Oxford United 0 Gillingham 0

Match 24/12/977 - Saturday, 6 October 2012 - League Two

Oxford United (0) 0
Gillingham (0) 0
Att. 6,690

Entrance: £19
Programme: £3
Mileage: 200/1,562

Match Report

Tongue-in-cheek, Martin Allen asked the question, was it Gordon Banks? Well no, but we know where you are coming from, Martin. The goalkeeper in question was Ryan Clarke and his first half performance undoubtedly kept Oxford United in the game and led ultimately to the hosts being the first club to deny Gillingham full points on the road this season.

As the game unfolded, after a first half of total Gillingham dominance, Oxford recovered in the second and at the finish of the game it was the visitors that were hanging on for their point.

The first of Clarke’s heroics came after only three minutes when he parried away Danny Kedwell’s initial effort and was quickly back on his feet to save the return effort from Adam Barrett. At the end of the half, Clarke once more made a double save to thwart the visitors, firstly saving from Deon Burton’s header and blocking the follow-up from Matt Fish. In between those double saves the goalkeeper also made good stops from Myles Weston.

Oxford rarely threatened in a one-sided first half, but one of their very infrequent attempts almost resulted in a goal when an Alfie Potter header looped onto the bar and rebounded off the unwitting head of defender Tom Flanagan.

The early part of the second half saw no change in the ascendancy and the brilliance of Ryan Clarke, the keeper making a fine one-handed save to thwart Burton once more. An injury to David Wright led to his substitution on 55 minutes and subsequent changes, Finlay on for Weston and with 20 minutes remaining Burton was withdrawn for Frampton, led to Gillingham losing their momentum and offering the hosts the opportunity to stage a grandstand finish.

Stuart Nelson was called into action to make his only meaningful save from Potter and a last gasp challenge from Flanagan foiled Oxford substitute Tom Craddock.

On their first half performance, Gillingham fans who numbered over a 1,000, might consider this game two points lost, but following a tense finish it was realistically a point gained from a difficult venue.

It seems hard to believe that it was 11 years ago that the Kassam Stadium was opened with Gillingham being one of the first visitors for a Worthington Cup First Round match. At that point it was expected that the three-sided ground would be completed with the erection of a West Stand in the not-too-distance future. Sadly, relegation from the Football League and the financial climate has meant that the open end of stadium remains. In that time, Tonbridge have been visitors for a FA Trophy match and our 15 minute walk to the stadium from the first available parking space made us realise how lucky we had been, parking-wise, on our previous visits.

Gillingham supporters might also wonder of what might have been as Martin Allen’s Gordon Banks was dropped from the team a couple of games ago and only recalled due to injury to his replacement Wayne Brown, such is the fickle fortune of a goalkeeper.