Dartford 2 Gillingham 4

Match 02/09/754 - Tuesday, 14th July 2009 - Pre-Season Friendly

Dartford (2) 2 Burchill 37, Flanagan 43
Gillingham (2) 4 Rooney 10, Barcham 37, Wynter 46, Parkes 77
Att. 1,002

Entrance: £10
Programme: £2
Mileage: 54/136
New Ground: 231

Match Report

Gillingham came through a much sterner test last night at Princes Park against a competitive Dartford side. On a night that began wet and ended feeling much cooler than the date suggested it should, Mark Stimson once again fielded two separate sides in each half. As with Saturday’s opener at Folkestone, Aaron Brown played the full 90 minutes suggesting that the manager wants a longer look at the ex-Yeovil triallist. Rashid Yusseff, the stand-out feature of the first game, this time played in the first half side, he was less prominent than Saturday, but continued to impress with his quick eye for a forward pass. The eye-catching performance of the night came from within our own ranks, youngster Luke Rooney giving another livewire performance.

On a pitch that was like a bowling green and a credit to a groundsman that is bound for the Premiership with Fulham, Gillingham passed and moved through their Ryman League opponents in the opening ten minutes and were rewarded with a opening goal from Rooney. A sweet interchange of passes left Andy Barcham with a good shooting opportunity that was parried by Andrew Young, the rebound fell to Rooney who took his time and picked his spot for a good finish.

Let’s not over-hype Rooney (pictured), he is not the second-coming of his Old Trafford namesake, but the lad has talent and looks a very good prospect that might make an impression on the first team in the coming months.

After being given a bit of an early run around the hosts came more into the picture after going behind and stretched the Gillingham back line on several occasions before a suicidal pass across the face of goal left Barcham with the simplest of chances to extend the lead on 37 minutes.

The disappointing period of the night came following the second goal as Gillingham conceded two goals in the time remaining of the first half. A through ball into the channel between John Nutter and the central defenders saw Adam Burchill shoot past Simon Royce for a goal within a minute of Gills second and the equaliser was particularly worrying as a corner was met by ex-Gill Adam Flanagan who powered in a unchallenged header for a Dartford equaliser. A decent first half performance had quickly been erased by some poor defending.

The second half team featured the same triallists as Saturday alongside first pre-season appearances for Luis Cumbers and Tom Wynter. It was the latter that benefited from similar poor defending as he met a Chris Palmer corner at the far post to head home comfortably. Wynter is no giant and the time and space afforded would have rankled Darts boss Tony Burman.

The second period was less cohesive than the first for both teams until 13 minutes from time a 25 yard strike from triallist Jordan Parkes found the bottom right hand corner to wrap up the game. Parkes had a good second half which should lead to further time to impress the manager.

This was my first time at Princes Park and it is a super little ground, unfortunately my abiding memory might well be the 30 minute wait to clear the car park. The eco-friendly construction contains a lot of wood and from the outside would not look out of place in an Alpine ski resort. Inside is a stadium far in excess of what is seen or necessary for their Ryman League status and would not look out of place in the Conference, or perhaps even League Two. The wooden statue of a celebrating supporter is unique and the bowed roofs give a style that is different to other modern day constructions. The 1,002 people assembled managed to create a bit of atmosphere for a pre-season friendly suggesting it could be a noisy venue when filled.

All in all a good night’s entertainment, Gillingham are slowly progressing and even taking into account the non-league opposition, we can be guardedly optimistic.