Gillingham (0) 0
Bradford City (0) 0
Att. 7,074
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Mileage: 45/2,112
Match Report
Just how frustrating was that!As much as manager Andy Hessenthaler must be scratching his head in bemusement that Gillingham failed to build on their confidence-boosting FA Cup win over AFC Bournemouth, chairman Paul Scally, who would have been delighted that his cut price ticket initiative produced extra 2,500 people through the gate, will be disappointed that a poor performance and equally poor game would not have encouraged those people to return when the exercise is repeated for the next home game against Bristol Rovers, a week before Christmas when the shops tend to take priority over football.
There has been much reminiscing during the week of the FA Cup tie in 2000 with Bradford City; at a time when Gillingham were enjoying the heights of Championship football and City were a Premiership club. Gillingham won a thrilling game 3-1 that day, sadly 11 years later the two sides were meeting in the bottom tier of the league with the Yorkshire side threatened with being the first ex-Premiership side to lose their Football League status, and a dour 0-0 draw ensued.
How different the game may have been had Jo Kuffour’s acrobatic effort in the second minute found the net rather than a post we are not to know, but having survived the moment, Bradford City frustrated their hosts with stoic defending, time-wasting to the extreme and with 15 minutes remaining might even have stolen the game when they had a goal ruled out for offside.
After Kuffour’s early effort, a tedious first half developed in which, not for the first time this season, a tricky winger, on this occasion Kyle Reid, gave Gillingham’s back line a difficult time. On the half-hour Reid created a headed chance for striker James Hanson that Ross Flitney did brilliantly to parry away, but Hanson should have buried the rebound, only to blaze high over the bar.
The game did open up in the second half with Frank Nouble to the fore in several opportunities for the home side to open the scoring, but it was in the final minute that the best chance fell for Gillingham to nick the points. Curtis Weston crossed into the box and in a mad ten seconds, Andy Frampton, Kuffour and Stefan Payne all shot goalwards but Bantams’ keeper Jon McLaughlin was not to be beaten.
Clean sheets have not been Gillingham’s forte this season and in a week when they were described on teletext as free-scoring, it is sods law that having got one they fail to score themselves.
All very frustrating . . .
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