Gillingham 3 Oldham Athletic 3

Match 28/15/1233 - Saturday, 3rd October 2015 - League One

Gillingham (2) 3 Donnelly 8,33 Hessenthaler 57
Oldham Athletic (2) 3 Dickenson (o.g.) 28 Poleon 36 Higdon 55
Attendance: 6,157

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 56/1,733

Match Report

At the beginning of the season I had not given a single thought to Gillingham being at the top of the table at any time; I didn't think that after nine games and successive defeats on the road they would still be sitting third in the table and I didn't dare dream of the play-offs. Now some would say they are the thought of a pessimist, perhaps, but I prefer realist. The reaction of some Gillingham supporters to this minor setback indicates there are more than a few non-realists in our midst.

It’s not that anybody has anything really to complain about. Yes, defensively this was a sloppy display and, agreed, when you looked at the league table, Oldham were supposedly there for the taking. But David Dunn has steadied the ship since taking over and they are the league’s draw specialists with eight in their eleven games played. Gillingham were on a run of eight consecutive wins at Priestfield dating back to April of last season and have now scored 17 goals in their six league games, so it’s not all bad.

But, for Justin Edinburgh, he now has the task of managing expectations as well as a football team. In these days of instant gratification, we now have a breed of supporter for whom a home draw is just not good enough, whatever the circumstances, however good their present form may be.

Not being one being one for confrontation, I was glad that somebody else took the initiative and shouted that the perpetrators should “get off the backs of the players”.

The game itself was very entertaining, albeit a bit of a disaster in terms of defending for both coaches. Gillingham were very quickly out of the blocks and ahead after just seven minutes with a wonderfully crafted goal. Superb link-up play between Brennan Dickenson and the much maligned Luke Norris finished with Dickenson crossing across the face of goal to the feet of Rory Donnelly, who had an easy finish from the right hand corner of the six yard box.

Oldham knocked on the door several times before finding an equaliser with the experienced Michael Higdon and the raw pace of Dominic Poleon proving a real handful. When the equaliser came, after 28 minutes, it was down to poor defending rather than any ingenuity on behalf of the Oldham front two. The home side were given plenty of opportunity to clear a cross into the box to safety, but when they failed a shot from Higdon took a deflection off Dickenson to find its way into the net. From my seat, it looked a bit harsh to deny Higdon the goal, but own goal is the official verdict.

Within five minutes Gillingham were in front once more, this time with question marks against the goalkeeping of David Cornell. A lofted cross into the box looked nothing more than catching practice for the keeper, but as he delayed his advance from the line, Donnelly was able to get to the ball first and direct a header past the stranded keeper.

Barely had the celebrations died down before the visitors were once more level. A loose clearance from John Egan only found Liam Kelly, whose slide-rule pass found the lightening quick Poleon to lift the ball over the on-rushing Stuart Nelson.

Poleon was very impressive and another example of the talent that has spent time rotting away in the outer reaches of the Chelsea extended squad.

Ten minutes into the second half and further nightmare defending saw the Lancastrians take the lead for the first time. A cross from the right from Poleon to the far post found the unmarked Higdon, who scored with a cushioned volley.

Once again a lead was short lived and 90 seconds later the home side were level. Josh Wright made a run to the edge of the box and from a tackle the ball found its way to the feet of substitute Jake Hessenthaler who buried a shot into the top corner.

At this point, I was guessing this game could go either way, with a 5-4 or similar not out of the question. But somewhere, out of a defensive shambles, both teams managed to lock the doors on any further goalscoring.

Gillingham dropped a place to fourth in the table probably adding more ire to the moaning minnies. To them I would say, if you are not satisfied, then put yourself on a train to London and pay top dollar to watch Arsenal or Chelsea. But, do you know what, sometimes they don’t win either.

Quirky Priestfield Photo No. 1