Hengrove Athletic 2 v 3 Gillingham Town 11/01/14
This was the Gills’ first game since 28th December and, therefore, also their first in 2014. Jack Vallis and Harry Baker have followed Jon Vance to Frome Town and the other players missing were Phil Ormrod, Aidan Chainey and Malick Jammeh. However Will Agbo and Dan Cox were available and there was a debut for new signing Jon Lynn in the centre of defence.
Following the recent long bouts of rain the pitch was really heavy and uneven and on top of this the sun was really low in the eyes of the Gills’ defenders for the first half. When the game got underway the Gills struggled to make an impression as, despite the conditions, they were still trying to play their usual passing game without a lot of success. As a result it was Hengrove who looked more likely to open the scoring.
Despite this it was Gillingham who had the first good chance when a corner was put to the back post where Nick Compton had made a run and was totally unmarked. Unfortunately the ball bounced just in front of him and the ball ricocheted off his shins wide of goal.
With just 11 minutes played it was Hengrove who opened the scoring when the Gills failed to clear a corner and Wayne Pearce drilled the ball past Gills’ keeper Jamie Beale from a really tight angle.
5 minutes later Steve Smith had a close range shot at goal but this was straight at Hengrove’s keeper, Liam McFarlane, who had an easy save. A couple of minutes later Steve had a golden opportunity to grab an equaliser when a defensive error let him in on goal, but his shot was well blocked by McFarlane.
The Gills weren’t playing anywhere near their best but just past the 20 minute mark some good play by Aaron Rodriguez ended him taking a well struck shot from well outside the area that had McFarlane beaten but flashed just wide of the back post. It certainly seemed like it wasn’t going to be the Gills’ day when, 10 minutes before the break, Ben Thomson saw his shot from just outside the left hand edge of the six yard box cannon back off the post.
Whilst neither team was playing any quality football chances were arising as a result of defensive errors caused by the conditions and, with 8 minutes left in the half one such mistake let Hengrove’s Wayne Pearce through on goal but Jamie Beale tipped his shot over the bar.
So at half time the Gills were trailing 1-0 in a game that had seen no real quality play and it seemed like the second half would be just as awful.
However, with the start of the second half the Gills seemed to lift their game and they also stopped trying to play neat passing football, content with playing long balls up to Steve Smith and Ben Thomson up front, a tactic that certainly led to more possession in the opposition’s half of the field. This change led to the Gills getting a great chance to equalise after just 2 minutes when an unmarked Will Agbo received the ball on the edge of the six yard box in front of goal. Will looked certain to score but somehow managed to put his shot over the bar.
With 57 minutes played Jon Lynn lost his marker inside the area but his goal bound shot was blocked at the last minute by a heroic Hengrove defender. The resultant corner was taken by Aaron Rodriguez and attacked by Ben Thomson whose header flashed past McFarlane into the net to make it 1-1.
Just 2 minutes later Ben turned provider when he put a well weighted cross onto the head of Steve Smith, who from well inside the area headed the ball down and into the goal to make it two goals in two minutes and give the Gills a 1-2 lead.
Shortly after this the Gills nearly extended their lead when Aaron Rodriguez set himself up to take a shot from the edge of the area but his curling shot flew about a foot wide of the goal.
On the 65 minute mark another defensive error by a Gills defender presented Wayne Pearce with a good chance but he blasted his shot straight at Jamie Beale whose positioning meant he had any easy save.
Halfway through the second half Aaron Rodriguez put another great corner into the box and Steve Smith’s glancing header drew a great save out of McLachlan. With 19 minutes left to play Hengrove equalised with a carbon copy effort when they also put a great corner into the box which Scott Lewis headed down and into the goal to make it 2-2.
Hengrove nearly took the lead with 11 minutes left to play but Wayne Pearce wasted the good chance when he dragged his effort wide of the goal. They were made to pay for this when, with quarter of an hour left to play, a long ball was misjudged by a defender allowing Ben Thomson through on goal. The defender then brought down Ben just inside the area and the Referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Steve Smith stepped up to take the penalty and he smashed the ball into the roof of the net to give the Gills a 2-3 lead.
The Gills had a few scary moments after this but on the whole they controlled the game till the final whistle. This win gave the Gills three valuable points and as a result of Bristol Manor Farm drawing they go back up into second place in the league.
Man of the Match was Aaron Rodriguez.
The next game for the Gills is next Saturday when they host Winterbourne Utd.
Gills line-up: Beale, Murray, N Thomson, Clarke, Lynn, Compton, Agbo, Rodriguez, Smith, B Thomson, Thompson (Cox 45). Unused subs: Smeeton, Sansom
Terry Lucas
