Gillingham (0) 1 Whelpdale 52
Crewe Alexandra (2) 3 Moore 38, Donaldson 45, Miller 70
Att. 5,292
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 45/4,960
Match Report
It is a well worn phrase that under pressure managers trundle out, “that when at the bottom of the table, the rub of the green doesn’t go your way”, it can often be heard as a whinge. On Saturday, Gillingham might not have deserved anything, but they certainly had none of the rub.Three new loan signings and a 17 year-old debutant in the centre of defence were introduced as Andy Hessenthaler set about repairing the damage inflicted by last week’s FA Cup embarrassment at the hands of Dover. Ultimately a spirited effort ended in defeat by Crewe Alexandra and left the club on the very edge of the relegation zone, above the line by goal difference.
Callum Davies, youth team captain, pressed into the side in the absence of the injured Matt Lawrence made a bright start to his debut, won some important headers and generally looked comfortable in the face of an attack that has scored plenty this season. But on 28 minutes a through ball left the youngster exposed in a one-on-one situation with the pacy Clayton Donaldson, who was getting clear before being brought down. My first impression was that he had to go, but television viewing has shown that loanee Callum Kennedy was getting round as cover. This viewpoint was given further credit on Sunday as Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic committed a near identical foul but was spared the red card by the proximity of Ashley Cole. It is regularly argued that the Premiership’s top four get dealt a better hand by referees but it showed the sheer inconsistency of decisions. The kid was distraught and was comforted by Alex players as well as his team mates as he left the field in tears.
Crewe had started the game brightly with a Luke Murphy chip catching Alan Julian off his line and fortunate to see the ball rebound from the bar. From the start the lively Donaldson was copping also sorts of abuse for his Mohican-style haircut, and once he was involved in the sending off the decibels were increased but he was going to have the last laugh.
Crewe hit the woodwork again before they opened the scoring in the 35th minute with a stroke of good fortune. A cross from Matt Tootle evaded the head of the second of the loanees, Charlie Lee and, caught by surprise, the ball literally struck Byron Moore on the head and found its way into the corner of the net.
Gillingham reacted well to the set-back, Cody McDonald had a goal ruled out for offside before keeper Rhys Taylor made good stops from the third of the loanees, Chris Whelpdale and Kevin Maher.
On the stroke of half time, Donaldson exacted revenge on his detractors getting on the end of a pass from Moore and steering the ball past Julian to double the visitors advantage.
Gillingham set about retrieving the situation from the outset of the second half and Whelpdale forced Taylor into another fine save before he met a Chris Palmer corner at the far post with a header to looped into the far corner.
Adebayo Akinfenwa, having his most effective game for the club, saw a header once more acrobatically tipped over by the Chelsea loanee, Taylor as the home side brought the best out of a crowd inflated to 5,200 by cut-price ticket offers.
Unfortunately the need for attacking intention was eventually going to lead to the home side being caught by a counter attack and a single pass forward allowed Shaun Miller a run on goal and he finished expertly from just inside the box to kill off the game.
The final whistle didn’t bring about a torrent of boos as the vast majority had recognised the spirit that had been displayed in adversity. The loan players, Chris Whelpdale in particular, had made decent debuts and the likes of Barry Fuller and Tony Sinclair recovered some of the faith lost in last week’s debacle.
Luck, good or bad, doesn’t last forever and someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, Gillingham’s will turn for the better. They sit now at an all-time low of 90th position in the Football League during the reign of Paul Scally. With two upcoming fixtures away from home it is not inconceivable that the ultimate indignity of 92nd place may be attained, perhaps Lady Luck will see otherwise.
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