Southend United 1 Gillingham 3

Match 11/16/1319 - Saturday, 6th August 2016 - League One

Southend United (1) 1 McLaughlin 23
Gillingham (1) 3 Emmanuel-Thomas 38, Ehmer 47, Osadebe 80
Attendance: 8,141

Entrance: £15 Senior
Programme: £3
Mileage: 120/1,426

Match Report

The mercury tipped out at 27degC, the Dartford Tunnel took an hour to negotiate and the Arterial Road into Southend was stop-start; throw in a Kiss-Me-Quick Hat and a 99 and you have a traditional day at the seaside resort. You also have the opening day to the 2016-17 League season.

The green baize looked resplendent, at odds with the rickety, well past its sell-by date surrounds. Roots Hall seems to deteriorate a little more with each visit. The toilets are a health hazard and a not-so gentle reminder of the Rainham End's facilities in the days when it was a standing terrace. Why the club has wasted money on a bar-code reading entry system when everything around them is crumbling beggars belief.

If you cannot be optimistic on the opening day then you'll never have that frame of mid. Gillingham were backed by a boisterous following of nearly 1,800 who had had their hopes for the new season raised with the season-long loan of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas from Queen's Park Rangers. As the game unfolded, I cannot remember a player making such an immediate impact in a long time.

Emmanuel-Thomas is well known to Gillingham supporters and whilst thrilled with his signing and his debut performance, they will also know that inconsistency has been much of the reason his career hasn't reached greater heights following his apprenticeship with Arsenal.

Southend dominated the opening quarter of the game and should have gone in front after 10 minutes when their new signing, Simon Cox, scuffed his shot in front of goal having been set up by David Mooney. The home side got their lead after 20 minutes. Paul Konchelsky's clearance was returned with the ball being fed to Stephen McLaughlin, who from 25 yards, tried his luck and was probably as surprised as the rest of us when his bread and butter effort somehow found its way under Stuart Nelson.

The goalkeeper atoned for his error five minutes later when he blocked a Mooney header from close range as the Gillingham defence were once more carved open.

But the goal had acted as the blue touch paper for the visitors who started to create chances of their own and were level with five minutes of the half remaining. Konchelsky dragged a corner back to the edge of the box at the near post and Emmanuel-Thomas fired first time into the bottom corner. Straight off the training ground with the new man having had just one session.

Two minutes into the second period and Gillingham were ahead with the old long throw routine that you couldn't believe Southend fell for. Jackson hurled it to the near post and Max Ehmer steered his header into the far corner.

Gillingham dominated the second period completely with Southend having no answer to the direct running of Emmanuel-Thomas, who was only inches away from further strikes on a couple of occasions.

The two Emmanuel's, Osadebe and Thomas, linked after Osadebe's surging run from midfield, with Thomas laying the ball off for the younger Emmanuel to fire home Gillingham's clincher.

After a shaky opening 20 minutes, Gillingham looked very good and if Justin Edinburgh can coax consistency out of Emmanuel-Thomas then a repeat of last season's promotion challenge might not be so fanciful.