Woking (1) 3 McCallum 35, Williams (pen) 55, McNamme 90
Gillingham (0) 0
Att. 654
Entrance: £3 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 129/454
New Ground: 255
Match Report
A pre-travel check on the vagaries of the M25 traffic left initial doubts as to whether to make the trip at all. There had been an accident that was causing major delays, but once I realised that I was getting my clockwises confused I decided that as it was on the other side of the road I would set out. This fixture had been earmarked when the pre-season fixtures were announced. Three opportunities to visit Kingfield with Tonbridge had passed me by, as it turned out the tick in the grounds visited book was the only redeeming feature of the day.
After watching a woefully poor display from Gillingham, the homeward journey was a nightmare. The accident had not been cleared as it involved a mobile crane and delays through the incident were 90 minutes long. I attempted to circumnavigate my way around that stretch of the motorway by winding my way through south west London boroughs, but these were also snarled and by the time I arrived home I had no more than broken even on time.
The Kingfield Stadium is an everyday non-league ground as you look around three sides, one of which was not in use anyway. That is before you cast your eyes on the magnificent Leslie Gosden stand. This has to be one of the best stands in non-league football attached to a club that has never played in the Football League. The 2,000 seat structure stands alone as the only part of a four phase plan begun in 1995 to be completed.
On the field, this was one match in which my opinion has to be at odds with manager Martin Allen as he tried to draw positives from it. Even the most one-eyed of the few Gillingham fans that made the journey will be hard put to see the bright side. Cody McDonald looked quite sharp but paired with the largely ineffective Antonio German he was fighting a lone battle. The midfield, with the exception of Steven Gregory, who was half-decent, was poor and sloppy defending accounted for two of the goals.
In a competitive fixture Woking's Jack Parkinson would have seen a red card after 26 minutes as McDonald was pulled back when through on goal, lenient refereeing amounted to just a word in the ear.
The hosts took the lead after 35 minutes when Gavin McCallum shrugged off the attentions of Joe Martin to lob the advancing Stuart Nelson. At the start of the second half, a couple of efforts from Gregory and Chris Whelpdale stung the hands of goalkeeper Aaron Howe before the home side doubled their lead from the penalty spot. John Akinde, who once interested the Gills, was brought down by Leon Legge allowing Gavin Williams to convert the spot kick. It was difficult to see from the length of the pitch whether Legge got anything on the ball, but it was disputed by the defender.
Gilingham ended the game with a three-pronged attack of McDonald, Akinfenwa and Kedwell as they attempted to salvage at least a consolation goal but were stunned by either a touch of magic from Anthony McNamee or a complete fluke when his shot from wide right sailed into the top corner of Nelson's goal. Having seen McNamee terrorise defences in his time at Watford, it is something of a surprise to see him plying his trade in the Conference.
The phoney war is over; bring on the battle for points.
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