Gillingham 0 Preston North End 1

Match 34/14/1143 - Tuesday, 21st October 2014 - League One

Gillingham (0) 0
Preston North End (0) 1 Gallagher 59
Att. 4,632

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 52/2,353

Match Report

Firstly, it has to be said, that this was a massive improvement on Gillingham’s last time out at Priestfield and that humbling defeat by Scunthorpe. Unfortunately, the result was the same leaving the Kent club with their heads only above the relegation line by virtue of goal difference and have now gone six league games since their last win.

This was a game of two very different halves that was largely governed by the stiff wind caused by the remnants of Hurricane Gonzalo that had battered Britain all day. It was necessary to take advantage of your turn to have Gonzalo at your backs, Gillingham may feel slightly unlucky not to have entered the break with a lead but, in not doing so, the second period was always going to be a much different game.

Preston North End are no mean side, they came into the game with five straight wins and, having extended that, sit very nicely in third place in League One.

Gillingham are being hurt by an injury list that shows no sign of abating. Danny Kedwell and Stuart Nelson have returned to first team duty after their time on the sidelines, but in their place, Aaron Morris and Kortney Hause were absentees from this game.

Kedwell, back with his usual bundle of enthusiasm, nearly opened the scoring in the opening minutes. A cross from Joe Martin saw the striker throwing himself at the ball and meeting it with a firm header. A yard to the left or right would surely have seen the ball nestling in the net, but it was straight at the Preston goalkeeper, Jamie Jones, who blocked his effort on the goal line.

The visitors responded with a header from Joel Garner that hit the bar but Gillingham were denied again when John Egan’s header from a corner was cleared from the line.

The game was proving to be very entertaining despite the difficulty caused by Gonzalo and after 35 minutes a cross-cum-shot from Brennan Dickenson caught the wind and deceived Jones who was mightily relieved to see the ball strike the bar and cleared to safety.

The storm was actually gathering momentum into the second half and Priestfield became rain-lashed in the process. Preston now had the benefit of the wind and the possession stats swung heavily in their favour. After 55 minutes, they hit a post with a close range shot and a few minutes later, a header from Callum Robinson also struck a post. The warning signs were very much there but they were not to be heeded.

From the resultant corner following Robinson’s header, the ball was retrieved on the right, swung back in by Chris Humphrey to the far post from where Paul Gallagher buried his header.

The goal and the subsequent substitutions drew much of the momentum from Gillingham’s game and the last half hour was largely controlled by the visitors. They struck the woodwork a fourth time when Gallagher hit the bar with a shot after being set up by the veteran Kevin Davies.

Gonzalo has blown its course; we now need the wind of change to turn in Gillingham’s favour as they stare at the trap door. Peter Taylor will come under mounting pressure should the winnable game at Priestfield against Crawley on Saturday end in another disappointment.