Walsall (0) 0
Gillingham (0) 0
Att. 3,331
Entrance: £20
Programme: £2.50
Mileage: 375/2,231
Match Report
Bank Holiday traffic made a two and three-quarter hour journey a frustrating hour longer and this was the precursor to a match that was both tedious and frustrating.Mark Stimson rested Jack Payne to the bench to accommodate new signing Danny Jackman with Mark McCammon retaining his place as the target man.
The game started in bright sunshine although a brisk breeze took the edge off the temperature and it was the visitors who started the brightest creating an early effort on goal from McCammon that hit the back of the net only to be disallowed seemingly for handball. This was the second time this season that I’ve suffered the embarrassment of still celebrating whilst the opposition were taking the resulting free kick!Gillingham continued to have the best of the play for the first 20 minutes with further chances being created for McCammon, Barcham and Jackson but the finishing on each occasion left a lot to be desired.
Barry Fuller was having his own personal battle with Steve Jones that was fairly attritional from the outset. Jones has a few tricks and a lot of pace, but our captain was standing his ground and matching him stride for stride. Dennis Oli picked up an early booking for a foul on Jones, before the Walsall winger appeared to shove Fuller into the hoardings behind the goal line whereby the full back was off the field for some time before limping back into the action.
Meanwhile Gillingham were still creating the best of the half chances but McCammon, Oli and Andy Barcham found Walsall custodian Clayton Ince equal to their efforts.
The half hadn’t been the greatest of fare but the visitors had enjoyed the best of the possession and chances and optimism had risen that this particular bogey ground might be laid to rest on this occasion.
The second half started with Mark Stimson being forced into a precautionary substitution. Oli received another ticking off from referee Carl Evans and the manager made the decision to withdraw his player before he suffered a worse fate. Within ten minutes a second substitution was forced upon the visitors as Fuller finally limped away from the action this time following his blocking of a shot from Troy Deeley. The skipper’s armband was passed onto new boy Jackman.
By now the game was dying on its feet with very little action happening anywhere near either goalmouth. With 20 minutes remaining the best action of the second half was played out. Chris Palmer, who had replaced Oli, played in Simeon Jackson who raced to the edge of the penalty area and let fly with a rasping drive that cannoned off Ince’s chest. The ball rebounded straight back to Jackson, whose stooping header was safely gathered by the thankful keeper. This was to be the last meaningful action as the game that had fairly meandered from the first whistle petered out to an eventual close. Five minutes extra time was played at the end of the first half, four in the second, 99 minutes might just have been 199, it was one of those days when a goal was never going to happen.
The Birmingham area is blessed with some iconic stadiums. There is Villa Park, the Hawthorns, Molineux and then there is the Bescot. I’m sure when Walsall left Fellows Park in 1990 the art of building stands with cantilever roofs was available. Unfortunately for visitors to the stadium, that concept completely passed the designer by. Consequently wherever you sit your vision is impeded by supporting pillars. We tried three different viewing positions before settling on our obstructed view, the one saving grace being that we could at least choose which pillar we sat behind. Since I was last at the Bescot they have built a new two-tiered stand behind the goal that houses the majority of the home support. The structure is quite imposing, dwarfing the rest of the stands and pillar free!
The two success stories of the day to report are that Gillingham have arrested the slide in what has to be considered a decent point and they were the better of two poor sides. Secondly, the Bank Holiday traffic had significantly dispersed for a hold up free ride home, we can be grateful for small mercies.
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