Gillingham (0) 1 McDonald 80
Torquay United (0) 1 Nicholson 90+5
Att. 5,345
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 45/4,303
Match Report
Back in 1998, The Mavericks had a single “Dance The Night Away” that reached Number 4 in the UK charts. It wasn’t a ground breaking song that people will remember what they were doing with their lives at that particular period, but I recall it as a song that I considered lucky. If I heard it played on the radio on the way to a Gillingham game, I would sing along almost safe in the knowledge that the Gills were about to win the match, and invariably they did.Radio Kent played the song as their opening track to their Saturday Sport programme and I thought that’s it, thank you Matt Davison, job done. When Alan Julian touched a kiss to the bar and then a post in gratitude that the woodwork had come to his rescue my faith in the old song remained firm. But Julian’s luck was about to run out. In the fifth minute of time added on, three minutes that were extended by the sending off of Torquay’s Lee Mansell, a free kick on the edge of the box was driven through the wall by Kevin Nicholson. Julian allowed the shot to squirm from his grasp and agonisingly the ball crossed the line.
It was a poor piece of goalkeeping but it was hard on Julian who otherwise had a good game. A decent stop and a very good reaction save in a matter of seconds after five minutes denied the visitors an early lead and his handling and judgement had been sound for the entire match.
At the other end, Torquay’s 6’5” custodian Scott Bevan spent his afternoon cherry picking as cross after cross fell invitingly into his safe hands. Chris Palmer had a reasonable game, but just how many of his crosses saw Bevan put his hands above his head and watch the ball drop into them.
Cody McDonald returned to the starting line-up with Mark Bentley dropping down to the bench and it was his 30th minute effort that was turned away by Bevan that produced the best chance of the half for the home side.
Alan Julian’s first kiss to his woodwork came within the first minute of the second half following Chris Zebroski's acrobatic effort that rebounded off the bar with the keeper beaten and when Barry Fuller was forced to clear from in front of the goal line the home side had endured an uncomfortable opening five minutes much like the beginning of the first half.
Danny Spiller came on as substitute for Kevin Maher and he was instrumental as Gillingham ratcheted up the pressure on Torquay. He had a wayward shot and from his cross in the 80th minute Akinfenwa struck a bar with a header. Not to be denied, Spiller’s next cross found McDonald who scissor-kicked a volley from around the penalty spot. It was a true striker’s goal, he had a marker within a yard, but that space was enough.
Torquay rather lost their discipline as four players were yellow-carded within the space of five or six minutes. But with a couple of minutes remaining, Julian was kissing woodwork again as Billy Kee touched a cross onto the inside of a post and as the ball looked to be rebounding over the line, Julian hooked it to safety.
Into injury time and the referee decided that Mansell had dived in the pursuit of a penalty and his yellow became a red. The time added on for the dismissal was ultimately crucial as Matt Lawrence gave away a free kick on the edge of the box and Nicholson’s strike embarrassed Julian.
It was a sickener for Gillingham, unfortunately for Andy Hessenthaler it had been sickening from half time as he was absent from the bench for the entire second half with an illness bug.
The next time I hear the Mavericks, I won’t feel any less confident, it’s served me well in the past and anyway it’s a good tune to sing along to at the traffic lights.
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