Gillingham (1) 3 Kedwell 26 Whelpdale 57,90+5 (pen)
Swindon Town (0) 1 McCormick 80
Att. 6,390
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Mileage: 45/4,653
Match Report
This week was season ticket renewal time and it was with a certain amount of reluctance that the button was pushed to remove £342.50 from my wallet. Encouragement was needed following a frustrating season and the home side delivered with a performance that defied recent form.
Swindon Town will eventually be crowned champions, with Crawley and Torquay dropping points they were ensured promotion, but their 1,245 travelling support were made to wait for their title-winning celebration.
This match had endured a strange build-up. At one point it appeared that it would be staged behind closed doors as a dispute between the home club and Kent Police led to Medway Council issuing a prohibition notice forbidding the attendance of the paying public. The dispute that echoed the one that had led to a similar notice being issued prior to the Stoke City FA Cup tie was ultimately resolved, to the satisfaction of the Police but not to that of chairman Paul Scally, suggesting that this particular dispute will surface again sometime in the future. Meanwhile, the champions-elect were embroiled in their own internal dispute as a number of players were disciplined by manager Paulo Di Canio following a night out to celebrate the birth of a team mates’ baby prior to their midweek defeat at Aldershot. The exclusion of Luke Rooney denied Gillingham fans the opportunity of offering him a “warm welcome”.
Gillingham spent the first 20 minutes of the game chasing shadows as Swindon gave every indication that they would be celebrating the title come five o’clock. Their slick passing game was to be admired as they piled pressure on a Gillingham defence not known for their resilience in recent weeks. But, today they stayed strong with Connor Essam’s young legs complementing Andy Frampton’s old head to restrict the visitors to a John Bostock free kick into the side netting during the opening stages.
So, with Bostock and Matt Ritchie running through Gillingham’s midfield almost at will, it was somewhat surprising that the home took the lead on 26 minutes. There was nothing subtle about the goal, a long throw from the right by Charlie Lee to the near post, from where a looping header by Danny Kedwell sailed over the stranded Swindon ‘keeper, Phil Smith, into the far corner. It was much against the run of play, but from that moment Gillingham found a confidence that, bar a nervy last ten minutes, led to a well-deserved victory.
There was a lot to admire in this performance. Apart from the central defensive pairing that made last ditch tackles and got their heads onto virtually everything thrown at them, there were outstanding displays from both full backs, Matt Fish and Joe Martin, both of which have endured justifiable criticism this season. In centre midfield, Lewis Montrose came through a torrid first half in which he laboured against the strength and pace of Bostock, to play an instrumental part in the strong second half showing, whilst Chris Whelpdale was pure quality, at last we are seeing the player we witnessed during his loan spell last year.
An unlikely surge upfield from Fish ended with a shot from the edge of the box that was saved by Smith before a 20-yard strike from Montrose crashed against the bar with the keeper helpless.
A triumph of persistence doubled Gillingham’s lead seven minutes into the second half. Firstly Montrose won a tackle leaving Whelpdale to ride a couple of challenges before delicately, deliciously chipping the ball over the keeper into the far corner to the rapturous acclaim of the Rainham End.
Whelpdale struck a post before Swindon found a way back into the match with ten minutes remaining. Alan McCormick played one-two that allowed him to run unchallenged and strike from the edge of the box to set up a nervy finish that wasn’t helped when the referee indicated five extra minutes to be played. With no trainer having been on the pitch, it appeared that Mark Halsey’s Wembley watch had been borrowed.
By now the Swindon contingent were celebrating anyway. News of results elsewhere had filtered through and they were responding to the arms aloft theatrics of Di Canio on the touchline. They were not to be quietened by a last kick of the match penalty, awarded after a trip on Curtis Weston, and converted by Whelpdale to wrap up a convincing 3-1 victory for the home side.
The unlikely chase for a play-off spot continues at Northampton next Saturday, with Gillingham knowing that nothing less than another win will be good enough whilst keeping fingers crossed that Crewe and Oxford suffer reversals in their last two matches. That we are looking for favours elsewhere is so frustrating given the quality of this performance.
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