Match 05/09/757 - Wednesday, 29th July 2009 - Courier Cup
Tonbridge (1) 2 Booth 14, Cade 62
Tunbridge Wells (1) 1 Lord 39
Att. 228
Entrance: £6
Programme: 50p
Mileage: 26/291
Match Report
On a wet night and following an announcement from the Met Office stating the bleeding obvious that the forecast that we should expect an “odds-on barbeque summer” was rather wide of the mark, Tonbridge manager Tommy Warrilow chose a half-strength side to contest the Courier Cup against neighbours Tunbridge Wells.
The half that were first team regulars ultimately was the difference between the sides, but there was some eye-catching performances from some of the Angels’ youngsters that made up the side.
Particularly impressive was Charlie Sharman, a fleet-footed winger, whose speed was instrumental in both Tonbridge goals. Not that Tonbridge had the game all their own way during the first half and first choice keeper, Lee Worgan was forced to make acrobatic tip-over saves from Mike Lord and Alex Rich.
Sharman’s speed on 14 minutes set up the opening the goal. A through ball saw Michael Czanner rush from his goal, but his clearance came off Sharman and rebounded to Paul Booth, who composed himself before sliding the ball into the open goal.
Tunbridge Wells profited from a mistake by young full back George Crimmen whose back pass was woefully underhit. Mike Lord showed similar experience to that of Booth when he seized on the opportunity and although his first two attempts was parried by Worgan, he eventually scored at the third attempt.
The home side had much the better of the second period and following a superb pass from Booth, Jamie Cade was able to finish clinically.
It might well have been thought a shade disrespectful on his Kent League opponents that a weakened side was fielded but with another fixture within 24 hours at Thamesmead, Warrilow took the opportunity to look at some of the kids that might well be squad players this term with the reduced budget he has. As well as Sharman, Luke Blewden, son of Tonbridge legend, Colin, showed up well and there was a composed performance in central defence from Jack Parkes.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Sunday, 26 July 2009
RUFC Calais 0 Gillingham 0
Match 04/09/756 - Saturday, 25th July 2009 - Pre-Season Friendly
RUFC Calais (0) 0
Gillingham (0) 0
Att. 300-ish
Entrance: 3 Euros
Programme: None
Mileage: 103/265
New Ground: 232 (34th abroad)
Match Report
Gillingham and RUFC Calais failed to serve up much in the way of va-va voom in this rather disappointing Pre-Season Friendly.
In the shade of the Ouest Stand in the colourful Stade J. Denis, the warm French sunshine became cool whereas on the pitch the players toiled laboriously in what ultimately turned out to be a feisty affair.
Calais made all of the chances in a first half in which Simon Royce made three good stops to keep the game goalless at half time. A pass inside John Nutter left the French sides’ winger with time and space to pull back a pass, but a clear shooting opportunity was directed straight at Royce. The Gills keeper made a more impressive save soon after saving low to his right after another pass that had exposed the visitors left flank.
Dennis Oli was forced to limp away from the action before Calais once again forced Royce into a fine stop beating away a well hit shot. Gillingham were making very little impression on the hosts goal until a move led to an opportunity for Mark McCammon who failed to test the Calais keeper. Rashid Yussuff then managed to at least test the white-shirted keeper, but not with a shot that as going to dirty the jersey.
Mark Bentley was introduced for the second half replacing Yussuff and Gillingham became a more potent force by virtue of the change but not before Calais struck a post following a corner. Calais continued to have the better of the chances, Royce was required to once again beat away a shot and then was well positioned to safely gather another effort from outside the box.
In a rare Gillingham attack McCammon headed wide from a Chris Palmer free kick, who was beginning to enjoy a bit of space down the right hand side.
A game that had meandered its way for the best part of 70 minutes strangely turned ill-tempered following a foul and a yellow card for Barry Fuller. As if in retaliation, moments later Palmer was scythed down which resulted in a yellow for a home side player. The pushing and shoving following the tackle ended with a yellow for Kevin Maher and another Frenchman. Josh Gowling was then booked for a tackle as the referee became card happy before he brought the proceedings to an end.
The new Calais Stadium is only a couple of kilometres out of the centre of town, from our point of view in the right direction, heading back towards the port or tunnel. It is a colourful sight bedecked in seating in the club colours of yellow and red. Its facilities did appear a little sparse with just one food outlet serving little other than beer. Whilst it is on the compact side, 10,000 seats we estimated, it is presumably more than big enough for their needs in the French lower Division. Plenty of free parking surrounding the stadium, whether this remained free in regular season, perhaps not.
No programmes were issued, which is more often the case in this type of game abroad, so this is the reason why I can only refer to the home side’s players as the Frenchman! Always good to take the opportunity of seeing Gillingham on foreign soil, but on this occasion their performance was a little disappointing and the injury to Dennis Oli will be a further headache for manager Mark Stimson.
And a couple of snaps to prove there is more to Calais than a port
RUFC Calais (0) 0
Gillingham (0) 0
Att. 300-ish
Entrance: 3 Euros
Programme: None
Mileage: 103/265
New Ground: 232 (34th abroad)
Match Report
Gillingham and RUFC Calais failed to serve up much in the way of va-va voom in this rather disappointing Pre-Season Friendly.
In the shade of the Ouest Stand in the colourful Stade J. Denis, the warm French sunshine became cool whereas on the pitch the players toiled laboriously in what ultimately turned out to be a feisty affair.
Calais made all of the chances in a first half in which Simon Royce made three good stops to keep the game goalless at half time. A pass inside John Nutter left the French sides’ winger with time and space to pull back a pass, but a clear shooting opportunity was directed straight at Royce. The Gills keeper made a more impressive save soon after saving low to his right after another pass that had exposed the visitors left flank.
Dennis Oli was forced to limp away from the action before Calais once again forced Royce into a fine stop beating away a well hit shot. Gillingham were making very little impression on the hosts goal until a move led to an opportunity for Mark McCammon who failed to test the Calais keeper. Rashid Yussuff then managed to at least test the white-shirted keeper, but not with a shot that as going to dirty the jersey.
Mark Bentley was introduced for the second half replacing Yussuff and Gillingham became a more potent force by virtue of the change but not before Calais struck a post following a corner. Calais continued to have the better of the chances, Royce was required to once again beat away a shot and then was well positioned to safely gather another effort from outside the box.
In a rare Gillingham attack McCammon headed wide from a Chris Palmer free kick, who was beginning to enjoy a bit of space down the right hand side.
A game that had meandered its way for the best part of 70 minutes strangely turned ill-tempered following a foul and a yellow card for Barry Fuller. As if in retaliation, moments later Palmer was scythed down which resulted in a yellow for a home side player. The pushing and shoving following the tackle ended with a yellow for Kevin Maher and another Frenchman. Josh Gowling was then booked for a tackle as the referee became card happy before he brought the proceedings to an end.
The new Calais Stadium is only a couple of kilometres out of the centre of town, from our point of view in the right direction, heading back towards the port or tunnel. It is a colourful sight bedecked in seating in the club colours of yellow and red. Its facilities did appear a little sparse with just one food outlet serving little other than beer. Whilst it is on the compact side, 10,000 seats we estimated, it is presumably more than big enough for their needs in the French lower Division. Plenty of free parking surrounding the stadium, whether this remained free in regular season, perhaps not.
No programmes were issued, which is more often the case in this type of game abroad, so this is the reason why I can only refer to the home side’s players as the Frenchman! Always good to take the opportunity of seeing Gillingham on foreign soil, but on this occasion their performance was a little disappointing and the injury to Dennis Oli will be a further headache for manager Mark Stimson.
And a couple of snaps to prove there is more to Calais than a port
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Tonbridge 3 Ebbsfleet 2
Match 03/09/755 - Saturday, 18th July 2009 - Pre-Season Friendly
Tonbridge (2) 3 Gooding 38, 43, Sigere 70
Ebbsfleet (2) 2 Shakes 10, Hickey 37 (pen)
Att. 252
Entrance: £6
Programme: 50p
Mileage: 26/162
It would have come as something of a relief for these two Kent clubs to be playing football again. A summer of turmoil can be put behind them and their respective managers will be tested by reduced budgets brought about by their clubs’ off-field problems.
Both managers have had to lose players as these adjustments are being made and for Liam Daish this resulted in a team almost entirely made up of triallists and youth team players at the time the final whistle sounded. Tommy Warrilow’s situation is not quite as critical, he has lost players but there is still the nucleus of half-a-dozen of last season’s successful side.
Longmead looked in fine order with its new perimeter fencing and a lush green pitch that had needed an extra week bedding in, thus causing the postponement of the Gillingham friendly last Saturday. The grass is being kept a little long and its base showed signs of being a bit dusty but appeared to play well.
In an entertaining game, Tonbridge came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 with a second half winner from new signing Jean-Michal Sigere. After an even opening few minutes Ricky Shakes made the most of a excellent left wing cross to head the Fleet into a 10th minute lead. The game continued to be evenly contested until Luke Hickey put the visitors two in front from the penalty spot following a hand ball on 37 minutes.
Rather than being set back by their deficit, Tonbridge produced two Scott Gooding headers from set pieces to go in deservedly all-square at half time.
Tonbridge overall dominated the second half as Daish made wholesale changes. For Tonbridge, Carl Rook, presently trialling at Brighton, was replaced by Paul Booth. Midway through the half, Booth intercepted a poor back pass, rounded the keeper and unselfishly slid a pass for Sigere to tap into a open goal.
Steve Ferguson produced an livewire display down the right wing and should prove a handful for Ryman League defenders in the weeks to come.
It seems strange to say that the loss of a 40 goal striker would be a blessing, but should Brighton firm up their interest in Rook, the money saved on the wage bill, plus a potential fee could free up enough cash for a couple of incoming players. Such is the hard reality of clubs at this level when they lose their principal backers/benefactors.
Tonbridge (2) 3 Gooding 38, 43, Sigere 70
Ebbsfleet (2) 2 Shakes 10, Hickey 37 (pen)
Att. 252
Entrance: £6
Programme: 50p
Mileage: 26/162
It would have come as something of a relief for these two Kent clubs to be playing football again. A summer of turmoil can be put behind them and their respective managers will be tested by reduced budgets brought about by their clubs’ off-field problems.
Both managers have had to lose players as these adjustments are being made and for Liam Daish this resulted in a team almost entirely made up of triallists and youth team players at the time the final whistle sounded. Tommy Warrilow’s situation is not quite as critical, he has lost players but there is still the nucleus of half-a-dozen of last season’s successful side.
Longmead looked in fine order with its new perimeter fencing and a lush green pitch that had needed an extra week bedding in, thus causing the postponement of the Gillingham friendly last Saturday. The grass is being kept a little long and its base showed signs of being a bit dusty but appeared to play well.
In an entertaining game, Tonbridge came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 with a second half winner from new signing Jean-Michal Sigere. After an even opening few minutes Ricky Shakes made the most of a excellent left wing cross to head the Fleet into a 10th minute lead. The game continued to be evenly contested until Luke Hickey put the visitors two in front from the penalty spot following a hand ball on 37 minutes.
Rather than being set back by their deficit, Tonbridge produced two Scott Gooding headers from set pieces to go in deservedly all-square at half time.
Tonbridge overall dominated the second half as Daish made wholesale changes. For Tonbridge, Carl Rook, presently trialling at Brighton, was replaced by Paul Booth. Midway through the half, Booth intercepted a poor back pass, rounded the keeper and unselfishly slid a pass for Sigere to tap into a open goal.
Steve Ferguson produced an livewire display down the right wing and should prove a handful for Ryman League defenders in the weeks to come.
It seems strange to say that the loss of a 40 goal striker would be a blessing, but should Brighton firm up their interest in Rook, the money saved on the wage bill, plus a potential fee could free up enough cash for a couple of incoming players. Such is the hard reality of clubs at this level when they lose their principal backers/benefactors.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Dartford 2 Gillingham 4
Match 02/09/754 - Tuesday, 14th July 2009 - Pre-Season Friendly
Dartford (2) 2 Burchill 37, Flanagan 43
Gillingham (2) 4 Rooney 10, Barcham 37, Wynter 46, Parkes 77
Att. 1,002
Entrance: £10
Programme: £2
Mileage: 54/136
New Ground: 231
Match Report
Gillingham came through a much sterner test last night at Princes Park against a competitive Dartford side. On a night that began wet and ended feeling much cooler than the date suggested it should, Mark Stimson once again fielded two separate sides in each half. As with Saturday’s opener at Folkestone, Aaron Brown played the full 90 minutes suggesting that the manager wants a longer look at the ex-Yeovil triallist. Rashid Yusseff, the stand-out feature of the first game, this time played in the first half side, he was less prominent than Saturday, but continued to impress with his quick eye for a forward pass. The eye-catching performance of the night came from within our own ranks, youngster Luke Rooney giving another livewire performance.
On a pitch that was like a bowling green and a credit to a groundsman that is bound for the Premiership with Fulham, Gillingham passed and moved through their Ryman League opponents in the opening ten minutes and were rewarded with a opening goal from Rooney. A sweet interchange of passes left Andy Barcham with a good shooting opportunity that was parried by Andrew Young, the rebound fell to Rooney who took his time and picked his spot for a good finish.
Let’s not over-hype Rooney (pictured), he is not the second-coming of his Old Trafford namesake, but the lad has talent and looks a very good prospect that might make an impression on the first team in the coming months.
After being given a bit of an early run around the hosts came more into the picture after going behind and stretched the Gillingham back line on several occasions before a suicidal pass across the face of goal left Barcham with the simplest of chances to extend the lead on 37 minutes.
The disappointing period of the night came following the second goal as Gillingham conceded two goals in the time remaining of the first half. A through ball into the channel between John Nutter and the central defenders saw Adam Burchill shoot past Simon Royce for a goal within a minute of Gills second and the equaliser was particularly worrying as a corner was met by ex-Gill Adam Flanagan who powered in a unchallenged header for a Dartford equaliser. A decent first half performance had quickly been erased by some poor defending.
The second half team featured the same triallists as Saturday alongside first pre-season appearances for Luis Cumbers and Tom Wynter. It was the latter that benefited from similar poor defending as he met a Chris Palmer corner at the far post to head home comfortably. Wynter is no giant and the time and space afforded would have rankled Darts boss Tony Burman.
The second period was less cohesive than the first for both teams until 13 minutes from time a 25 yard strike from triallist Jordan Parkes found the bottom right hand corner to wrap up the game. Parkes had a good second half which should lead to further time to impress the manager.
This was my first time at Princes Park and it is a super little ground, unfortunately my abiding memory might well be the 30 minute wait to clear the car park. The eco-friendly construction contains a lot of wood and from the outside would not look out of place in an Alpine ski resort. Inside is a stadium far in excess of what is seen or necessary for their Ryman League status and would not look out of place in the Conference, or perhaps even League Two. The wooden statue of a celebrating supporter is unique and the bowed roofs give a style that is different to other modern day constructions. The 1,002 people assembled managed to create a bit of atmosphere for a pre-season friendly suggesting it could be a noisy venue when filled.
All in all a good night’s entertainment, Gillingham are slowly progressing and even taking into account the non-league opposition, we can be guardedly optimistic.
Dartford (2) 2 Burchill 37, Flanagan 43
Gillingham (2) 4 Rooney 10, Barcham 37, Wynter 46, Parkes 77
Att. 1,002
Entrance: £10
Programme: £2
Mileage: 54/136
New Ground: 231
Match Report
Gillingham came through a much sterner test last night at Princes Park against a competitive Dartford side. On a night that began wet and ended feeling much cooler than the date suggested it should, Mark Stimson once again fielded two separate sides in each half. As with Saturday’s opener at Folkestone, Aaron Brown played the full 90 minutes suggesting that the manager wants a longer look at the ex-Yeovil triallist. Rashid Yusseff, the stand-out feature of the first game, this time played in the first half side, he was less prominent than Saturday, but continued to impress with his quick eye for a forward pass. The eye-catching performance of the night came from within our own ranks, youngster Luke Rooney giving another livewire performance.On a pitch that was like a bowling green and a credit to a groundsman that is bound for the Premiership with Fulham, Gillingham passed and moved through their Ryman League opponents in the opening ten minutes and were rewarded with a opening goal from Rooney. A sweet interchange of passes left Andy Barcham with a good shooting opportunity that was parried by Andrew Young, the rebound fell to Rooney who took his time and picked his spot for a good finish.
Let’s not over-hype Rooney (pictured), he is not the second-coming of his Old Trafford namesake, but the lad has talent and looks a very good prospect that might make an impression on the first team in the coming months.After being given a bit of an early run around the hosts came more into the picture after going behind and stretched the Gillingham back line on several occasions before a suicidal pass across the face of goal left Barcham with the simplest of chances to extend the lead on 37 minutes.
The disappointing period of the night came following the second goal as Gillingham conceded two goals in the time remaining of the first half. A through ball into the channel between John Nutter and the central defenders saw Adam Burchill shoot past Simon Royce for a goal within a minute of Gills second and the equaliser was particularly worrying as a corner was met by ex-Gill Adam Flanagan who powered in a unchallenged header for a Dartford equaliser. A decent first half performance had quickly been erased by some poor defending.
The second half team featured the same triallists as Saturday alongside first pre-season appearances for Luis Cumbers and Tom Wynter. It was the latter that benefited from similar poor defending as he met a Chris Palmer corner at the far post to head home comfortably. Wynter is no giant and the time and space afforded would have rankled Darts boss Tony Burman.
The second period was less cohesive than the first for both teams until 13 minutes from time a 25 yard strike from triallist Jordan Parkes found the bottom right hand corner to wrap up the game. Parkes had a good second half which should lead to further time to impress the manager.
This was my first time at Princes Park and it is a super little ground, unfortunately my abiding memory might well be the 30 minute wait to clear the car park. The eco-friendly construction contains a lot of wood and from the outside would not look out of place in an Alpine ski resort. Inside is a stadium far in excess of what is seen or necessary for their Ryman League status and would not look out of place in the Conference, or perhaps even League Two. The wooden statue of a celebrating supporter is unique and the bowed roofs give a style that is different to other modern day constructions. The 1,002 people assembled managed to create a bit of atmosphere for a pre-season friendly suggesting it could be a noisy venue when filled.
All in all a good night’s entertainment, Gillingham are slowly progressing and even taking into account the non-league opposition, we can be guardedly optimistic.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
Folkestone Invicta 0 Gillingham 3
Match 01/09/753 - Saturday, 11th July 2009 - Pre-Season Friendly
Folkestone Invicta (0) 0
Gillingham (1) 3 Rooney 26, McCammon 46, Palmer 70
Att. 485
Entrance: £8
Programme: £1.50
Mileage: 82/82
Match Report
Gillingham gently eased themselves into pre-season action with a comfortable three goal win against Ryman League Folkestone Invicta at the Buzzlines Stadium. Mark Stimson played a different side in each half with the exception of ex-Yeovil triallist Aaron Brown (don’t panic it’s not him!) playing the full 90 minutes in central defence. An little niggle for Simon King allowing Brown the full term.
The first half saw new signing Kevin Maher captaining the side and featuring another triallist Sam Long, who comes from the Barry Fuller school of raiding full backs spending a lot more time in the opposition half than his own. The front line was occupied by reserve team youngsters Andy Pugh and Luke Rooney and it was the latter that opened the scoring on 26 minutes with a good strike from outside the box following a great cross field pass from Curtis Weston, who patrolled and controlled the midfield throughout the half.
Gillingham’s defence did have a couple of shaky moments before they took the lead when twice, straight passes through the centre of the defence saw Invicta strikers with shooting opportunities which they spurned.
When fed the ball, Andy Barcham had too much pace and too many tricks for the non-leaguers defence, but several crosses into the box failed to find the Gills strikers. It was in midfield where Gills impressed with Weston being complemented by the lively Stuart Lewis with Maher playing the holding role.
The second half side saw the introduction of new signing Chris Palmer, who had a very good first appearance, triallist Rashid Yussuff (pictured), who was very impressive and well worth another look. Defensive triallist Chris McCready paired with Brown were barely stretched as Folkestone ran out of steam and Simon Royce was under much greater threat from a flock of seagulls than any opposition attack.
A minute into the second half Yusseff sent Palmer clear down the left and he crossed for Mark McCammon to tap in from close range and on 70 minutes Yusseff supplied the pass of the match for Palmer to round the keeper and slot home a third.
As with the first half it was the midfield that shone, in addition to the excellent Yusseff there was a solid return to fitness from Adam Miller, young Jack Payne looked at home as the holding midfielder with Dennis Oli raiding the right hand side. Dennis is going to need a superb season if he is going to carry off those pink boots though!
A good opener for Gills at the old, but full of character, Cheriton Road stadium. Hopefully the 485 people present offers Folkestone some respite from their financial difficulties because it would be very sad to see this grand old Kent club disappear from the footballing landscape.
Folkestone Invicta (0) 0
Gillingham (1) 3 Rooney 26, McCammon 46, Palmer 70
Att. 485
Entrance: £8
Programme: £1.50
Mileage: 82/82
Match Report
Gillingham gently eased themselves into pre-season action with a comfortable three goal win against Ryman League Folkestone Invicta at the Buzzlines Stadium. Mark Stimson played a different side in each half with the exception of ex-Yeovil triallist Aaron Brown (don’t panic it’s not him!) playing the full 90 minutes in central defence. An little niggle for Simon King allowing Brown the full term.The first half saw new signing Kevin Maher captaining the side and featuring another triallist Sam Long, who comes from the Barry Fuller school of raiding full backs spending a lot more time in the opposition half than his own. The front line was occupied by reserve team youngsters Andy Pugh and Luke Rooney and it was the latter that opened the scoring on 26 minutes with a good strike from outside the box following a great cross field pass from Curtis Weston, who patrolled and controlled the midfield throughout the half.
Gillingham’s defence did have a couple of shaky moments before they took the lead when twice, straight passes through the centre of the defence saw Invicta strikers with shooting opportunities which they spurned.
When fed the ball, Andy Barcham had too much pace and too many tricks for the non-leaguers defence, but several crosses into the box failed to find the Gills strikers. It was in midfield where Gills impressed with Weston being complemented by the lively Stuart Lewis with Maher playing the holding role.
The second half side saw the introduction of new signing Chris Palmer, who had a very good first appearance, triallist Rashid Yussuff (pictured), who was very impressive and well worth another look. Defensive triallist Chris McCready paired with Brown were barely stretched as Folkestone ran out of steam and Simon Royce was under much greater threat from a flock of seagulls than any opposition attack.A minute into the second half Yusseff sent Palmer clear down the left and he crossed for Mark McCammon to tap in from close range and on 70 minutes Yusseff supplied the pass of the match for Palmer to round the keeper and slot home a third.
As with the first half it was the midfield that shone, in addition to the excellent Yusseff there was a solid return to fitness from Adam Miller, young Jack Payne looked at home as the holding midfielder with Dennis Oli raiding the right hand side. Dennis is going to need a superb season if he is going to carry off those pink boots though!
A good opener for Gills at the old, but full of character, Cheriton Road stadium. Hopefully the 485 people present offers Folkestone some respite from their financial difficulties because it would be very sad to see this grand old Kent club disappear from the footballing landscape.
Saturday, 13 June 2009
Season Review 2008/09
In July 2007 I began writing this blog That’ll Be The Day. It was so entitled because the first game to be covered was England’s opening match at the new Wembley against Brazil and I dreamed that its first season would end back at the national stadium with Gillingham, that’ll be the day was the sign-off remark. Of course, it didn’t happen, quite the reverse as Gillingham were relegated, but this season that day did come and, of course, nobody needs reminding of the outcome.A poor pre-season had left very little optimism. New arrivals had been thin on the ground. Mark McCammon was the headline signing from Doncaster Rovers, Alan Julian had arrived as competition between the sticks and Curtis Weston started the season as a loanee from Leeds United. Defeats were suffered at non-league outposts such as Grays and Dover and the prestige friendly at Priestfield against Birmingham was also lost. McCammon failed to make an appearance, so any hope of his partnership with Simeon Jackson hitting the ground running was lost.
The season’s opener at Bournemouth was beset with problems for the travelling Gills support with one of the coaches not arriving until half time. They missed a half of Gillingham dominance but falling behind to a Darren Anderton goal, but everybody should have made it in time to see Gary Mulligan’s injury time strike for a well-deserved point. Our Carling Cup run lasted just one round as Colchester United left Priestfield with a single goal victory and when the heavily points-penalised Luton Town left Priestfield the following Saturday with all three points black clouds were already gathering.
The first four months of the season was traditional fare for Gillingham supporters with a solid home record being undermined by poor away performances. Despite winning on the second of their travels at Darlington, there was no joy for the travelling faithful until November when a single goal victory was picked up at lowly Macclesfield. During this period the shocking experience at Shrewsbury was suffered alongside desperately poor performances at Exeter and Lincoln. A different, altogether more disturbing set of problems were encountered at Aldershot were the home support has had a notorious reputation during their stay in non-league and they seem intent on furthering it in the Football League. Unfortunately Gillingham’s support was not blameless on a day that resembled a throwback to the 1980s as ugly scenes were witnessed outside the Beehive pub. Despite playing for a large part of the game with ten men following McCammon’s sending off, Gillingham put in a much improved performance but lost to a late goal.
During this period their top half position was almost entirely due to a home run that stretched from that first game defeat against Luton through to late January when Lincoln finally broke an unbeaten sequence of 12 games.
September brought about the first turning point of the season. Charlie Daniels had enjoyed a largely successful month-long spell on loan from Tottenham, highlighted by a superb free kick goal against Grimsby and it was viewed with much disappointment when he opted to return to White Hart Lane to fight for a first eleven spot in the Premiership. In his place (although they played together for one game against Port Vale) came another loanee from Spurs, Andy Barcham, who was to play a significant part in the manner in which the season unfolded.
With no indication that the away form was about to turn, it suddenly did so. The scruffy, single goal victory at Macclesfield was followed up by a far more impressive and surprising FA Cup win at Bury. When Rotherham were swept aside at Priestfield, Gillingham moved into the play-off places. But it was back to earth with an almighty bump as Bury avenged the Cup defeat with a 4-0 thumping at Gigg Lane and when a very good Rochdale side took away a point from Priestfield, Gillingham were heading back in the direction of the middle of the table.
Its was the FA Cup 2nd Round that produced the second turning point of the season. A good home performance against League One Stockport went unrewarded with a goalless draw and elimination seemed inevitable but a well deserved win at Edgeley Park with two goals from Barcham earned a lucrative tie at home to Premiership Aston Villa. The Christmas period brought promotion rivals Brentford and Wycombe to Priestfield, both matches ending in draws when the home side deserved a lot more, but a thoroughly unsatisfactory performance at Dagenham ruined the fans’ Boxing Day.
A capacity crowd and the ITV cameras welcomed Aston Villa and Gillingham did themselves proud. Simeon Jackson scored a superb equaliser and for a while the Premiership giants were rocked but a late, disputed penalty saw the visitors into the fourth round.
With a little national acclaim ringing in their ears Gillingham went back onto the road and won twice in quick succession. A hard fought single goal victory at Morecambe was backed up with a 3-1 win at Port Vale. Meanwhile in the League the unbeaten home record was continuing and when Exeter were beaten the run was extended to 12 games without defeat. Unfortunately it was unlucky 13 as Lincoln came away with injury time winner to complete a double over the Kent club.
A third successive victory on the road was earned at Chester, but after the long unbeaten run, two defeats on the trot was suffered at home when Bradford City were well worth their 2-0 victory and Gillingham slipped back into the middle of the table following a 2-0 defeat at Rotherham.
An amazing 4-4 draw at Priestfield with Aldershot was good spectator viewing but did little to enforce any optimism that Gillingham were to make up the ground on the leaders. But such was the congestion at the top of the table when successive home wins against Macclesfield and Bournemouth were achieved they were back in the play-off places. A hard fought goalless draw on an atrocious night at Luton was followed by a two goal win at Accrington and when a 94th minute penalty won the home game against Darlington it appeared Lady Luck was also beginning to give Gillngham the glad eye.
Revenge was about to taste so sweet as Gillingham took a 2-0 lead against Shrewsbury but their tormentor-in-chief Grant Holt’s two goals denied that satisfaction. On another cold night in a particularly cold winter at Notts County a Simeon Jackson goal was enough to secure a seventh away win and suddenly Gillingham were sitting in second place in the table. Such was the unpredictability of the Division that having reached the dizzy heights a 3-0 pasting at relegation threatened Grimsby was almost inevitable.
At a bad time in the season to enter into a string of poor results, a good performance at League leaders Brentford was only rewarded with a point and another relegation threatened side Barnet won a bit too easily at Priestfield. Another reasonable performance at Wycombe went unrewarded and saw an element of Gillingham’s support turn shamefully on Adam Miller.
Easter Monday’s fixture against play-off outsiders Dagenham resulted in a late Dennis Oli winner to leave Gillingham six points inside the play-off spots with only three games remaining. This was all but rubber-stamped with a win at Chesterfield. A final home victory against Bury, themselves in with a similar chance of automatic promotion, was needed to remain in contention for a top three place, but a draw satisfied neither party and ultimately both had to settle for the play-offs. Fate had dealt its hand that Gillingham’s final opponents, Rochdale, would also be their play-off adversaries, so both managers elected to play weakened sides for the fixture that was won by Gillingham by the odd goal securing their ninth away league victory of the season, who would have guessed that figure going into November with that solitary victory at Darlington.
A cagey first leg affair at Spotland saw Gillingham earn a well-deserved goalless draw and in the return leg a Simeon Jackson penalty saw Gillingham through to Wembley with the opportunity to finally exorcise the memory of the nightmare of September 2008. It is interesting to note, and a credit to Mark Stimson, that the side that faced Shrewsbury at Wembley contained eight of the team that had been hammered 7-0 at the ProStar and two of the remaining three were on the bench for the Final on 23 May 2009 and, of course, That Was The Day.
As the phrase goes “it’s not the way you start it’s the way you finish”. For Gillingham this produced a successful conclusion, for Tonbridge it was all about the finish with a play-off heartache and off the pitch a worrying scenario unfolded.Dover left everybody trailing in their wake in the Ryman Premier while Staines and Tonbridge occupied the leading play-off spots throughout the season. A home play-off fixture was attained by virtue of their third position finish, but there was always a suspicion that the inconsistent home form throughout the season might negate the supposed advantage and so it proved. Tonbridge lost on the night to a far superior Carshalton Athletic side that had been well beaten by the Angels twice in quick succession in February/March. Staines went on to win the play-offs defeating Carshalton by a single goal.
Sadly, in matters that pale football into insignificance, a situation behind-the-scenes had begun to unfold in March. Garry Pass, co-chairman and benefactor to the club, suffered a heart attack which necessitated that he take a backward step from club affairs. By the end of the season his health dictated that he step down completely. Alongside Nick Sullivan, Tonbridge had made great strides during the Pass time of office. The main stand had been fully seated and when a player (or two) was needed for a final push by Tommy Warrilow, money was found to bring in Steve Ferguson, a player with pedigree.
Following the play-off defeat, but with no indication that it was of a consequence, Nick Sullivan also decided that it was time to call a halt to his tenure. A new board was assembled but the club was in a state of uncertainty as Warrilow was told that he would have to work within a much reduced budget for the coming season.
New chairman Steve Churcher has held a public meeting to openly speak of the club’s situation and the mood has become guardedly optimistic. Some players have left the club and more may follow but the basis of a side that will be competitive is in place and the manager has pledged his future to the club.
Gillingham’s success meant that I did not see Tonbridge nearly enough during the season. But what I did see produced a couple of memorable occasions. Firstly there was the 7-1 demolition at Ashford, Middlesex and then in the return fixture a remarkable comeback to win 3-2, one of the best games I saw during the season.
At the time of writing last year's review Fabio Capello had had a couple of uninspiring friendlies in charge and I was commenting that time would be needed to shake up England's over-paid ego-ridden stars. Twelve months later, one foot and a few toes are most firmly in the door as England march towards the World Cup Finals in South Africa. The Wembley viewing has not always been great, but a stunning away victory in Croatia followed by easy victories in Belarus and Kazakhstan has seen the national side on the threshold with a seven out of seven group record. We had a very cold, but enjoyable trip to Berlin for the 2-1 friendly win against the old enemy at the charismatic old Olympic Stadium.
On a personal basis the 2,000th game was passed fittingly at the Play-off Semi-Final at Rochdale. Eight new grounds pushed the total to 230 with new League grounds visited at Morecambe and Accrington, plus new stadiums at Shrewsbury and Darlington and a temporary home for Rotherham. Berlin provided the highlight of the visits and Bly Spartans the most humble.
End of season totals: Games 2,003. Grounds: 230
Thursday, 11 June 2009
England 6 Andorra 0
Match 68/08/752 - Wednesday, 10th June 2009 -
World Cup Qualifying Group Six
England (3) 6 Rooney 4, 39 Lampard 29 Defoe 73, 76 Crouch 81
Andorra (0) 0
Att. 57,897
Entrance: £24
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/8,943
Match Report
The stadium announcer unusually made the announcement of the attendance during play and made reference to the FA’s thanks that 57,897 had made it to Wembley despite the best attempts of Bob Crowe and the RMT tube strike. This was a fantastic effort by England supporters especially given the offer of refunded money on tickets for people that were unable to travel.
On the pitch the fans were rewarded with a easy victory over the Group Six minnows from the Pyrenees. England now stand on the threshold of World Cup qualification, one more victory from their final three games would suffice, but there is even a possibility that they will be South Africa-bound before their next game against Croatia.
Previous fixtures against the tough, and frequently foul, tackling Andorrans has seen England struggling to break down a 10 man defensive formation that sees the furthest player no higher up the pitch than his own 18 yard box. This time around England started like a runaway train so lacking on the Bakerloo line, an early Rooney chance had been saved by the retiring Andorran keeper Koldo Alvarez before the Manchester United striker headed home a Glen Johnson cross to open the scoring.
Johnson went on to earn the man of the match award for a fine attacking display which included laying on four of the goals. The best part of 25 minutes elapsed before Robert Green had a first touch of the ball and only had a further five touches in the 90 minutes. All the while, David Beckham strode around the midfield with a majesty reserved for a sovereign king. Hollywood passes were sprayed forty and fifty yards, left and right, with unerring accuracy, in all over a ton of passes were made accurately. Beckham will never enjoy an easier quarterback role with acres of space in which to perform, but it did make admirable viewing.
Frank Lampard added a second, the best goal of the night, following a Theo Walcott cross in a move begun by Johnson and when Rooney volleyed a third from another Johnson cross the only bets were on how many England would score.
Fabio Capello sent Rooney and Steven Gerrard on their holidays replacing them with Jermaine Defoe and Ashley Young. Defoe cashed in with a couple of goals and Peter Crouch benefited from comedy defending to run in a sixth, much to the humour of all around, none more so than Fabio himself.
So my season that had started on 12 July 2008 at Bly Spartans finally came to a close 11 months later with the national side all but secure in World Cup Qualification to add to Gillingham’s promotion. It’s been a good one.
The tube strike meant a first-ever drive to Wembley and for us it worked out fine. A free parking space was found on Hanger Lane and the walk of a little over a mile took us past a biker’s café called Ace, where the food was enjoyed much more than the plastic fare on offer at the Stadium.
So season two of the blog comes to an end, only four weeks to pre-season three!
World Cup Qualifying Group Six
England (3) 6 Rooney 4, 39 Lampard 29 Defoe 73, 76 Crouch 81
Andorra (0) 0
Att. 57,897
Entrance: £24
Programme: £6
Mileage: 100/8,943
Match Report
The stadium announcer unusually made the announcement of the attendance during play and made reference to the FA’s thanks that 57,897 had made it to Wembley despite the best attempts of Bob Crowe and the RMT tube strike. This was a fantastic effort by England supporters especially given the offer of refunded money on tickets for people that were unable to travel.On the pitch the fans were rewarded with a easy victory over the Group Six minnows from the Pyrenees. England now stand on the threshold of World Cup qualification, one more victory from their final three games would suffice, but there is even a possibility that they will be South Africa-bound before their next game against Croatia.
Previous fixtures against the tough, and frequently foul, tackling Andorrans has seen England struggling to break down a 10 man defensive formation that sees the furthest player no higher up the pitch than his own 18 yard box. This time around England started like a runaway train so lacking on the Bakerloo line, an early Rooney chance had been saved by the retiring Andorran keeper Koldo Alvarez before the Manchester United striker headed home a Glen Johnson cross to open the scoring.
Johnson went on to earn the man of the match award for a fine attacking display which included laying on four of the goals. The best part of 25 minutes elapsed before Robert Green had a first touch of the ball and only had a further five touches in the 90 minutes. All the while, David Beckham strode around the midfield with a majesty reserved for a sovereign king. Hollywood passes were sprayed forty and fifty yards, left and right, with unerring accuracy, in all over a ton of passes were made accurately. Beckham will never enjoy an easier quarterback role with acres of space in which to perform, but it did make admirable viewing.
Frank Lampard added a second, the best goal of the night, following a Theo Walcott cross in a move begun by Johnson and when Rooney volleyed a third from another Johnson cross the only bets were on how many England would score.
Fabio Capello sent Rooney and Steven Gerrard on their holidays replacing them with Jermaine Defoe and Ashley Young. Defoe cashed in with a couple of goals and Peter Crouch benefited from comedy defending to run in a sixth, much to the humour of all around, none more so than Fabio himself.
So my season that had started on 12 July 2008 at Bly Spartans finally came to a close 11 months later with the national side all but secure in World Cup Qualification to add to Gillingham’s promotion. It’s been a good one.
The tube strike meant a first-ever drive to Wembley and for us it worked out fine. A free parking space was found on Hanger Lane and the walk of a little over a mile took us past a biker’s café called Ace, where the food was enjoyed much more than the plastic fare on offer at the Stadium.
So season two of the blog comes to an end, only four weeks to pre-season three!
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