Gillingham 0 Hartlepool United 1

Match 11/09/763 - Saturday, 22nd August 2009 - League One

Gillingham (0) 0
Hartlepool United (0) 1 Brown 65
Att. 4,969

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 45/1,811

Match Report

It is a case of stating the bleedin' obvious but Gillingham’s need for a strike partner for Simeon Jackson was apparent for even the untrained eye this afternoon. Only when Mark McCammon came off the bench were the feathers of Gary Liddle and Sam Collins, an excellent central defensive pairing, even remotely ruffled. The big striker managed to cause problems in the air, had one header that he put wide at full stretch and a couple of other efforts that failed to unduly trouble ex-Gillingham loanee keeper Scott Flinders.

Meanwhile at the other end, on 65 minutes, Josh Gowling allowed James Brown time to turn and the Hartlepool striker capitalised with a magnificent shot into the top right hand corner. A vision of Jeff Stelling’s doll dancing on the desk in the Sky Studio to the strains of “I Feel Good” added to the torment.

On a warm day and in front of a disappointing attendance of less than 5,000, Mark Stimson retained the side that has started all three League games despite consecutive defeats on the road. Perhaps it was the heat that contributed to a lacklustre first half in which neither side managed to carve out a decent chance. Andy Barcham managed to create a threat down the left hand side but he saw far too little of the ball. On a couple of occasions in the first half he was given the opportunity to show his pace and each time he made half-chances but there was no one on hand to profit from the endeavour. To add the the general dullness of the play, Hartlepool were lacking in attacking ambition but despite this managed to create the best two chances of the half. Liddle saw a header clear the bar from a corner and just before half time Gillingham survived a major scare when Brown headed over from a free kick.

A half time substitution of goalkeeper was a mighty surprise. It was generally assumed that Alan Julian had incurred some sort of injury but manager Stimson’s post-match interview revealed that he had been tactically withdrawn, seemingly for not distributing the ball quickly enough.

The second half started a lot brighter with the Rainham End in full voice. Flinders saved from Jackson before the Canadian striker produced the best moment of the match from a Gillingham perspective. Running onto a ball over the top, Jackson was the first to the ball as the Hartlepool keeper rushed from his line and his deft lob was goal bound until Collins acrobatically cleared.

Dennis Oli, back from injury, was brought into the action and his direct style of play enlivened proceedings and from one such run he was brought down for a free kick that John Nutter narrowly shot over. Unfortunately this was the precursor to Hartlepools’ goal, where Collins and Liddle had suffocated Gills front line, one moment of space in which to turn was enough for Brown to shoot the north-eastern side into the lead to the delight of their 150-odd fans.

Hartlepool may well have wrapped up the game before McCammon’s introduction sparked a late onslaught, with both Brown and Andy Monkhouse having good chances.

Despite McCammon’s impact from the bench, Gillingham did not carry enough threat up front and with Chris Dickson once again marking time with an idle match day, Stimson must be considering another call to Phil Parkinson with the transfer window entering its last week. This was a desperately disappointing performance from the home side. Despite the away defeats there were encouraging signs that today went missing. The build-up play was ponderous and invariably ended with a misplaced pass to try a get a bit of forward momentum with too many players off the pace. Young Jack Payne, pictured, can be absolved criticism and those that thought, myself included, that he might be due a rest were proved wrong.

In these early stages of the season when league positions count for nothing it is perhaps not that disturbing to see our name on the edge of the relegation line, but the manner of today’s defeat was very disappointing and the slide needs arresting. The visit of Premiership Blackburn in the Carling Cup on Tuesday offers the chance of a confidence building performance without the pressures of league points at stake before the more important visit to Walsall next Saturday.