Gillingham 3 Leeds United 2

Match 60/09/812 - Saturday, 17th April 2010 - League One

Gillingham (3) 3 Miller 8, Bentley 30, Naylor o.g. 33
Leeds United (1) 2 Becchio 44, Beckford (pen) 86
Att. 9,649

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 45/7,026

Match Report

We’ve our fair share of Victor Meldrews in the Coffin Dodgers, I might even be considered one of them, but the grumpy old codger would have summed it up perfectly this afternoon: “I don’t believe it”.

As Richard Naylor and Leigh Bromby got in each others way to result in Naylor deflecting Jack Payne’s cross into his own net to put Gillingham 3-up in the 33rd minute, old Jim sitting behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and asked if he was dreaming. I couldn’t reassure him that he was wide awake as the act being played out in front of our eyes was so surreal, all of us could have been sharing the same dream.

In that same dream, last night Mark Stimson browsed the message boards and he saw a pleading text from myself urging him to just go for it. Nobody expected anything from this game and with expected defensive absences, attack may be the best form of defence. He took it on board and WE WENT FOR IT!

The defensive problems were eased momentarily as Darren Dennehy was fit to line up alongside Mark Bentley, but within two minutes skipper Barry Fuller fell to the ground after a clash of heads with the exceedingly irritating Max Gradel and a broken nose forced his early substitution by teenager Jack Payne.

After eight minutes a long throw from John Nutter somehow travelled across the face of the Leeds six yard box and Adam Miller was on hand at the far post to pick out the far corner with a perfectly placed header. Pessimism still reigns supreme as my first thoughts upon coming down from the clouds were that we’ve scored too early.

For the next 20 minutes, Gradel continued chirping away at Premiership referee Alan Wiley complaining about anything and everything. He’s talented and difficult to contain, but my god, what a whinger.

Dennis Oli and Rene Howe were proving every bit as difficult for the Leeds central defenders to contain and on the half hour their lack of aerial dominance set the dream factory in motion. Miller swung in a free kick from the left and the cross was met perfectly by Bentley, who powerfully headed home.

The centre of Leeds defence was now in total disarray and when Payne’s speculative cross was turned in by Naylor, it was the stuff of comic book defending and a fantasy score line.

While some foolhardy folk were chanting for four, my thoughts were to get to half-time with what we had. It was not to be and when Luciano Becchio found space to turn and fire past Alan Julian in the final minute of the half, I think we all knew that this game was not over by some distance.

Was our dream to turn into a second half nightmare? One thing we all knew for sure, it was going to be a backs-to-the-wall 45 minutes.

Gillingham got through the first 10 minutes relatively unscathed and for Simon Grayson it was kitchen sink time and on came Jermaine Beckford and Ben Parker in a double substitution.

Leeds continued to threaten, but in fairness, the Gillingham goal was not exactly leading a charmed life as efforts from Gradel, Kilkenny and Parker failed to trouble Julian.

Simeon Jackson entered the fray at the expense of Curtis Weston, who on an afternoon for heroes once again failed to exert any influence in the middle of the park.

Slowly the clock ticked towards its conclusion with the nerves only being slightly eased when the little whinger, Gradel finally received his well earned yellow.

Oli and Howe were continuing to selflessly run the channels to earn vital seconds of respite and as Priestfield roared its satisfaction for the collective effort, some dared to dream that the improbable was going to happen. But a final twist was about to break.

The absolutely superb Mark Bentley was adjudged to have fouled Beckford and the striker converted from the spot with five minutes remaining.

Those final five minutes and a further four of time added were a half in their own right as Oli and Howe appeared to play out their own clock diminishment exercise in the right hand corner of the Rainham End until referee Wiley finally put us out of our agony.

It was improbable, some would say, impossible, but folks it wasn’t a dream, the reality will be printed in tomorrow’s newspapers.

Heroes were one and all. Bentley and Dennehy were immense, Payne stepped up to the plate when it really mattered. Miller was magnificent and the effort expended by Oli and Howe was top drawer and all that was complemented by unbelievable support from the terraces.

As with all fairy stories there is a wicked witch and this came in the form of results elsewhere. Wins for Tranmere, Leyton Orient and Hartlepool slightly negated the magnitude of our own result, but tonight is not the time to dwell on negatives.

Message for Stimson: WE WENT FOR IT AND CAME UP TRUMPS.