Hallen 2 v 2 Gillingham Town 05/04/14
Going into this match the Gills were unbeaten in four games and were expected to do well against mid-table Hallen, who, in contrast, hadn’t won in their last six games.
Unfortunately Steve Smith failed a pre-match fitness test and, although sat on the bench, wasn’t realistically going to take any part in the game. As a result Danny Thompson started up front alongside Benjani Ben-Salem.
The Gills started the game well, confidently passing the ball around and it was past the ten minute mark before Hallen had their first foray into the Gillingham half. However, despite being in total control of the game, the Gills were lacking that incisive edge and couldn’t turn their dominance into clear cut chances till the 19thminute when a Danny Thompson cross was nicked off the head of Dan Cox by Hallen keeper, Lee Ballard just before he could head home.
The beakthrough came just 2 minutes later when a cross by Ryan Murray was met at the back post by an unmarked Ashley Clarke who volleyed home giving Ballard no chance. The Gills continued to dominate but it was Hallen who scored next with their first attack on the Gills’ goal just before the half hour mark. A low, driven cross from the right wing found a Hallen striker unmarked on the penalty spot and he placed his effort just inside the post to make it 1-1.
The goal seemed to lift the Hallen players and they certainly upped their game, but it was the Gills who continued to dominate for long spells, but again without testing Ballard. In fact the next chance didn’t come till 6 minutes before half time when Ryan Murray put another quality cross into the area which Benjani Ben-Salem beat two defenders to get his head to. However, he didn’t make enough contact with the ball, which flew just outside the post.
When the half time whistle went the scores were level at 1-1 in a game in which the Gills were clearly the better team but lacking that cutting edge up front.
Halen started the second half brighter and it was they who had the first chance after just 5 minutes had been played, but Andrew Cook wasted the chance by heading the ball straight into the arms of Gills’ keeper Jamie Beale.
2 minutes after this Will Agbo drove towards goal from midfield and, with the Hallen players all backing off, he drove forward and took a low shot from about 25 yards out that flew into the bottom left corner of the goal to give the Gills a 1-2 lead.
Once again though Hallen equalised almost straight away against the run of play when, just 5 minutes later, a cross from the right wing seemed to confuse Jamie Beale. He just about managed to stop the ball going into the goal, but he could only palm it to Hallen’s Mark Fear who didn’t waste the gift and blasted the ball into the goal to make it 2-2.
After this the game went back to the same old frustration with the Gills taking control in terms of possession and pressure but unable to make the important breakthrough. With quarter of an hour left Manager Kev Davis went all out for the win by taking off Ryan Murray and bringing on Jon Lynn as a third striker. As a result the Gills increased their dominance even more, making for a dramatic end to the game and Benjani Ben-Salem went close to winning it in injury time with a back post header but he somehow managed to send the ball wide of the goal.
So the game finished at 2-2 which must be viewed as two points lost rather than one gained.
Man of the Match was Will Agbo.
Gills line-up: Beale, Murray, N Thomson, Compton, Hewlett, Agbo, Cox, Clarke, Thompson, Ben Salem, Rodriguez (Sansom 56). Unused sub: Smith
Terry Lucas
