Gillingham (1) 5 Whelpdale 45 Kedwell 46, Lee 81, 88 Tomlin 90+3
Hereford United (2) 4 Purdie 2 (pen) Barkhuisen 7,70 Evans 80
Att. 3,784
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Mileage: 45/3,808
Match Report
As people were making their way back up Toronto Road following this match, shaking their heads, the same words were continually overheard, crazy, crazy . . . mental.This was one for the supporters to enjoy and for the managers to loathe. Such was the level of defensive incompetence any scoreline imaginable was possible. As it finally transpired, the Gillingham faithful went home buoyed by an injury time winner and a double comeback whilst a measure of sympathy should be spared for the 45 Hereford fans that must have travelled the 190 miles home just a little shell shocked.
Whilst I use the word “enjoy” in reference to the Gillingham support, it has to be said that for long periods of this game their heads were buried in their hands in sheer despair. Successive clean sheets had led to a guarded optimism that the defensive shortcomings that had contributed to the losing run since the turn of the year were behind them, but within 10 minutes of the start of this game, the doubts had resurfaced to great effect.
Jack Evans, the teenager that has made an encouraging start to his senior career with two polished performances, was given a torrid opening period by another teenager, Tom Barkhuizen, a loanee from Blackpool. Just 75 seconds had elapsed when the Hereford striker was brought down by Evans to concede a penalty from which Rob Purdie converted. Five minutes later, Barkhuizen once more skipped past Evans and from an acute angle shot past Paulo Gazzaniga to double the Bulls’ advantage.
If you are going to go two goals down, leaving yourselves 80-plus minutes to retrieve the situation is preferable, and with Hereford not showing any greater level of defensive competence than Gillingham there was always the optimistic thought that a comeback was on the cards.
On 33 minutes, Evans played a great through ball to Gavin Tomlin to finish only to see his celebration cut short by the linesman’s flag, but the seeds of hope were well and truly sown. These were given fresh impetus in the minute before half time when Danny Jackman’s cross from the left was met with a volley from Chris Whelpdale to reduce the deficit to 2-1 at the half time whistle.
Charlie Lee replaced Evans at half time, the youngster suffering a groin strain, and within the first minute of the second half, Lee’s long throw was hooked in by Danny Kedwell and the comeback to parity was complete. The momentum was now with the home side and the expectation was that they would go on to win the game, but the defensive nightmares were about to resurface. After 70 minutes, Will Evans shot from 25 yards was only parried by Gazzaniga leaving Barkhuizen to gobble up the rebound. Gillingham’s match destiny looked all but up when, with 10 minutes remaining, a right wing cross from ex-Gill Delroy Facey found Evans unmarked at the far post to head the Bulls into a seemingly unassailable lead.
The next ten minutes was time that will live long, if not forever, in the memory and, from which, Charlie Lee will become a legend. In the first attack following Hereford’s fourth goal, he cut in from the right and from the edge of the box placed a shot in off the post, 3-4. Two minutes remained when Lee again powered into the box and shot fiercely between the goalkeeper and the near post to tie the scores at 4-4. Settle for a point now, I most certainly was in the camp that would.
But the drama had far from ended. As the clock ticked to its 90th minute, Barkhuizen was sent clear and as he attempted to go round the keeper, the Argentinean stuck out a leg and brought him down. Personally, with no covering defender, I thought he was about to be sent off, but the referee chose to show a yellow card. How important was that decision when the 20-year-old stopper brought off a brilliant save, diving to his right to push the ball away.
And then in the third of the four added minutes, Jo Kuffour broke away and into the box and with a cluster of players either trying to clear the ball to safety or force it into the net, the ball popped up for Tomlin to scissor kick from waist high into the net to cue delirious scenes at the Rainham End.
Out of a match, that at its outset had mundane written all over it, had come a spectacle that will become one of life’s “I was there when” moments. It had the lot, defensive incompetence at its upmost, a double comeback from two down, Gazza’s penalty save when he probably should not have been on the pitch, Lee’s magnificent 45 minutes and Tomlin’s last gasp winner. It was breathless, but most of all it was crazy, crazy . . . mental.
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