Gillingham (1) 3 Kedwell 43, 54 (pen) Weston 88
Bradford City (0) 1 Wells 62 (pen)
Att. 5,127
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Mileage: 45/410
Match Report
As it was, in relative comfort, I was able to sit back and enjoy Gillingham’s opening game of the season as the home side produced a somewhat patchy, but very encouraging performance against an opposition that over the course of the season may well turn out to be pretty decent.
A little digression before reporting Gillingham’s 3-1 victory over Bradford City would be to look back at the wonderful London 2012 Olympics and enter the debate as to where football stands after a fortnight of sport in which the referee’s decision is accepted and victory or defeat are taken with equal grace. After the last night at the Olympic Stadium, I tweeted: “So that was that. Next Saturday the Premiership is back next Saturday, wave goodbye to sportsmen with humility and good grace.” It struck accord as I accumulated retweets and replies. It certainly was in line with the thinking of the national media as the country’s feel-good factor devoured many column inches.
It is probably too much to ask from our over-paid, boorish, egotistical stars to act with the humility with which the likes of Katherine Grainger and Gemma Gibbons greeted their respective medals. It is understandable that the Premiership players who are in the spotlight for nine months of the year, whilst the Olympians spend just a fortnight in a four-year period, are under far greater pressure to perform at a level at which their salaries demand but surely they are not so self-centred as to completely ignore the country’s opinions of them.
Whilst we look to our players to act in a responsible manner, I think that, as football supporters, we also have to look at ourselves in the hope that our game can be returned to one of honesty. For an example, I return to yesterday’s Gillingham match. Bradford City had a nippy winger, Kyel Reid, but like many players of his speed and talent, also has a penchant for going down rather too easily. On one such occasion, midway through the first half, down he went and was immediately taken to task for his simulation by the home support. This would be considered admirable if only the same level of dismay is taken when one of their own players does precisely the same thing. All the time, we snigger behind our hands that “he got away with that one” we have no right to deride a cheat.
Sermon over, and back to the game in question. Martin Allen made a couple of changes to the side that had surprised with their League Cup win at Bristol City bringing in Joe Martin and Deon Burton at the expense of Chris Whelpdale and Ben Strevens. An early scare was survived when Garry Thompson was given time and space to convert a header before Bradford’s keeper, Matt Duke, was forced into a brilliant save to deny Andy Frampton’s header and from the resultant corner, Danny Kedwell’s header was cleared from the line.
The half progressed as an evenly contested affair before Gillingham took the lead five minutes before the break. A ball into the channel from Lewis Montrose found Kedwell, who from an impossibly acute angle on the by-line clipped the ball over the head on Duke and into the far corner of the net, in-off a post.
The advantage was doubled early in the second half when Charlie Lee weaved his way along the by-line before being upended by a clumsy challenge from Thompson. Kedwell drove his penalty high into the right hand side of the net to register his third goal in the opening two games. The two goal advantage wasn’t to last long as Bradford were awarded a penalty of their own after Narkhi Wells was brought down by Frampton, Wells converting the kick himself.
Gillingham went through a patchy period in the match following the goal and the visitors carved out and wasted several half-chances.
Myles Weston, signed from Brentford on Thursday, had already given his new supporters a glimpse of his speed as he showed his defender a clean pair of heels, before with a couple of minutes remaining, he was offered a little extra space to run past his opponent and strike a shot across the face of the keeper and into the far corner.
In the time remaining, Charlie Allen threaded a superb pass into the path of debutant teenager Bradley Dack, who struck a mirror image of Weston’s shot, only to see his effort rebound off a post.
This was an encouraging performance from Gillingham whose fitness sustained them in the closing quarter of the game when many a side would have wilted in the heat. Martin Allen has harnessed his own feel-good factor, perhaps of a different nature to those of the Olympics, but very welcome nonetheless. I have to say that less welcome were the hideous red shirts that the club have chosen to celebrate their centenary year as Gillingham Football Club, personally I hate everything about them, the style and mostly the colour. On the positive side of the centenary offerings was the programme, reflecting classic covers and the opening issue was from 1975-76, my first year as a Gillingham supporter.
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