season.
We then stopped off at Stafford Services at 6.40PM to get something to eat and drink, Stephen brought Spicy Nuggets and A 99P Cheese-Burger, While I brought Large Fries and Nine Chicken Nuggets, this stop just allowed us to stretch our legs for a bit and get a bite to eat, also, this service station is much more quiet compared to Peterborough Services or Nortan Caines, so there wasn’t a large queue for food and drink, and once the three of us had finished our respective McDonalds Meals, we headed back to the car, and we were on our way back to Kent at 19.03PM
I then sent out the following tweet on Twitter,,, Feel free to ask me any questions you have about today's match #Gillingham #Gills And Dean responded me asking me what is the issue ??? And I replied back with the following response,,,, You do wonder if this is a mentality problem, Because Gillingham have taken the lead against Doncaster Rovers, Burton Albion, Blackpool, Tranmere Rovers and Newport County, And Gillingham have not won any of these five matches, And that stat is very concerning.
Josh Rees and Billy Bingham were both in The Starting Line Up For Bromley. While Jermaine McGlashan and Curtis Western are In The Chesterfield Match-Day Squad, So that’s Four Former Gillingham Players Lining Up In The Same Match, Danny Kedwell scored with his first touch for Havant & Waterlooville against Maidstone United, and Dartford lost 3-4 at home against Dorking Wanderers, And Dartford are looking for a new manager and plenty of names have been linked to that managerial position, Including Steve Lovell, Dartford is a decent job to take on if someone can turn things around at Princes Park, I think Chris Kinnear has been mentioned and he would be favourite amongst Dartford Supporters for the managerial position after the work he managed to achieve at Dover Athletic.
I noticed that Rob was on A Murder Mystery Train, And I responded back with the following,,,, Hopefully you can solve the mystery why Gillingham are letting two goal leads for the second time this season??? I then re-tweeted a few tweets on Gillingham’s Official Twitter Account and Looking at The League One Away Attendances, I don’t think it is surprising that Rotherham United took 3,392 to Doncaster Rovers, even though that is an incredible away support, And Gillingham took 313 to Tranmere Rovers, Even Charlton Athletic away for The Gills can see Gillingham taking 3,000 max to The Valley, So 3,382 is an incredible away support, and that could even be a total attendance for A League One Fixture as well.
Bromley are ten games unbeaten in The Conference National and Neil Smith has done a remarkable job at Bromley and while it is too early to be talking about a challenge for promotion, If Bromley can get to Christmas there or thereabouts, and they are in the top seven, then who knows, maybe a promotion push is on the cards, Dover Athletic lost 3-1 against Boreham Wood, But Andy Hessenthaler has got Dover Athletic up to Seventh In The Conference National after ten league games and Dover Athletic are benefiting from the move from Semi Professional Football to Full Time Football, Because now that Dover Athletic are a full time football club, they can sign players who would have previously turned them down in the past, and the additional time on the training ground will benefit Dover Athletic throughout the season as well.
Kent Pro Images had uploaded the photo gallery of The 313 Gillingham Supporters who had traveled to Prenton Park, And some of those photo’s were uploaded on to Gillingham’s Official Twitter Account as well, There was a quote from Steve Evans On Gillingham’s Twitter Account praising our tremendous support while I asked for anyone to feel free to send me a few questions regarding the match, And I was asked for my thoughts on Ben Pringle, And I replied back with the following,,,,,, Put in a very decent performance on his debut for Gillingham, Adds quality to our midfield, unlucky not to get himself on the score-sheet, but the second ball drops for Alfie Jones to tap in Gillingham's Second Goal Of The Match. Pringle will only get better with more game-time. I was also asked if this squad is better then last season’s squad, And I replied back with the following responses, Steve Evans is not happy with the squad, He has already mentioned in his post match comments that he is looking for further additions to strengthen the squad.
We had passed The Kings Ferry Coach on the way back and we had actually made decent time traveling back to Kent as well, The advantage we had traveling via car was that we could decide what time to leave, the amount of time we needed to stop off at the services, and we left earlier enough to stop off at Harvester and had time to spare to arrive in time at Prenton Park so that Chris and Stephen can go to The Fan Park and the travel fare between the three of us was £10 cheaper then the coach, the downsides was the cost for The M6 Toll, The Kings Ferry Coach can use bus lanes, The M6 Toll is free if The Kings Ferry stops off at Nortan Caines Services, and if the worse case scenario happens and the vehicle breaks down, Kings Ferry will get a replacement coach, but we won’t get a replacement car.
But this was a good trip, and if the opportunity turns up where the three of us can go to an away game together in the future, then that would be a good idea, If we can get Diane or someone else to travel with us via car and can divide the fuel costs between four people, then we would make the travel much more affordable, I was then dropped off out-side Rainham Precent at 22.18PM, And I thanked Chris for all the driving he has done because that was a long trip to Tranmere Rovers and back again, and I said c ya to Stephen, before making the ten to fifteen minute walk from Rainham Precent back home again.
All in all, A Mixed Performance From Gillingham, I think we would have taken a point pre-match, But for Gillingham to go 2-0 up and draw 2-2 and had it not been for Jack Bonham, then Gillingham would have lost against Tranmere Rovers shows just how this match really was a game of two halves, If only Mikael Mandron scored that goal-scoring opportunity In The First Half and 3-0 would have been game over, But we can also point to Tranmere Rovers hitting the post in the first half, and the number of saves that Jack Bonham has had to make during the match, And the challenges get tougher now, With Gillingham playing against League One League Leaders Wycombe Wanderers next at Priestfield Stadium, before traveling to Thirteenth Placed Bristol Rovers The Following Tuesday Night, Four Points from those two games would be a respectable points tally, while six points out of six would be superb, and hopefully, Gillingham can make it back to back league victories in the next two League One Matches - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
