Gillingham 0 Barnet 1

Match 40/12/993 - Wednesday, 26 December 2012 - League One

Gillingham (0) 0
Barnet (1) 1 Hyde 19
Att. 7,448

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Mileage: 45/3,335

Match Report

When I started That’ll Be The Day it was intended only as a means of recording each football match I attended, result, scorers, attendance, that sort of thing. Thankfully, a few other people liked to read my scribbling and over the six years this has developed into quite a few people, consequently I now feel a sense of responsibility to produce something whatever the quality of the game. But when you have seen a game so devoid of quality, so lacking in passion from the team you support, then it becomes really difficult to find the appropriate words. This blog was never intended as a series of match reports, Fred crossed to Bert, who headed in sort of thing, more a musing of what it is like to follow a club through the good times and bad.

This season, with Gillingham, has been mostly those of good times. Martin Allen has led the club to the top of the table for the last three months and had the long-suffering fan base been offered a two point lead at Christmas back in August then nobody would not complained. So what exactly have we got to moan about?

A Boxing defeat against a Barnet side that has occupied one of the relegation positions for the most part of the season and a side that was comfortably beaten at Underhill back in September begs questions rather than a match report that merely states that the home club was beaten by a Jake Hyde goal after 20 minutes.

Questions about Martin Allen’s team selection; why do Gillingham almost always fail to produce a good performance in front of better than average home attendances and where has the form that took them to the top of the table disappeared?

Refer back to the posting following Gillingham’s FA Cup defeat at Preston North End when I reported that there were a few rumblings of discontent regarding the manager’s rotation policy. Those whisperings haven’t actually reached a crescendo, but reading message boards, listening to people, more and more of the fans do not understand why certain players are being left out of the side. Why is the grossly ineffective Lewis Montrose being chosen in front of Jack Payne; why was Danny Kedwell left on the bench and why is Danny Jackman being completely ignored? Are all three on their way out of the club come the January transfer window?

A first half performance as woeful as the low points of the Stimson and Hessenthaler eras was only improved with a triple substitution on the hour that raised the tempo of Gillingham’s display and brought a subdued crowd to a degree of life. In the middle of the field, Barnet’s Edgar Davids belied his 39 years, he won the ball, he distributed the ball, nothing fancy just effective, exactly what was missing from the Gillingham midfield that was devoid of any of those qualities. Twenty minutes elapsed when a misplaced pass from Romain Vincelot was intercepted by Davids, Jake Hyde strode forward from the pass and, with the Gillingham central defenders backing off, struck a 20 yard shot into the centre of the goal past a stranded Stuart Nelson.

Upfront, nothing was sticking with Deon Burton and Myles Weston, a job that if Kedwell’s goals from open play are questioned, he does well. Weston is not a 90 minute striker, he can make an impact from the bench against tiring defenders or he needs to be played to his strength from the wing.

Further questions towards the original team selection can be raised following the introduction of Payne and Chris Whelpdale into the midfield which stimulated a much-improved, if fruitless, improvement in the last 30 minutes. Gillingham mounted an onslaught on the Barnet goal, but the visitors defended well, if a bit haphazardly at times and goalkeeper Graham Stack was not called upon to make anything other than routine saves. Charlie Allen, a disappointment in midfield, selfishly shot when Adam Birchall was in a much better position and Birchall just failed to get onto the end of a cross close to goal being the closest the home side came to getting an equaliser.

So this was another disappointment in front of a large crowd. In November and December, positive initiatives were made to get more customers through the doors with good results. A Tuesday evening fixture against Exeter City, cheaper tickets managed to get nearly 7,000 through the gate and a gung-ho performance brought defeat and over 8,500 saw a frustrating draw against Fleetwood. The Christmas period managed to entice 7,500 full-paying customers for this fixture, but once more the occasion got the better of the team. Why, I guess there are authoritative figures at the club puzzled by the same question.

Back in early November, Gillingham steam-rollered League One Scunthorpe United in the FA Cup to record their third successive four goal haul at Priestfield, since then form has stuttered and it is mostly due to results elsewhere that their position at the head of the table has been maintained. Suspensions that are just one game away for several players is probably going to mean that a more consistent team selection is not going to happen in the coming games, but with further strengthening promised during the transfer window, it is to be hoped (and desired by many supporters) that the strongest team is identified and largely played in the second half of a season that has promised much and is still in Martin Allen’s own hands to deliver.

The classic programme covers that are being replicated for this centenary season today came from the 1994-95 season.