Gillingham 0 Oldham Athletic 0

Match 48/07/665 - Tuesday, 22nd January 2008 - League One

Gillingham (0) 0
Oldham Athletic (0) 0
Att. 4,402

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 45/3,952

Match Report

A referee is the making or breaking of any game and all too often at League One level the man in the middle is found wanting. On Saturday Andy D’Urso showed exactly why he is no longer a Premiership referee, but last night we saw a performance from Ian Williamson that made D’Urso look ready for the Champions League.

Simon Royce was sent off on 42 minutes for deliberate handball. These decisions are always controversial and from a spectator’s viewpoint it is hard to judge whereabouts on the body the ball made contact. I felt at the time that the ball had probably brushed Royce’s arms on the way through to rebounding off his chest, is that handball, was it deliberate? The referee made his decision and once he has decided that it was handball a sending off is the only option left open to him.

Gillingham had already been denied a first minute penalty when even from a distance handball seemed to have been committed and a second half challenge on debutant Luis Cumbers clearly warranted a spot kick. All over the pitch Mr Williamson’s decisions were either petty or blatantly wrong. Stuart Thurgood ended the game with his head bandaged having taken a leading elbow from Craig Davies which went unpunished.

The man advantage meant that Oldham had the best of the chances. They are the best side in the Division away from home and Davies and Lee Hughes are a handful for the best of defences. But on the night chances came and went for the tangerine-clad side. Three times they hit the woodwork and an equal amount of opportunities were blazed over the top by the wasteful Davies.

Given the circumstances, I’m readily in agreement with Mark Stimson’s assertion that this was a point gained rather than two lost. They showed great strength of character to overcome the handicap of the loss of a man and there was sterling performances in defence from young Adam Bygrave and John Nutter. The work ethic that Stimson has installed saw Gillingham to a considered successful conclusion to this encounter.

The Priestfield faithful, that were rather sparse on the night with only 4,402 in attendance, responded to the effort and made a noise that befitted far greater numbers, in adversity everybody pulling together. Just a little more consistency is needed, with this applying to both the men in blue and the men in the black.