Gillingham Town 6 v 1 Cadbury Heath – 30/11/13
The Gills had most of their squad available for this game against ‘The Heathens’, though Mallick Jammeh, Aaron Rodriguez and Phil Ormrod were out through injury. Will Agbo, recently signed from Frome Town made his debut appearance for the Gills, starting on the bench.
The Gills were out for revenge in this game as the Heathens are one of only three teams who have beaten them in the league this season when they won 2-1 at their ground back in August.
The game started at a pace and it was the Heathens who had the first chance after just 3 minutes of play when a header went just over the bar ,but it seemed as if Gills’ keeper Jamie Beale had it covered anyway.
With 8 minutes played the Gills had a great chance to open the scoring when a through ball by Nick Thomson put Steve Smith through on goal, but Heath’s keeper Si Crawford did well to block his shot.
The two teams were proving to be evenly matched and it was the Heathens who had the next chance but this was wasted when their player didn’t connect with the ball properly and Jamie Beale saved easily.
The Gills broke the deadlock after 20 minutes when Aidan Chainey played and inch perfect through ball into the path of Ben Thomson who outpaced the defence and then slotted the ball under Crawford. After this the Gills relaxed more and began to dominate the game
Ben Thomson was having a cracking game causing the Heathens’ defence all sorts of problems and just before the half hour mark he beat two defenders out on the right wing and then put a really dangerous ball across the face of goal but a defender reached it first and cleared the danger.
Jack Vallis had a couple of good chances with close range headers but neither found the back of the net. He did, however, score on the 38 minute mark when he was found in the area by another pass from Aidan Chainey which he volleyed into the goal giving Crawford no chance and giving the Gills a 2-0 lead.
There was no further score before half time so the Gills went into the break with a 2-0 lead and glad of the second goal as Cadbury Heath were still looking like they could get back into the game.
In fact it was the Heathens who had the first chance of the second half when, after just 2 minutes, Matt Huxley tried an audacious overhead kick that went just over the bar. The action continued in the 4thminute when an Aidan Chainey shot through a crowded area was seen late by Crawford and he just managed to parry the shot but it was still in the danger area and the ensuing goalmouth scramble saw a Heathens defender clear the ball.
Moments later Nick Thomson put a ball over the defence and Crawford raced to the edge of his area, but he was just beaten to it by Ben Thomson who headed it between his arms scoring his second goal and giving the Gills a comfortable 3-0 lead. If the second goal was a relief then the third proved to be a confidence boost allowing the Gills to relax and play more freely which, in turn, led to them keeping possession better and dominating the game even more.
The Gills’ dominance allowed them to score a fourth goal in the 56thminute when they were awarded a free kick just outside the right hand edge of the Heathens’ penalty area. When everybody was expecting Jon Vance to shoot at goal he cleverly slipped the ball past the wall into the path of Aidan Chainey who drove the ball across the face of goal where it was tapped home by Steve Smith to make it 4-0.
Danny Thompson went close to scoring just past the hour mark but his flicked header went just wide of goal. On 63 minutes the Gills scored a fifth goal and it was as a result of another great through ball by Aidan Chainey who was having what was probably his best ever game in a Gills shirt. Once again the recipient was Ben Thomson who, once clear of the defence, rounded Crawford before netting to complete his hat-trick and make it 5-0
To be fair to Cadbury Heath they were still trying really hard to get back into the game and they scored a consolation goal in the 67thminute when a close range Matt Huxley effort sailed past Jamie Beale, this being only the second goal the Gills have conceded in ten games.
With 77 minutes played Jack Vallis again went close with a header from a corner and moments later Danny Thompson saw his shot from outside the area cannon back off the post. The icing on the cake came with 7 minutes left to play when Ben Thomson scored his fourth and the Gils sixth goal when Will Agbo played a sublime ball through to him and once again he outpaced and outmuscled the defence before slotting the ball past Crawford to make it 6-1.
That proved to be the last significant piece of action in a superb performance by the Gills who convincingly beat a good team who, prior to today, were sat in seventh place in the table.
Man of the Match was Ben Thomson.
The next game for the Gills is on Wednesday evening when they are away to Verwood Town in the Quarter Finals of the Dorset Senior Cup.
Gills line-up: Beale, Murray, N Thomson, Vallis, Vance (Agbo 65), Compton, Baker (Cox 58), Clarke (Chainey 11), B Thomson, Smith, Thompson. Unused sub: Foster,
Terry Lucas
