Ilfracombe Town 1 v 3 Gillingham Town – 16/11/13
Historically this has always been a tough venue for the Gills and on this occasion it proved to be no different, despiteMallick Jammeh and Harry Baker returning to the squad after recovering from injuries. Unfortunately though Mallick suffered a relapse of his injury in the warm-up and was unable to start.
Ilfracombe were the better team in the opening stages and their first chance came as early as the 3rd minute, when a shot went just wide of goal but Gills’ keeper Jamie Beale seemed to have it covered. The pressure on the Gills goal continued and a dangerous ball from the left wing needed Jack Vallis to make a difficult but invaluable clearance.
With 13 minutes played Ryan Murray pulled back an Ilfracombe player just outside the area and the resultant free kick was drilled into the bottom left corner of the goal to give Ilfracombe a 1-0 lead. This was a disappointing goal to concede after keeping five clean sheets, as the ball should have been cleared and things could have been set up differently as it all looked too easy fort Ilfracombe to score.
With 20 minutes on the clock the Gills got their first chance when Ilfracombe’s keeper, Kurtis Parkin, flapped at a corner and the ball dropped into a crowded penalty area. Unfortunately though nobody was on hand to make the most of the error. 3 minutes later the Gills came even closer to opening their account, when a Ben Thomson shot from just outside the box sailed over the bar.
Just before the half hour mark Ilfracombe thought they had doubled their lead but a striker had used his hand to get the ball in the net, so the Referee disallowed the goal. The action continued when, a few moments later, Steve Smith was one on one with Parkin, but the keeper blocked Steve’s shot with his legs.
The Gills had Jamie Beale to thank when he pulled off a great save to keep them in the running just before half time. At the break the Gills were trailing by a single goal and had not been playing well so the travelling fans looked set to be in for a nervous second half.
The second half started off a bit better and after only 2 minutes Steve Smith had a great chance, but his chip over the keeper also sailed over the bar. However, things looked gloomy on the 50 minute mark when the Referee awarded a penalty for a Jack Vallis tackle, despite it being clearly outside the area. Thankfully, justice was done when Jamie Beale pulled off a great save and this seemed to lift the whole team who now started to play some decent football.
The improved play led to a great ball being put through to Ben Thomson, who outpaced the Ilfracombe defence but his smashed shot cannoned back off the crossbar. With 64 minutes played Danny Thompson and Aidan Chainey were replaced by Harry Baker and Aaron Rodriguez and both had a big impact on the game, with Harry’s boundless energy in the midfield and Aaron tormenting his marker with his mazy attacking runs. With 20 minutes left Aaron came close to getting an equaliser but his close range shot was blocked by Parkin.
Despite the clear improvement in play and dominance of the game it looked like the Gills were going to go home empty handed, until the 77th minute when they scored an equaliser. A cross was only half cleared and fell to Ben Thomson just inside the box and as it bounced up he smashed it straight down the middle past the stranded Parkin to make it 1-1.
This goal seemed to lift the Gills and they began to really turn on the style now and with just 4 minutes left on the clock Ben Thomson scored the all-important second goal. Again it was a shot from the edge of the box but this time it was a fantastic finish that he curled around the keeper and into the top corner to give the Gills the lead for the first time in the game.
Then, just 3 minutes later Aaron Rodriguez provided the icing on the cake when he scored the Gills third goal with a superb individual goal that showed what a wonderful player he is. He collected the ball out wide in the midfield and then proceeded to outpace his marker, before nutmegging the central defender and then calmly slotting the ball past the helpless Parkin to complete the turnaround and make it 1-3 to the Gills.
There was still time though for Ilfracombe to have one last chance when, in injury time, they hit the post with an audacious overhead kick. This proved to be the last chance though and the Gills went home with all three points.
Next up are Radstock Town away on Tuesday evening and then the Gills travel to Street next Saturday.
Man of the Match was Ben Thomson.
Gills line-up: Beale, Murray, N Thomson, Vallis, Vance, Compton, Chainey (Baker 64), Clarke, Smith, B Thomson, Thompson (Rodriguez 64). Unused sub: Foster.
Terry Lucas
