Gillingham Town v Buckland Athletic – 05/11/13
The absent players for this match were Aaron Rodriguez (unavailable), Gary Bowles (ill), Joe Smeeton, Harry Baker and James Hatcher (all injured). On the positive side Nick Compton, Dan Cox and Steve Smith were available after missing the last game. This meant that Steve Smith, Phil Ormrod and Ben Thomson were all in the team together for the first time.
There was a small doubt as to whether this game would take place due to the amount of rain in the 48 hours leading up to it, but in the end the pitch was wet but firm. The Gills started brightly for a change and were playing some neat football despite the condition of the pitch. The first chance of the game came after 10 minutes when Mallick Jammeh tried a shot from just outside the area but the effort sailed about a foot over the bar.
3 minutes later Steve Smith wasted a great chance when, with Buckland keeper Kenny Griffiths laying on the floor; he put his shot from just outside the six yard box wide of the mark.
The Bucks were also playing some good football and their first chance came just before the 20 minute mark when Gavin Hammon let fly a wicked shot that seemed to have Gills’ keeper Jamie Beale beaten but luckily flew wide of the goal. 7 minutes later they nearly took the lead when a free kick was cleverly taken quickly and a deftly chipped shot from just outside the area sailed over Jamie Beale and bounced off the top of the bar.
The deadlock was broken just past the half hour mark when Ben Thomson was brought down on the edge of the ‘D’ and Jon Vance scored from the free kick when he put the ball over the wall and into the net to beat a stranded Griffiths.
This goal seemed to settle the Gills’ players and they started to play with a lot more confidence. With 37 minutes played Ben Thomson drove down the left wing and he put a great low ball across the edge of the six yard box that caused all sorts of problems for the Bucks’ defence. Firstly a Mallick Jammeh shot was blocked but the ball then fell to Steve Smith who put it into the back of the net to give the Gills a 2-0 lead.
With 4 minutes to go till half time Steve Smith got his second goal when the Bucks’ defence failed to clear a Jon Vance corner. In a congested six yard box Steve was the quickest to react when the ball dropped to the floor, but he saw his effort blocked by a defender. However, when the ball came straight back to him he then made no mistake and found the back of the net to make it 3-0 to the Gills.
So at half time the Gills were cruising 3-0 up and despite a couple of scares were looking really solid, well organised and looking good to take the three points.
The second half started off in the same vein with the Gills looking composed and solid but it was the Bucks who got the first chance when, with just 5 minutes of the half played, they were awarded a free kick about 25 yards away from but central to the goal. Despite the kick being put over the wall it was off target and sailed about a yard wide of the post.
5 minutes later Ben Thomson drove into the left hand edge of the area and, with three defenders and the keeper closing in on him, he very unselfishly laid the ball off to a completely unmarked Steve Smith. Steve’s shot was heading towards the bottom left of the goal when a defender, in trying to clear, booted the ball into the back of the net to give Steve his third, and the Gills their fourth, goal.
The Gills continued to control the game and the next good chance came with 19 minutes left when a great ball from Ryan Murray from the right wing was met with a volley from Aidan Chainey at the back of the six yard box but his blasted effort went just over the bar.
The Gills nearly got two more goals in injury time, the first was when another great ball was played into the danger zone by Ryan Murray. This time it was met by Danny Thompson and Griffiths just about managed to deflect the shot away from goal but it fell to Ben Thomson who, despite laying on the floor, managed a shot at goal that went just wide of the post. Then, a couple of minutes later Aidan Chainey hit a sweet shot from distance that, with Griffiths a spectator, bounced back off the crossbar.
So all in all a well-deserved 4-0 victory against a good Buckland side with the Gills looking solid, organised and playing with composure. The scoreline also means that the Gills have kept a clean sheet in eight of their last nine games.
Next up are Bishop Sutton who visit Hardings Lane on Saturday.
Man of the Match was hat trick hero Steve Smith.
Gills line-up: Beale, Murray, N Thomson, Vallis, Clarke (Chainey 67), Compton, Jammeh (Cox 57), Vance, Ormrod, Smith (Thompson 68), B Thomson. Unused sub: Sansom.
Terry Lucas
