Gillingham (0) 0
Oxford United (0) 1 Potter 85
Att. 4,928
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Mileage: 45/4,373
Match Report
If there is someone reading this that has Cody McDonald's mobile phone number then please, on behalf of the rest of us, send him a text. It should read missing u already . . . That be said, even Cody would have been hard put to fashion a chance, let alone a goal, from the creative black hole that was Gillingham Football Club last night.Martin Allen, strode away to the dressing rooms, head down with a chorus of boos ringing in his ears as the Priestfield faithful vented their disapproval not only of the evening's performance but the frustration of the last three months worth of home performances. Since the FA Cup demolition of Scunthorpe on 3rd November, Gillingham have played eleven home league games, won just three and accumulated only 12 points. They sit top of League Two by virtue of their stunning away form and the apparent reluctance of any other club wishing to take this division by the scruff of the neck.
The away form is easy to reconcile. Based on a superb defence (which is much the same at home), Gillingham sit back, stifle the opposition and hit them on the counter attack; grab a goal and defend it, to more often than not win by the odd goal. At home, the opposition come with much the same plan, asking Gilllingham to open them up and their lack of creativity exposes them time and again.
In this winter, when the cold has appeared to drag on much longer than usual, this was another night when the numbing cold could not be ignored as it bit at the extremities because there was absolutely nothing in the game that could take the mind off the cold.
Oxford United were another rank average team with the limited ambition of gaining a point. But when their one chance of the match came along, Alfie Potter, probably the most inventive player on the pitch, had the pace to outstrip the otherwise outstanding Leon Legge and the ability to apply a cool finish, shooting across the face of Stuart Nelson’s goal into the net off the far post.
I’ve long lamented the woefulness of this division and last night was another glaring example. Neither goalkeeper was stretched during the 90 minutes. Bradley Dack forced Oxford’s Luke McCormick into his one and only real save, albeit a comfortable one, whereas Nelson’s only telling contribution was to pick the ball out of the net with five minutes remaining.
With Port Vale losing at home to Exeter City, Gillingham stayed top but allowed the third and fourth placed clubs to creep a little closer. The general opinion among the supporters is that they will trip over the line almost in spite of themselves rather than because of themselves. This season doesn’t have the feeling (or the excitement) of a promotion season and that is has to be due to the poor home form.
The loss of Cody McDonald, recalled by Coventry City’s caretaker manager, Lee Carsley, is a blow because he is someone trusted by the fans and with good reason, four goals in this truncated loan spell, whereas Adam Birchall’s lack of goals is beginning to become a millstone around his neck that he seems unable to carry and despite his energetic work rate is becoming the subject of discontent in the stands. In a season which is still likely to culminate in promotion, we have the unlikely scenario of scapegoats, Lewis Montrose took the role in early season before he departed and recently Steven Gregory, Anton Robinson and Birchall have been the butt of criticism. The staff at any football club would say that this should not happen, especially at a time when the club is for all intents and purposes doing well, but with the majority of the fan base only seeing home matches and poor performances, somebody inevitably carries the can.
Form has a habit of turning on its head and the good early season performances at Priestfield might be regained, hopefully not at the expense of the record-breaking away form. If this is the case then, just perhaps, some time in April, Gillingham can confirm their entry into League One at a canter rather than a stumble and the derision that rang in the ears of players and manager alike on Tuesday night will be a distant memory.
The classic programme covers that are being replicated for this centenary season today came from the 1978-79 season.
No comments:
Post a Comment