Fortnightly Gills Report

By Tom George
April 19 2007

Gloriously skipping past two flailing Rotherham challenges, and unleashing a fierce right foot drive into the top right corner, Felix Bastians had scored a wonder-goal.

Ecstatic, the Gills faithful dreamed of their first away victory of 2007. Sadly it was not to come. Yet another header from Andy Crofts put the Gills 2-1 up at the interval, after trailing from a Delroy Facey header.

However, yet again it was not to be. Another capitulation away from home meant strikes from O’Grady and Newsham, sunk the Gills 3-2. The players were booed off, and rightly so, after a truly awful second half showing.

However a complete transformation occurred by the time Bristol City visited Priestfield. A tense game saw Enoch Showumni waste some good chances for the west countrymen, who looked like a classy outfit. However, the hard grafting Gills went ahead through a looping header from substitute Dean McDonald. Euphoria ensued at Priestfield as the little man celebrated his 6th goal of the season.

Things went from the bizarre to the unbelievable at Saltergate, home of Chesterfield. Another tense 90 minutes would see Andy Crofts head in again to give the Gills only their 3rd away win of the season, and to keep the Kent club in League 1 for one more year. Crofts is surely a sure-fire bet for player of the season, having scored some crucial goals at crucial times in this campaign.

On the transfer front, the European contingent of Felix Bastians and Romain Larrieu returned to their parent clubs of Nottingham Forest and Plymouth Argyle. Both players have been outstanding during their short spells with us, and have aided our fight for survival admirably.

Coming in was the emergency signing of Simon Royce from QPR. The 35 year old stopper will play against Port Vale, becoming the 5th replacement for the perennially Injured Kelvin Jack this season. The ex-Leicester man follows in the footsteps of Darren Randall, Scott Flinders, Dean Brill and Romain Larrieu.

However many fans will see this as a disappointment. With the Gills effectively safe, it would have been pleasant to air some youth talent, namely Chris Kiely, for the last few games. However, it looks likely that we will see some new faces next year, with 10 out of contract, and Jepson making no secret of his desire to chop and change.

Hopefully Gillingham can build on their win at Chesterfield, and finish the season unbeaten.