Gillingham (2) 3 Barcham 1, 45 McDonald 56
Accrington Stanley (1) 1 McConville 14
Att. 5,299
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 45/8,142
Match Report
Andy Hessenthaler sprinted to the dressing room at the sound of the half time whistle; his intent was obvious and was about to deliver a stern half time team talk despite his side holding a 2-1 advantage at the end of the first 45 minutes. Whilst the home fans were celebrating Andy Barcham’s 45th minute goal, the boss had not taken too much pleasure from a half that had started with the winger opening the scoring in the first minute but then found themselves largely playing second fiddle to a Accrington Stanley side playing with a confidence borne from four consecutive victories.Hessenthaler’s half time rocket had the desired effect and following Cody McDonald’s 19th goal of the season on 56 minutes, Gillingham enjoyed a comfortable second half.
If Gillingham had revenge in their nostrils following that fateful 7-4 defeat at the Crown Ground in October, then they had the perfect start. Kevin Maher threaded a pass forward to Barcham who was probably third favourite to get to the ball behind either the Stanley keeper or a defender, who conspired to confuse each other. Barcham touched the ball past them and it rolled agonisingly over the line.
Gillingham’s joy was short lived as Maher brought down Andy Proctor in the box to give the visitors a seventh minute opportunity to level the score from the penalty spot. Phil Edwards struck a post with his spot kick to the despair of the 62 Stanley Ultras positioned behind the goal. Their disappointment was not to last long. On 14 minutes, Dean Winnard lofted a cross into the box that evaded the attention of John Nutter to allow Sean McConville to convert with ease.
Accrington’s passing and movement had the hosts struggling to contain, whilst the long ball to Adebayo Akinfenwa was more often than not ending with the referee’s whistle for a foul against the big striker. Akinfenwa does a superb job as the target man and holding up play, but if a referee comes into the game with any predetermined thoughts as too the legitimacy of his challenges then the route one tactic becomes negated.
After half an hour on the back foot and with half time approaching, central defender Garry Richards, not known for the cultured pass, played an exquisite ball forward to Akinfenwa who nodded the ball into the path of Barcham who crisply slipped the ball past the advancing Alex Cisak.
With Hessenthaler’s words still reverberating around their ears, Gillingham should have taken a 3-1 lead on 51 minutes. Akinfenwa did brilliantly along the byline, laid a pass across the face of the goal, only to see the ace marksman McDonald inexplicably steer the ball wide of the right hand post from very, very close range. It had to be Cody’s miss of the season, but good strikers put themselves back into scoring positions straight away and five minutes later, Nutter crossed from the left and the striker headed home to atone for his earlier error.
The goal allowed the home side to take control of the game which was seen out with relative comfort as Stanley lost their composure. A good win was enhanced as Gillingham were the only side in the top seven to win and they moved up a place to sixth on equal points with Rotherham and Shrewsbury occupying the fourth and fifth positions.
It is said that manager’s earn their corn during the half time break, Hessenthaler’s sprint and subsequent home truths certainly made the difference on this occasion.
No comments:
Post a Comment