Gillingham (1) 1 Kedwell 21
Port Vale (2) 2 Pope 3, Hughes 20
Att. 8,392
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Mileage: 45/3,557
Match Report
The week had been spent calling the game “a six pointer” with top hosting second. As it was, the result didn’t feel like a six point loss; had Gillingham won the game and gone five points clear with a game in hand, the feeling would have been quite different. Somewhat biased? Perhaps, but the resultant table doesn’t suggest it.
Earlier in the week, Martin Allen made a last minute bid to sign Lee Hughes who had already had transfer talks with Port Vale. The striker decided to honour the deal made with the Burslem club and, naturally enough, scored against his suitors.
Hughes, without any doubt, will score at hatful of goals at League Two level and, quite possibly, in tandem with the prolific Tom Pope, will be the addition that propels Vale to promotion as champions. That, in any almost any other player, would be enough to satisfy the support, but in the case of Lee Hughes and the stigma he brings to a club, I wonder if there are more than a few Vale fans that have some misgivings. Easily interpreted as sour grapes, but I would not want him attached to Gillingham Football Club.
In August 2004, Hughes was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving for which he received a sentence of six years’ imprisonment. The previous November he lost control of his Mercedes and the resultant crash with another car led to the death of a father-of-four and serious injuries to the other two occupants. Hughes left the scene of the crash and failed to report the accident, it was 36 hours later when he turned himself into the police. On leaving prison having served three years of his sentence, he professed that “his mistakes would live with him for the rest of his life and that he would never forgive himself.” In 2012, he was found guilty of common assault.
A player with such a catalogue of misdemeanours is going to bring with him a lot of baggage that is going to be seized upon by opposition supporters up and down the country and at Gillingham it was no different. From his announcement on the team sheet through to every touch of the ball, the chant was “murderer” to which he arrogantly played the part of the orchestral conductor. To face up to such abuse takes a very single-minded character and the way in which he coped was, in many ways, admirable, but would I want to have to listen to that being directed at one of my club’s players on every away trip . . . even if it costs us the championship, the answer is firmly no.
I can understand Martin Allen’s desire to get him to the club. Gillingham need a striker of his quality, he has pace, is as strong as an ox and a proven goalscorer. Allen, having worked with him at Notts County would know all of his strengths and more, but I stand by my viewpoint and, likewise, I would never want Marlon King to return to the club.
Gillingham’s recent home form has been poor, whilst successive wins on the road at Southend and Bristol Rovers retained their position at the top of the table. A near sell-out crowd in the home areas of Priestfield, producing a vibrant atmosphere, were stunned as the visitors opened the scoring through Pope and, on 20 minutes, doubled their advantage with a goal that Hughes will seek to claim. A powerful shot from Danny Kedwell, a minute later, kept the crowd’s noise levels high despite the deficit, in a frantic opening period.
Less than four minutes of the game had elapsed when a long cross from the left by Adam Yates found Pope in a one-on-one aerial battle with Adam Barrett which the 25 goal leading scorer won, looping a header back across the face of Stuart Nelson and into the far corner of the net.
Gillingham responded well and Myles Weston, who enjoyed a good opening spell, drew a fine save from Chris Neal at the near post. The referee, who did little to endear himself to the home support, awarded a very debateable free kick to Port Vale on the right that was delivered to the far post and the head of Pope, who directed it back across the face of goal for Hughes to bundle a header home. The goal has been variously credited to own goals by either Barrett or Nelson, but Hughes will claim, and probably be awarded it.
Straight from the kick off, Kedwell’s rasping shot brought the home side back into the game and with seven minutes remaining in the half, much to the delight of his detractors, Hughes found his way into the referee’s notebook for persistent foul play.
The second half was a one-way onslaught of the Vale goal, but to their credit the visitors offered up very little in the way of clear shooting opportunities to the hosts. Substitute Adam Birchall had a shot cleared from the line and Kedwell needed a first-time finish rather than trying to take a second touch as Gillingham desperately sought an equaliser in the last 20 minutes. Another substitute, Charlie Lee brought an instinctive save from Neal with a close range header and it was suspected that this was to not to be Gillingham’s day. This was nearly confirmed in time added when Ben Williamson got clear as Gillingham pressed everybody forward but he shot wastefully wide.
Port Vales's sizeable support, numbering 716, were left to celebrate a magnificent victory. Clinical in front of goal in the first 20 minutes and then resilient in defence they did enough, despite a spirited second half from their hosts, to deserve the points, but whether they are able to sit comfortably in their seats at Vale Park with Lee Hughes on the pitch in their colours is a matter only they can decide.
The classic programme covers that are being replicated for this centenary season today came from the 1974-75 season.
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