Gillingham (1) 3 Jackson 4,46 Rooney 78
Exeter City (0) 0
Att. 5,107
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 45/2,302
Match Report
A League One encounter between those that have and those that have not. We are not, of course, talking Princes and Paupers, just those that have an on-loan Charlton striker and those that wish for one. On the strength of Stuart Fleetwood’s ineffective performance yesterday, and taking into account he was considered further up Phil Parkinson’s pecking order then perhaps we should be careful what we wish for, but then again we all know different don’t we?Fleetwood’s marshalling into non-existence was part of an excellent team performance from Gillingham building on last Saturday’s point at Walsall and the midweek Paint Pot progress. Josh Gowling and Mark Bentley both had superb games in the centre of defence, whilst Simeon Jackson underlined his value to the club both in the present and the future.
A little under a year ago at St James’s Park, Gillingham produced an absolutely horrible performance to get beaten 3-0 in a game in which they were completely outplayed, yesterday the scoreline was reversed in a game that took a similarly one-sided pattern. In each half the home side were fast out of the traps and found the net on both occasions. In the fourth minute Barry Fuller surged into the penalty area where he was felled by the veteran Marcus Stewart. Jackson converted from the spot via the left hand post to give Gillingham an early advantage.
Exeter’s on-loan keeper Oscar Jansson sporting the most flourescent of orange kits, may well have best spent his warm-up time introducing himself to his defenders as for the majority of the match, and especially the early period, the lack of communication could not have been more evident had they written it in the skies.
After completely dominating the first 20 minutes, Gillingham received a set-back when Mark McCammon pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring strain. The big striker had been extremely effective and his departure was disappointing as his form and contribution had been improving match on match. Such is McCammon’s fitness record that a cursory remark, “have a good Christmas, Mark” might not be so far off the mark.
Jansson’s lack of understanding with his defenders allowed Andy Barcham to catch him in no-man’s land only to watch as his shot clipped the bar as the home side continued to dominate.
Just eight seconds of the second half had elapsed when Jackson pounced on a weak back header by Richard Duffy to lift the ball over the stranded man in orange. I’m not in the school of thought that Jackson is, at present, a million pound striker, but this was the type of strike that attracts clubs to pay money of that order.
Curtis Weston almost found Jackson five minutes later but an interception denied the striker a hat-trick opportunity. This passage of play also brought to our attention Exeter’s Troy Archibald-Henville, a name so long that it arched on the back of his shirt in a horseshoe shape until it virtually disappeared into his shorts. It brought much amusement as people endeavoured to read it, the funniest suggestion I heard being Dagenham and Redbridge!
A 74th minute double substitution brought to the field of play the combination that was to seal the game four minutes later with a third goal. John Nutter, who had been sent clear by the excellent Chris Palmer, crossed for Luke Rooney (pictured) to crash in a spectacular first senior goal. It was the icing on the cake.It would be very easy just to say Exeter were poor, make no mistake they were, but that would detract from a very good Gillingham performance in which they looked secure at the back, creative and pacey in midfield and had an arch predator in front of goal. Derby day next Saturday, we can only hope that (a) our form holds good or (b) Millwall are as bad as Exeter . . . the latter I cannot imagine.
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