Leyton Orient (0) 0
Gillingham (1) 1 Weston 45
Att. 3,763
Entrance: £20
Programme: £3.00
Mileage: 116/2,254
Match Report
Writing this column on a Sunday afternoon gives me the benefit of knowing the reward for Gillingham’s heroic efforts at Brisbane Road, home of League One Leyton Orient, more of that at the end of this posting. And whilst we are lauding the on-field performance of the boys in blue, let’s acknowledge the contribution of the 1,400 strong away support that made up almost 50 per cent of yesterday’s attendance. They sang their hearts out and without them the Matchroom stadium would have been little more than a morgue, not that the home side gave their supporters anything to cheer for long periods.Without the availability of his loan players Andy Hessenthaler made the surprising choice of starting Stefan Payne alongside Danny Kedwell and, with Matt Lawrence missing through suspension, Charlie Lee was asked to reprise his role as emergency right back.
A minute’s applause prior to kick off was observed in memory of Gary Speed, a death that shook the football world a week ago. The referee’s whistle to end the applause served for Gills fans to up the decibels level in encouragement for the underdogs.
The opening exchanges appeared to be a private dialogue between Gillingham fans making appeals for handball and referee Phil Gibbs turning them down. A Curtis Weston shot was clearly blocked with the hand of an Orient defender, Mr Gibbs making the arguable decision that it was ball to hand. The second was far more controversial. Kedwell and ex-Gillingham defender Ben Chorley rose to meet a Lee cross, Kedwell won the header and ball struck Chorley’s hand that was at least head high, ball to hand this time, not with his hand that high. The visiting fans appealed loudly, once again to no avail in the eyes of the referee.
Gillingham’s deserved reward for a half of high endeavour came on the stroke of half time. A quick bit of thinking from Charlie Lee caught the home defence napping as his long throw found Weston inside the six yard box leaving the midfielder to hook the ball into the far corner of the net to the delight of the blue contingent.
Early in the second half Lee repeated the trick but Kedwell’s shot flew over the bar before the striker was involved in a bizarre incident on 56 minutes. A sliced clearance by O’s keeper Ben Alnwick fell invitingly at the feet of Kedwell, but with the ball spinning like a top, the Gillingham man failed to get a clean contact on his shot allowing Alnwick to redeem himself with a smothering save.
The last 20 minutes of the game became the time when the home side threw caution to the wind and for the first time Gillingham came under continuous pressure. Jamie Cureton had a chance, Lee Cook fired a free kick over the bar from a dangerous position and the referee turned away a penalty appeal after Stephen Dawson went down theatrically in the box.
For the first time the Gillingham fans noise was more in desperation than encouragement as the clock ticked into time added on. Then came a moment that was viewed in slow motion, but was over in a second, and we knew that this was to be our day. A corner was not properly dealt with and the ball fell to the QPR loanee Cook, whose well struck shot smacked against the crossbar and was cleared to safety to the relief of all concerned of a Kentish allegiance with the final whistle quickly following.
Since my last visit to Brisbane Road, the previous journey having been curtailed by the A12 gridlock, the empty space between the apartment blocks has been filled by the North Stand. It is a simple, unappealing structure but a damn sight better than the open space of previous visits. Behind the South Stand more apartments have been erected, doubtless these have produced lifesaving funds for the club and they have been well designed not to detract from the look of the stadium, unlike the main stand which I frankly find an absurd structure in the context of a football arena, with its office block dwarfing the seating below.
Back to Sunday afternoon and the reward came in the shape of a Third Round visit from Premiership Stoke City, with the added interest of a return to Priestfield for Tony Pulis and his back room team figuring Adrian Pennock and Mark O’Connor among their numbers. Mama Sidibe will probably not feature as he has only recently returned to fitness following a serious achilles injury, while Peter Crouch might like to reconsider his reference to Gillingham supporters as hillbillies before facing their wrath on January 7th. Duelling banjos anyone?
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