Gillingham 3 Bury 1

Match 42/15/1247 - Saturday, 14th November 2015 - League One

Gillingham (2) 3 Samuel 5, Egan 9, Osadebe 86
Bury (1) 1 Clarke 3
Attendance: 6,063

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 56/2,985

Match Report

This was a day when sport was relegated to complete insignificance by virtue of the terrorist atrocities in Paris on Friday evening that left 128 people dead and many more fighting for their lives. It seems almost inconceivable that standing at an English Football League match observing a minute's silence in tribute to the victims, that the word lucky might be used. But at an international match at the Stade de France between France and Germany, one of the terrorists who was laden with a suicide belt of explosives, was found to have had a ticket for the match. One dare not think about the consequences had he made inside the arena.

Sport, though, can offer an element of escapism from the reality of a harsh world, albeit for just a couple of hours. And, if you can return after your time away from the horrors of continuous TV and radio coverage, having seen your team perform well; rise back to the top of the table and witness a goal the like of which you are unlikely to see again this season, then the smile on your face justifies that escape.

Gillingham supporters needed a little lift irrespective of events elsewhere in the world. Exits from both the FA Cup and the Johnson's Paint Trophy to lower division opposition and, from reports, a horrible performance at Stevenage was headlined as a mini slump.

The opening 10 minutes saw mixed emotions for a couple of players with differing milestones. Stuart Nelson, playing his 150th game for the club, could only watch helplessly as a Leon Clarke header came down from the underside of the bar to cross the line for a fourth minute opener. But, within a couple of minutes, debutant Dominic Samuel, on loan from Reading, seized on a rebound to drive home a shot from the edge of the six yard box.

Gillingham completed their recovery from the early set-back after 10 minutes when a cross from Bradley Garmston was headed back across the face of goal by Harry Lennon to his fellow central defender, John Egan, whose volleyed finish was that of seasoned striker.

One could only imagine what the 18-year-old debutant Bury goalkeeper, Jack Ruddy, was making of his opening few minutes of first team football, surely it can't be like this every week?

Thankfully, for the young lad, the game settled into something resembling normality and he would have felt a touch better going into the break with a couple of comfortable saves under this belt.

Bury, who started the day sixth in the table, were certainly not at Priestfield to make up the numbers and a last ditch tackle from Garmston and a clearance from the goal line by Lennon served as heavy reminders to the home side.

The moment that will live long in the memory came with a couple of minutes remaining. Emmanuel "Paddy" Osadebe collected a loose ball fully 20 yards inside his own half with an acre of space in front of him to drive into. After about 30 yards he rode a couple of challenges to continue his run to the bye-line from where the easiest option would have been to engineer a corner from his defender, but he cut inside leaving him with the goalkeeper on his near post who was to be beaten with a shot across the face of the goal. It was a triumph of determination and persistence, a lung-busting 70 yard run with a sublime finish and the lad is just 19 years of age.

The final whistle sounded like the last post, a return to the grim reality of the modern world but with a temporary smile courtesy of Paddy Power.