Brentford (1) 1 Hunt 41
Gillingham (0) 1 Jackson 58 (pen)
Att. 7,908
Entrance: £20
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 80/7,125
Match Report
Gillingham took a well-earned point from their visit to league leaders Brentford, but there can be plenty of argument to say they deserved a lot more.Manager Mark Stimson resisted any thoughts of change following last week’s reversal at lowly Grimsby and started with the same side, leaving new signing Josh Wright on the bench.
A near 8,000 crowd was healthily bolstered by a huge 1,800 strong contingent from Kent, thought to be the largest away following for the club since the Championship denouement at Nottingham Forest.
The first half was a pretty cagey affair with neither side creating too much in the way of good chances. Gillingham whistled a sigh of relief as a header from Sam Wood went wide and at the other end Andy Barcham, who was a constant thorn in the Bees’ side, wriggled free and perhaps chose the wrong option when he elected to slide the ball across the goal rather than shoot, Ben Hamer collected comfortably.
Two contentious decisions in the space of 60 seconds with both going against the Gills resulted in the visitors going back to the dressing room with a goal deficit. Five minutes before the break Brentford were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box for an offence that it appears nobody bar referee Graham saw. Admittedly most eyes followed the ball, but whatever Southall did, it seemed pretty innocuous. Credit though must be given to David Hunt who curled the free kick into the top right corner, leaving Simon Royce a spectator.
Within 60 seconds of the restart Gillingham appeared to have levelled the scores, but while the away support celebrated, the referee once again saw something that was hard to understand. A through ball to Simeon Jackson saw him beat off the challenge of the central defender to fire past Hamer, but the referee chalked it off for what, Jackson out-muscling a six foot defender? Give us a break. The whistle sounded for half-time, leaving the Gillingham faithful more than a little frustrated by the late turn of events. The half time break kicked up a bit of a storm as a heavy hailstorm engulfed Griffin Park; thankfully it passed as quickly as it appeared.
From the outset of the second half it was the visitors that were kicking up a storm as they tore into the hosts with a renewed vigour. Barcham now had Brentford’s right hand side on toast as he had far too much pace and ability for Karleigh Osborne. An early foray led to a corner that produced a chance for McCammon and on 58 minutes another Barcham run ended with the hapless Osborne tripping the winger for a stick-on penalty. Jackson scored from the spot for his 17th of the season to level the game, which was no more than Gillingham deserved.
The second half became pretty much a procession from that point with Simon Royce virtually relegated to the role of bystander. But although they enjoyed the majority of the possession, very little in the way of clear chances fell to Gillingham and we had to be thankful that Charlie Macdonald pulled a chance wide and a last kick thunderbolt from Sam Wood narrowly cleared the bar.
One of those games when most of the travelling army would have taken a point on the way in, so let’s not be too churlish on the way out. We can delight in what was an impressive performance. The back line to a man was very good, John Nutter played one of his best games for the club and Simon King was, well, Simon King, ably assisted by Mark Bentley. Up front, Simeon Jackson looked much more like the early season version and seems to be benefiting from his little and large partnership with McCammon who had another good game and I would think Kayleigh Osborne must be spending tonight trying to untangle the knots that Andy Barcham tied him up with.
Griffin Park is a bit of a favourite although with every visit we seem to change ends! This season we were back behind the Brook Road goal with the seating above the terraced area. Since we were last there, the open terrace at the other end has been covered and is now offered to the home support. The seats are very cramped for anybody over 5’6” and viewing of the bye-line is quite difficult. But Brentford have always had the reputation for being one of the league’s most friendly clubs and I must give a mention to the young lad selling the programmes to the visiting supporters, who with every sale offered a welcoming “enjoy the game”. Enjoy the game we did, a good point earned from a good game.
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