Gillingham 1 Shrewsbury Town 1

Match 82/16/1389 - Saturday, 28th January 2017 - League One

Gillingham (1) 1 Oshilaja 45
Shrewsbury Town (0) 1 Rodman 61
Attendance: 5,316

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 58/5,819

Match Report

This week, football-wise has been a complete write-off (or even white-off). Three evenings, a choice of five matches, none of which went ahead due to the big freeze. So, as the weather warmed over the last 24 hours, at last there was a game to go to. By half-time I was actually left wondering if I had missed anything, despite Gillingham going into the break a goal up. From an entertainment point of view the game improved considerably in the second half but Gillingham were unable to hold on to their lead.

This was Adrian Pennock's first home game since his appointment following the sacking of Justin Edinburgh. Two away games have yielded a poor performance and a defeat at Oldham and a battling display and a point at league leaders Sheffield United. Pennock was a popular player in his time at Priestfield and was, of course, the captain at Wembley in 1999 when promotion to the Championship was won. So the man comes with a wealth of goodwill even if there is a question mark as to whether a more experienced manager, for example Kenny Jackett or Steve Cotterill, should have been chosen.

It is going to take time for Pennock to instil into his side his own ethos and one prays that there is enough time left for that to happen, on this showing the same old failings of the Edinburgh regime surfaced as soon as Shrewsbury went in search of something out of the game in the second half. The defence dropped deeper and deeper and the ball was continually given away cheaply. On the positive side, the Bradley Dack we saw was more reminiscent of last season's version; Bradley Garmston came off the bench for his first league appearance of the season to good effect whilst the resurgent form of Stuart Nelson ensured that Gillingham came away with something from the afternoon.

The first 20 minutes were as dull as anything we had seen before. A Dack free kick whistled over; Freddie Lapado made a hash of an opportunity for the visitors and a minute later Cody McDonald was sent clear but his shot was saved by Jayson Luitwiler. With both sides under new management, neither looked absolutely sure what was expected of them.

The half dragged its way laboriously towards the break with a shot apiece that the goalkeeper fielded rather than saved before a good, old-fashioned lump upfield from Nelson found its way to Deji Oshilaja, who had been upfield for a corner, to calmly slip the ball past Luitwiler.

The second period started better with McDonald bringing a save with his legs from Luitwiler. The visitors had also been brought to life by the half-time break and Nelson saved from Abu Agogo and needed the help of Ryan Nelson to clear after saving from Alex Rodman.

Rodman was guilty of an unbelievable miss after 50 minutes when he struck a post with the goal gaping following a cross from Lapado.

However, the reprieve was relatively short-lived as a cross fell to Tyler Roberts courtesy of a deflection. Roberts shot was saved by Nelson but only back into the path of Rodman, who this time wasn't going to miss.

Gillingham responded with a spirited effort to find a winner. Dack clipped the bar with a free kick and Max Ehmer hit a post from a tight angle.

As I walked away, my first thoughts were new start, same old dross but on reflection that is more than a little harsh. But realistically that is six games without a win for Gillingham and they are seriously looking over their shoulders.