Croydon Athletic 0 Gillingham 0

Match 06/10/822 - Saturday, 31st July 2010 - Pre-Season Friendly

Croydon Athletic (0) 0
Gillingham (0) 0
Att. 343
Played at Bourne Park, Sittingbourne

Entrance: £8
Programme: Not Published
Mileage: 44/275

Match Report

The best thing about this pre-season friendly was the final whistle and the knowledge that the next posting into That'll Be The Day will be that of competitive football.

A weakened Gillingham side, there was the best part of an eleven sitting behind me in the main stand, and a poor playing surface didn't lend itself to a fluid performance. The state of the pitch was somewhat ironic, as the match was moved to Bourne Park because Croydon's pitch was not fit for use.

Andy White might have opened the scoring in the first minute when his deft chip only just cleared the bar before having to depart with a hamstring injury midway through the half.

It would have been a good story to report that the ex-Ajax player, Stanley Aborah has done enough to earn a contract at Priestfield, but sadly I don't think that will be the case. He has some classy touches, but too much of a liability in the rough and tumble of England's lowest tier.

Garry Richards made a welcome return for the last 15 minutes replacing the excellent Connor Essam and a 10 minute cameo from Andy Barcham at least enlivened the finish.

It was left to Adebayo Akinfenwa to, once again, supply the laugh from his second half appearance. On giving away a free kick, he was heard to exclaim to the referee, "he bounced off me", I think there might be a few more bouncing in the coming weeks!