Gillingham Town 9 v 2 Bitton – 03/09/13
This game followed Saturday’s hard defeat with a depleted team against table toppers Cadbury Heath.
The three absentees from Saturday’s defeat, namely Ben Thomson, Aaron Rodriguez and Gary Bowles, were all available for this game. The only noticeable absentee was prolific goalscorer Lee Gale who was on holiday and this meant that once again defender Nick Thomson was a stand-in striker alongside his brother Ben.
The Gills got off to a bright start with the Thomson brothers looking dangerous as early as the 3rdminute when a last ditch block stopped a Nick Thomson shot from finding the back of the net.
Despite completely dominating the game we had to wait till the 13thminute for the first goal. Harry Baker fed the ball into Aaron Rodriguez who, in his usual style, took the ball inside the area and beat three defenders before drilling his low shot into the goal to make it 1-0.
Just after this Ashley Clarke went close with a spectacular volley but it was another move by the Thomson brothers after 25 minutes that led to the Gills’ second goal. Ben Thomson completely outpaced his marker down the right wing before crossing the ball to Nick at the back post whose header found the back of the net to make it 2-0.
On 33 minutes and completely against the run of play, Bitton scored when the Gills defence switched off and a header by an unmarked player inside the area went in off the post to make it 2-1. 2 minutes later an industrious Harry Baker was blatantly fouled out by the corner flag and the resultant free kick was met by the head of Jack Vallis but he saw his effort hit the crossbar.
On 36 minutes the Gills restored their two goal cushion when Aaron Rodriguez took a superb free kick out on the right wing. The ball curled towards goal just needing a slight touch but the ball actually sailed through the crowded area straight into the goal to make the score 3-1.
Bitton scored a second goal just 3 minutes later when the normally solid Gills defence conceded another soft goal when an unmarked player in front of goal scored with another close range header to make it 3-2. However, the two goal cushion was restored in the last minute of the half. A long Jamie Beale kick bounced over the head of a defender but Ben Thomson judged the flight of the ball well and then lobbed it over the head of the advancing keeper into an empty net to make it 4-2.
So an exciting first half had seen the Gills completely dominate the game scoring 4 goals in the process but also allowing Bitton some hope by conceding two soft goals.
The second half started off in the same vein and in the first minute a Jack Vallis header from a corner was cleared off the line. Bitton were powerless to stop the onslaught and as a result the Gills made it 5-2 in the 53rdminute. Once again the Thomson brothers combined well with Ben once again beating his marker and driving a low cross along the edge of the six yard box where Nick drilled the ball into the back of the net for his second.
2 minutes later Gills keeper Jamie Beale saw a rare piece of action when he had to block a fierce Bitton shot at goal, but the Gills immediately took control of the game again and scored a sixth goal only 2 minutes later. This time Gary Bowles took a free kick near the half way line and this was met by the head of Jack Vallis who headed the ball into the path of Nick Thomson who put the ball into the back of the net to score his hat-trick and make it 6-2.
The Gills made it 7-2 on the 65 minute mark when a Harry Baker free kick just inside the Bitton half was floated into the area and yet again Jack Vallis rose above everybody to win the ball and his close range header went into the bottom right corner of goal.
The Gills scored their 8thgoal on 77 minutes when Danny Thompson drove into the left hand edge of the area and then unselfishly pulled the ball back to Ashley Clarke who drilled a low shot home from the edge of the area.
The 9thgoal was scored by Harry Baker in the 81stminute and with 2 minutes left to play Harry was brought down inside the area and, in the absence of Lee Gale, the resultant penalty was taken by Gary Bowles. Gary blasted the ball at goal only to see it deflect off the body of the Bitton keeper to deny him a goal and stop the Gills’ score going into double figures.
So the game ended with an emphatic 9-2 victory for the Gills. Bitton simply couldn’t handle the Gills, especially the new striking partnership between the Thomson brothers, the runs of Aaron Rodriguez and Jack Vallis’ prowess in the air.
All of this can’t help but make you wonder how the Gills would have got on against Cadbury Heath with the same team.
Man of the Match was Nick Thomson.
Gills line-up: Beale, Murray (Sansom 74), Smeeton, Vallis, Compton (Cox 64), Bowles, Baker H, Clarke, Thomson N, Thomson B, Rodriguez (Thompson 64). Unused subs: Baker J, Foster.
