Rotherham United 1 Gillingham 2

Match 37/12/990 - Saturday, 8 December 2012 - League Two

Rotherham United (0) 1 Taylor 69
Gillingham (1) 2 Burton 10,57
Att. 8,029

Entrance: £13 Senior
Programme: £3.00
Mileage: 428/3,227
New Ground: 252

Match Report

They love a pie in South Yorkshire and in Rotherham, the home of the Pukka Pie, stood on the touchline the ever-expanding waistline of the loathsome Steve Evans appeared to be testament of the consumption of a truck of load of the savouries since his departure from the quiche of Crawley.

Pukka was the watchword of a Gillingham performance that required, and got, pukka resilience, pukka strength from pukka men who stood up and were counted when the going got tough, and boy, did it get tough.

The reaction of Martin Allen and the colossal Adam Barrett at the final whistle as they ran the length and breadth of the field to celebrate in front of a travelling army who had more than played their part in this magnificent rear guard action. Gillingham needed to be immense, Gillingham were immense.

In a smash and grab of three points, Deon Burton, the subject of hostility from the home support with reference to his acrimonious departure to arch-rivals Sheffield Wednesday back in 2006, was the ace predator taking maximum advantage of the couple of chances that came his way.

A second half blow to the head for Romain Vincelot extended the half for 11 agonising minutes that was further lengthened by a couple more before referee Andy Haines brought an end to proceedings to ensure a jubilant celebration for the fans who recognised the battling performance that had been put before them and revelled in the fact that one had been put over the fat Scotsman.

Jack Payne was among the changes made and the team had a look of the side that knew that a battle was about to ensue. Ten minutes of a one-sided assault on the visitors’ goal had elapsed when Gillingham won a throw on the right hand touchline. Charlie Lee sent his trade mark long throw into the Millers’ penalty area, Danny Kedwell headed on and Burton was able to tuck the ball home from close range in virtually Gills’ first attack.

The home side responded and Stuart Nelson was forced to parry away a shot from Michael O’Connor with Matt Fish shepherding the ball to safety and on 23 minutes Daniel Nardiello threaded a fine pass through to O’Connor who was one-on-one with Nelson whom he rounded but then fell over his own feet as he attempted to direct the ball into the net from an acute angle.

Nelson made another good stop from Jason Taylor; Nardiello could only find the side-netting and Kari Arnasan failed to get a touch in front of goal as the one-way assault continued until the break. A Payne shot well clear of the bar offering the only respite just prior to the half-time whistle.

The home element New York Stadium crowd were hushed into silence just before the hour mark and once again it was Burton the forced their taunts back down their throats with his second goal. Receiving a pass into the box, Burton had plenty to do to shrug off the attentions of two defenders before rolling the ball past Andy Warrington, a goalkeeper who looked 40 twenty years ago but continues to defy the sands of time.

I couldn’t have been the only Gillingham fan that was watching with some disbelief at the two goal lead given the nature of the game. Nelson excelled again to push over the bar a header from Alex Revell before an arrow of a shot from Taylor left the Gills’ keeper helpless as it found the top corner. Buoyed by the goal, the home side ratcheted up the pressure if that was even possible.

Vincelot was laid out on 75 minutes following a challenge by Rotherham’s goalscorer Taylor who received a booking. In my opinion, if it wasn’t deliberate then he didn’t deserve a booking, but as the referee decided that the challenge was illegal then the force with which he felled the Frenchman should have resulted in a red card. It was red or nothing. Such was the length of the stoppage that both team’s fitness trainers took to the pitch to keep their player’s muscles loose.

Jack O’Connell bounced a header onto the top of the crossbar as the Gills’ fans nerves reached breaking point screaming at the referee to put to an end their agony. There was still time for Lewis Montrose to make a last ditch challenge to deny Lee Frecklington before finally the last whistle sounded to the approval of the noisy, boisterous visitors.

This was the type of performance that wins promotions, perhaps even championships. Rotherham supporters might point to some cynical time-wasting that brought bookings for Nelson and Lee but it was a professional seeing out of a game to its conclusion. This was a win of great significance against the form side of the division at a time when Gillingham’s form has, at best, been patchy. Martin Allen’s delight was fully apparent, whilst this particular writer glowed with pride all the way home.

The New York Stadium, named after the area in which it is situated that previously housed a foundry that made fire hydrants for New York City. A glance to the right as you walk towards the new 12,000 capacity stadium and the floodlights of the old Millmoor ground are in view.

Driving away in the darkness of the evening and the brightly lit frontage is a colourful vision in an area that is rather run-down. Inside the stadium the seating offered plenty of leg room and whilst the climb to your seat is a steep one the rake at least offers an unobstructed view.

After last week’s iconic floodlight pylons at Deepdale, this week’s offering was a bit funky (or rather odd). Strangely, there were only two positioned on the Bob Bennett Stand, whereas the lighting on the opposite side was single lights positioned on the roof of the stand. After the atmosphere-less reside at the Don Valley, it must be heaven for the Millers’ fans to be housed in this shiny new stadium that generates a huge atmosphere.