Gillingham (1) 2 MacDonald 16 Alexander 76 (pen)
Leyton Orient (0) 0
Attendance: 6,629
Admission: £19 Senior
Programme: £3
Mileage: 40/7,274
It was perhaps the most bizarre ending to a game that I’ve seen live, but before I get to that I’ll start with what I would have written had the lights not gone out.
After a virtual self-imposed hiatus of visiting Priestfield, I’ve gently put my toes back into the water. The first couple of games the water was cold and discouraging, but against champions-elect Leyton Orient, the water felt a little warmer, more comfortable.
No disrespect to the Rainham End but, at my age, the coffin dodgers stand feels right again. The Gordon Road Stand, for the best part of 25 years, the home of my season ticket felt like home.
My reaction to the two goals, up and out of the seat with a punch of the air felt natural again and I was ready to celebrate EFL safety for the Gills and then the lights went out.
As it turned out, the power failure was a Medway area problem and no fault of Gillingham Football Club. The stadium was plunged into darkness for 23 minutes and in that time, Swindon scored an 82nd minute goal and held on to beat Bradford, thus handing Orient promotion and with Gillingham also assured safety when the players returned to the pitch, neither side wanted to play the last 10 minutes with the Gills playing keep ball and Orient making no attempt to retrieve it. To a certain extent it was understandable but it was also pointless and tedious.
But, it didn’t chill the water on my toes. No, I won’t be going season ticket ever again but I think I can return to Priestfield confident that I’m there because I want to be and that’s a massive step forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment