Gillingham (0) 0
Bradford City (1) 1 Jones 9
Att. 4,975
Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 45/1,960
Match Report
The records are now beginning to tumble in front of Martin Allen's men, this is the worst start to a campaign since 1961/62 season and should Gillingham fail to win at Crewe on Saturday, then it is the worst start ever.
What has gone wrong?
I've no real answers, rumour has it that it is not an entirely happy camp, but that is what it is, rumour. We can draw our own conclusions that the midfield is severely lacking, the centre of defence is too slow and the forwards are just not scoring goals, but why? Is League One that much better, it doesn't appear to be for Bradford City, Rotherham or, to a lesser extent, Port Vale, all of whom came up with us last year. Are we just plain unlucky? Two vital moments went against them against Bradford City, James Hanson was certainly offside in the build up to the goal, but the linesman decided that his forward movement towards the ball was not technically an attempt to become active and, in the second half, Cody McDonald appeared not to be offside when he raced onto a through ball and rounded to keeper only to be denied by the flag of the same linesman. Marginal decisions that have gone against Gillingham, but did they deserve better? Probably not.
The fixture list wasn't kind and some of the defeats along the way have been expected, but once they started having games against the lesser sides of the division then the points needed to roll in, Bradford City at Priestfield had to be earmarked as one such occasion.
The first half performance from Gillingham was truly depressing, with the goal, scored within the first 10 minutes by Gary Jones, or at least claimed by Jones, who took the resultant corner from the attack in which it was claimed that Hanson was offside. Truth is that although Gillingham can feel hard done by with the initial decision it didn't lead directly to a goal and the set piece should have been defended. Whether the ball was touched in at the near post is purely academic.
Kyel Reid and the hugely impressive Nahki Wells were a constant threat and Hanson should have doubled City's advantage before the break when he headed wide unchallenged from two yards after half an hour. Gillingham's only effort on goal was a hooked shot from Adam Barrett that was well saved by John McLaughlin.
The visitor's dominance continued from the outset of the second half, Gillingham getting the better of an official's decision when Leon Legge felled Reid in the penalty area. A golden chance to get back on level terms was spurned by McDonald whose shot on the turn from six yards cleared the bar by some distance after 53 minutes.
One of Gillingham's transfer listed four, Charlie Lee, showed his displeasure at being substituted after 66 minutes. After receiving treatment, the physio indicated with a thumbs up that the combative midfielder was able to continue, but the substitution, bringing on Chris Whelpdale, was made anyway. Lee, walked the perimeter of the pitch back to the dug outs to ringing applause from the Rainham End.
After 72 minutes, McDonald fastened onto Danny Hollands' through ball, rounding the keeper, only to hear the referee's whistle and see the upraised flag before he could slot the ball into the empty goal. In the space of a minute, Wells had two chances to seal the game for Bradford, the first a drive over the bar and the second rattling the woodwork.
The game was seen out by the visitors for their first away win of the season. At the final whistle, there was little derision from the crowd, prompting thoughts that perhaps there is an acceptance of Gillingham's fate this season after just eight games.
Martin Allen made no excuses and that changes to the squad needed to be made which left another song spinning around my head, D:Ream's Things Can Only Get Better, the song that worked for Tony Blair.
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