Match report of the game at Huish Park

By Tom George
December 9 2006

Gillingham plundered to their 6th away defeat in 8 games with a shocking display at Huish Park today. The Gills, tactically inept from start to finish, infuriated the excellent travelling support with a series of misplaced passes, poor tackles and sloppy marking.

After a drab opening 16 minutes, in which neither side mustered a shot of any description, Leon Best opened the scoring with a neat finish, racing through Sancho and Chorley although he appeared to be offside when the ball was played.

Mark Bentley was lucky to stay on the field after committing a dangerous foul near the halfway line, mid-way through the first half. Luckily, the ex-Southend midfielder escaped with a caution.

After 38 minutes, Gillingham registered their first shot of the half, and were unlucky not to go in level at the break, after Gary Mulligan came close. The Yeovil ‘keeper Mildenhall, virtually unemployed in the first half, pulled off a marvellous reflex save from the young Irishman, one of the few Gills players to leave the game with any credit.

After a shaky start to the second half, it was effectively game over for the Gills on 59 minutes. A poorly headed corner from Chorley was punished emphatically by Chris Cohen, firing past a misplaced Brill, making his Gillingham debut.

After this, Ronnie Jepson made a drastic triple substitution: Spiller, finally played in his natural position of right midfield, entered for Mark Bentley. Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu came on, the multi-named Congolese striker replacing the captain Michael Flynn, and Pouton replaced Crofts.

Mulligan was again denied as his deflected header was scrambled off of the line. From the resulting corner, Pouton thundered in a crashing volley, but this was blocked. Time was ticking away.

Easton, probably the Gills’ best player, floated a free kick onto the post with virtually the last kick of the game, but not even a late goal would have distracted the attention from the truly awful Gillingham performance.

The display left some fans so angry, that the players were booed from the team coach at Fleet services by a Gillingham supporters bus- but the seemingly unapologetic players walked on by.

A disappointed fan, Giles Turner, 48, commented, “ It was men against boys there today. I saw no effort, commitment or passion to the Gillingham cause.”

After the disappointment of today’s game, the home game against Bournemouth will certainly be a test of character, to see if the Gills can bounce back from three straight defeats.