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fan-of-mulligan · 7 years ago

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FOM BLOG: BRADFORD CITY 1 - 0 GILLINGHAM

My Thoughts On Bradford City V Gillingham……………………….

I left my house at 7.10AM In The Morning, and I made sure that I had the following things on me,,,,,,,, (Money, Keys, My Bradford City Ticket, My Sony Xperia XA1, My USB / Plug Charger, My Gillingham Jacket, Spare Lids, My Gillingham Scarf, My Gillingham Bag, Match-Day Programmes, A Packet Of Polo’s, A 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola, A Can Of Lynx and Pad and Pens) - And I double checked that I had everything on me before leaving the house, before making the ten minute walk from my house to the bus stop Next To The Cricketers Pub where I would wait for The Kings Ferry Coach to arrive, Once The Kings Ferry Coach Arrived, I got on the coach, sat behind Nicholas on the coach, AND THERE WERE NO PLUG CHARGERS!!!!!!!!!! There was no plug charger on the coach for Wigan Athletic, and it was exactly the case for Shrewsbury Town Away, surely for these long away trips there needs to be USB / Plug Chargers on the coach, and it is going to have to be the case of charging up our mobile phone’s whenever we get the chance to stop off at the services, or a local cafe in Bradford.

Nicholas had brought a power-pack with him and there is a good chance that Ann will bring her own power-packs with her as well, but it is infuriating not to have USB or plug chargers on the coach, especially when your going to be traveling to and from matches for a lengthy period of time, and everyone has got there own ways of passing the time traveling to and from matches, Reading A Book Or Newspaper, Listening To Music, Watching Films Or Playing On A Games Console, Or using your mobile phone to look up any news of the up and coming fixture between Bradford City and Gillingham, but the majority of those options mentioned take up a lot of power, especially watching films on a good resolution screen.

I didn’t watch The Netherlands V England Friendly - Great Result By England to win 1-0 away from home - But the one clip I did see which I thought was very amusing was The Netherlands Mascot gesturing The V Sign into the camera LINK IS HERE: https://twitter.com/Rosey_8/status/977272153828741120 - I then spoke with Nicholas about The Hollands & Blair Home Game Against Glebe On Wednesday Night, and Hollands & Blair won 2-1 against Glebe and there was a two footed lunge in The Second Half which should of seen Glebe go down to ten men, but only a yellow card was shown instead, If Wednesday Night’s Hollands & Blair V Glebe Match was being played on Football Manager, You would be playing A Direct Style Of Play, Defenders would be set to limited defensive roles, and passes would consist of long balls over the top, I know that on Football Manager, you can use the extended database to download the regional league’s in England, and I am sure that is a real challenge, And it’s things like downloading The Regional League’s and the scale of Football Manager, which is why I prefer Football Manager compared to FIFA.

Our next pick up point was out-side Priestfield Stadium, And Diane and Ann got on the coach and I mentioned to both of them that there were no chargers on the coach and Diane could not believe that there were no chargers on the coach for yet another long away trip, because there were no chargers on the coach for Wigan Athletic or Shrewsbury Town, and surely for any length of travel that exceeds 150 miles one way, there should be chargers on the coach, Ann mentioned that she has brought two power-packs with her, and we may have to do that for every away game from now on and just take as many power-packs as possible, just to make sure that even if there are no USB / Plug Chargers on the coach that we at least have enough power supply to last the entire day.

I mentioned to Diane that on Tuesday, I went to Priestfield Stadium to buy my tickets for Bradford City and Southend United Away, and as I was heading to Priestfield Stadium from Chatham Train Station, I saw Gemma, who mentioned to me that she was going to Southend United, and at the time, Gemma hadn’t brought her ticket for Southend United, and I mentioned at the time and I also sent another message On Facebook pointing out that Southend United V Gillingham will sell out, especially on Easter Monday, Diane also sent a message to Gemma mentioning that Gemma needs to make sure she books on the coach with Peter and not through Gillingham’s Ticket Office, because sometimes the booking list from the club does not match up with the booking list on the coach - Diane sent Gemma another message, to make absolutely sure that she had booked on, on the coach.

As for our own travel preparations, Kings Ferry are leaving from Priestfield Stadium at mid-day, and because it’s Easter Weekend and we know how bad Dartford Crossing is going to be, we may well leave as early as 9.30AM, because it could take us an hour just to get over Dartford Crossing and then you need to find somewhere to park, and I think there will be quite a few supporters who will travel via car and split the fuel costs three or four ways, and maybe make an entire day out of it and go somewhere else after The Southend United V Gillingham Game.

Once everyone was on the coach who was getting on the coach at Priestfield Stadium, we were on our way to the following pick up points, The Bus Stop next to The Strand, And Our Final Pick-Up Point was out-side Strood Sports Centre, and once everyone was on the coach, Peter went through all the formalities of the rules and regulations, and The Coach Prices for Adults and Children and no alcohol allowed on the coach - not that anyone would carry alcohol on the coach - and the travel costs were £31 for Adults, and thankfully there were two drivers on the coach which means that The Driving Hours Regulations will not affect us severely, because I think Drivers are allowed to drive for four hours non stop before having a break, and with two drivers, they can simply rotate to ensure that The Driving Regulation Rules are not broken.

We were only going to stop off at Peterborough Services before traveling non stop to Bradford, the plans might change depending on how good or how bad the traffic is going to be on the way up to Bradford City, and for supporters who are going to pay on the day, ticket prices increase by £5, which is another reason I like to buy my tickets in advance, When we traveled to Wigan Athletic via coach, every seat was taken, But For Bradford City, There is more room and we can spread out a bit, Also, With Southend United Away On Easter Monday, I can see a lot of supporters saving there money for the trip to Roots Hall, Diane asked me if Stephen was going to go to that game, I mentioned that Stephen is going to Oldham Athletic and that game will be the final away match he will be looking to go to this season.

I Re-Tweeted Gills Debate and Gills In The Blood’s Tweets for the score prediction options out of win, lose, score draw or goal-less draw, and I had predicted score draws in both polls and I had Bradford City V Gillingham down as A Draw In The NoirCat Prediction League as well, While Gillingham Football Club have tweeted about making sure we check for travel information and a safe trip for the supporters traveling to the game as well, Hopefully, we won’t hit too many traffic problems on the way up to Bradford City.

However, we did hit some traffic problems on The M25, because of an accident, we hit this traffic jam at 9.44AM, and it was 10.04AM when we had gone past where the accident was and thankfully, no-one was seriously injured and The M25 is always difficult to navigate at the best of times, Hopefully, that accident isn’t a sign of things to come and we experience travel difficulties getting to Bradford City, I have missed kick off two times for away games and come far too close to missing kick off on a number of occasions as well, Bradford City Away was one of the two grounds I went to where I missed kick off, AFC Bournemouth on the opening day of The 2008 / 2009 season was another of the grounds where I missed kick off, For Stockport County In The 2010 / 2011 Season, I remember we arrived at Stockport County at 2.55PM and arrived inside Edgeley Park just as Stockport County and Gillingham Kicked Off - Gillingham won 5-1 on that day.

Having got up at 5.30AM In The Morning, I decided to try and get some sleep on the coach on the way up to Bradford City, and when I woke up again, we had just arrived at Peterborough Services at 10.25AM, and we were going to stop here for thirty five minutes before we got back on the road again at 11AM, and once the coach had parked in the coach bay in Peterborough Services, we got off the coach and we could stretch our legs and move about a bit, Some Fans were going to buy some food and drink from McDonalds, I thought it was too early to get anything to eat.

I got talking with Louis about The Hollands & Blair Game On Wednesday Night and Hollands & Blair took both of there goals before half time really well before being pegged back to 2-1, and it was a case of can Hollands & Blair hold out for the win, despite some nervous moments in the closing stages of the match, Hollands & Blair held out for the win, I mentioned to Louis that I tried to find A Local Non League Game when Gillingham V Blackburn Rovers was called off, But I decided to go to Hollands & Blair because they are the closest football team from my house and when I was checking The Kent Football Fixtures in mid-week, I saw that Hollands & Blair were at home and I went along to Star Meadow and saw Hollands & Blair pick up three massive points.

I brought one 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola for £2 from The NewsAgents before catching up with Diane and Ann, who found the one plug charger in Peterborough Services, and as we had plenty of time to spare before we had to get back on to the coach again, I thought it would be a good idea to charge my mobile phone up while we were waiting around, and once it got to 10.55AM, Diane, Ann and myself headed back to the coach, and once everyone was back on the coach again, we continued our journey from Peterborough Services towards Bradford City.

Ann checked how long it would take for us to get to Bradford City, and providing that there are no traffic problems, we should arrive at Bradford City around 1.15PM, and Peter came round to collect our travel money, and it was £31 pounds each, and I had the exact amount of money so that Peter didn’t have to give me nine pound in change for two twenty pound notes, and Ann messaged Peter at 6AM in the morning to double check what time the coach was leaving, because Diane messaged me to say that she was getting the coach at 7.30AM, Diane mentioned that she had 7.30AM stuck in her head, I added that I got up earlier, just in-case the coach was 7AM for me.

Peter jokingly added that Diane might be running her own cab service, as we will be traveling to Southend United and Bristol Rovers via car, But Oldham Athletic Away we will be on the coach, Peter added that there should be two coaches for Southend United, but quite a few supporters may well be planning to make there own journey to Roots Hall, Southend United Away should see a decent attendance, especially with Gillingham traveling to Southend United On Easter Monday.

As for how Gillingham will line up against Bradford City, I have predicted the following,,,,,,, Tomas Holy, Luke O’Neill, Max Ehmer, Gabriel Zakuani, Connor Ogilvie, Mark Byrne, Jake Hessenthaler, Callum Reilly, Lee Martin, Conor Wilkinson, Tom Eaves SUBS: Tom Hadler (GK), Ben Nugent, Bradley Garmston, Franck Moussa, Scott Wagstaff, Elliott List and Rhys Murphy - With Josh Parker on International Duty With Antigua & Barbuda, And Josh Parker Was Named Captain and scored for Antigua & Barbuda in there 3-2 win against Bermuda, Myles Weston was also on the score-sheet and Former Gillingham Right Back Mahlon Romeo also played in that match, while one of our youngsters, TJ Bramble also made his International Debut For Antigua & Barbuda.

There is the option of playing five in midfield and playing with a lone striker, But I would like to see Conor Wilkinson and Tom Eaves line up alongside each other in attack, Bradford City are not in the greatest of form and I think Gillingham’s Attack can cause Bradford City problems defensively, I think we will see how Gillingham will line up precisely once the team sheet is named, But Steve Lovell isn’t going to go with a defensive set up, of course, Gillingham will be organised defensively and we will be very structured and Gillingham will have a game plan, But we are going into matches willing to take the game to the opposition, and it is this approach from Steve Lovell which has seen Gillingham’s Form remarkably turnaround over the past five months.

Diane asked if Josh Parker was going to be back in time for The MK Dons Match On Thursday Night, and I said yes, because Antigua & Barbuda play against Jamaica on Sunday, Although, Josh Parker may well be named on the bench for The MK Dons Match as he will have done a lot of traveling playing for The Antigua & Barbuda National Team Against Bermuda and then Jamaica, As for who will be named on the bench, you can really flip a coin between Liam Nash and Rhys Murphy, while there is also the possibility that both strikers will be named amongst the substitutes bench.

Luke was the first person to tweet that he had arrived at Valley Parade at 12.40PM, and I saw some very good news regarding Hartlepool United Football Club, As Hartlepool Council have agreed to loan Hartlepool United £77,500 so that Hartlepool United can pay an up and coming salary bill, Gillingham also sent A Tweet From There Official Twitter Account to say that they have arrived at Bradford City at 1PM, just as we were approaching Bradford, and it took us thirty minutes to get through Bradford City Centre and we arrived out-side Valley Parade at 13.30PM, and once The Kings Ferry Coach had parked up and Peter said where the coach was going to be parked after the game, I double checked that I had everything I wanted to take with me on me before I got off the coach.

It looks like The Away Turnstiles are not open just yet, and I waited for Diane and Ann so that we can walk up the step hill so that we can go and get something to eat and drink, and while we walked up the hill and we were by The Players Entrance, Me, Diane and Ann got speaking with Max and his friend, and to move about out-side Valley Parade is difficult with the step hills around the ground, so it must be ten times worse for Max, who will be situated behind the goal while the away supporters will be down the side of the pitch, So Max will need to be careful not to celebrate too enthusiastically If / When Gillingham Score, Over the past few season’s, Gillingham Supporters have been situated behind the goal in The TL Dallas Stand, This Time However, Gillingham have been allocated the end few blocks in The Northern Commercials Stand.

Diane, Ann and Myself said c ya to Max, and we wished him luck navigating that steep hill, While we decided to go to the cafe to get something to eat and drink, and when we arrived at the cafe, inside was completely packed, and Diane and Ann decided to go to Tesco’s Express to get something to eat and drink instead, while I queued up inside the cafe, I am very surprised that the high street that is within touching distance of Bradford City Football Club hasn’t got cafe’s, restaurants and other businesses that would get a consistent level of trade off the back of Bradford City playing on a match day, especially with the 20,000+ crowds that Bradford City have been getting at Valley Parade in recent season’s.

Diane and Ann were heading back to Valley Parade, While I queued up and ordered A Bacon and Sausage Sandwich, A Small Portion Of Chip and A Can Of Coca Cola For £5.40, I sat down on the table closest to the counter and I got speaking with A Bradford City Supporter who is hoping that Simon Grayson leaves at the end of the season and someone else comes in and is appointed as Bradford City Manager, Simon Grayson’s Connections With Leeds United As A Player and A Manager was something this Bradford City Supporter could not overlook, He mentioned that there are rival matches with Doncaster Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, Sheffield United and Huddersfield Town, But It Is Bradford City V Leeds United which is the biggest derby in Yorkshire, and Bradford V Leeds is huge in Rugby as well.

I mentioned that Gillingham do not have that level of rivalry because Gillingham are The Only Football League Team In Kent, If Maidstone United Played Gillingham In The Football League Again then those matches would be keenly contested, Gillingham V Charlton Athletic is probably the closest rivalry we have got, and while clubs like Southend United, Brentford, Leyton Orient, Millwall and Colchester United are close and there not far to travel to, playing against these team’s are not derby games in the same-way that Bradford City V Leeds United Is A Yorkshire Derby.

The Bradford City Supporter I spoke to then spoke about the players who have moved on in the summer, Stephen Darby, Billy Clarke, Rory McArdle, Mark Marshall and James Meredith, Players who Bradford City could do with in the squad now to try and turn there season around, Good Experienced Players Like James Hanson and Jon Stead were also mentioned and perhaps Bradford City have moved away from what made them a very good side who were consistently challenging for a playoff spot in League One, Last Season, Bradford City had an exceptional home form, while there home form has just not been good enough at all this season, Stuart McCall was and still is a legend at Bradford City, And The Bradford City Supporter I was speaking to was sad to see him go.

After I had finished my meal, I double checked I had everything on me before making my way towards Valley Parade, and as I was walking down the hill again, I spotted A Match-Day Programme Seller, And I brought One Match-Day Programme for £3, before continuing to walk down the hill and I made my way to where the away supporters entrance was in The Northern Commercials Stand, and one of the stewards checked my bag before I was allowed through, and I then went through the turnstiles before walking up the stairs to the away concourse, and I was inside the ground at 2.20PM.

I then spoke with Jim About The Hollands & Blair V Glebe Game On Wednesday Night and Jim went to Lordswood on Wednesday Night before watching Tonbridge Angels beat Billericay Town, And Jim mentioned that Hollands & Blair really needed the three points and how important that win was for them, James McDonald and Kush Campbell were on the score-sheet and although Glebe got a goal back in the second half, Hollands & Blair held on for all three points.

I then queued up to buy two 500ML Bottle’s Of Coca Cola for £4.40, before making my way pitch-side, and I have got to say that the playing surface at Valley Parade is truly awful, at least the game is on and there has been no talk of a possible postponement, But for anyone moaning about the pitch at Priestfield Stadium, Well, The Playing Surface At Priestfield Stadium is like Wembley Stadium compared to how awful the playing surface is at Bradford City, Bury’s Playing Surface At Gigg Lane was also dreadful and with The Football League not allowing AstroTurf Playing Surfaces, I think that stance needs to be withdrawn, Because Sutton United, Bromley and Maidstone United have all spoken about the community aspect that there playing surfaces provide them that A Grass Playing Surface cannot match, the revenue that these pitches bring to Sutton United, Bromley and Maidstone United have seen these clubs become more self sufficient, and also, more importantly, Home Matches cannot get postponed because of A Water-Logged Pitch, If Sutton United get promoted, they could get relegated into The Conference South because they do not have A Grass Playing Surface, At the very least, allow clubs in League’s One and Two to have all weather football pitches and give clubs the option to have Grass or AstroTurf.

Me, Diane and Ann headed up towards the back of the away end, and Ben caught up with me, and I spoke about The Hollands & Blair V Glebe Match, Ben went to Tonbridge Angels on Saturday and it was freezing, I tried to find another match to go to when Gillingham V Blackburn Rovers was postponed, but I then saw Hollands & Blair V Glebe on the fixtures list and I decided to go along to that game, As for any players who Gillingham need to have a look out for, The Gap Between The Southern Counties East Football League and League One is huge, to put this in context, Liam Nash was playing for Maldon & Tiptree In The Ryman Football League Division North, Which is two levels higher then the level that Hollands & Blair are playing at.

Eventually, We Saw Gillingham’s Team News On Twitter, And Gillingham Lined Up As Follows,,,,,,,,, Tomas Holy, Luke O’Neill, Max Ehmer, Gabriel Zakuani, Bradley Garmston, Jake Hessenthaler, Mark Byrne, Scott Wagstaff, Lee Martin, Callum Reilly, Conor Wilkinson SUBS: Tom Hadler (GK), Ben Nugent, Connor Ogilvie, Franck Moussa, Navid Nasseri, Liam Nash and Tom Eaves - Steve Lovell has decided to line up with A 4.2.3.1 Formation and opted to plug the midfield rather then line up with Tom Eaves and Conor Wilkinson in attack, Liam Nash is chosen instead of Rhys Murphy to be named amongst the substitutes bench, and Bradley Garmston is picked instead of Connor Ogilvie at Left Back.

I wasn’t expecting the change in formation from Steve Lovell, who, despite changing the formation a lot during his time as Gillingham Manager, has often picked systems that has seen two strikers start for Gillingham from the get go, perhaps, Josh Parker being called up for International Duty has seen those plans change and Steve Lovell had his mind made up as soon as he knew that Josh Parker was not going to be in the squad for The Bradford City Match, But looking at who starts for Bradford City, and there are still players of exceptional quality in there starting line up, Nicky Law, Dominic Poleon, Matthew Kilgallon, Romain Vincelot, and Stephen Warnock, and Bradford City have certainly got the personal to cause Gillingham a lot of problems defensively, despite there poor run of form, this is still a very good Bradford City Side, I had this match down as a draw and I would take a point if offered to me now, But all three points is what we are looking for here.

And Gillingham have got a good run of results at Valley Parade, Two wins and four draws from our previous six matches, our last defeat at Valley Parade was The 1-0 when Lance Cronin was in goal for Gillingham and Zesh Rehman was on the substitutes bench for Bradford City that day, Gillingham almost lost to Bradford City in The 2014 / 2015 Season, But Antonio German equalised for Gillingham with the last kick of the match to rescue a point - I am still convinced that Jermaine McGlashan scored for Gillingham that day - But when you consider that Gillingham have often struggled away from home in some season’s compared to others, to be six matches unbeaten at one football stadium is quite an impressive run of results.

Brad then caught up with me, and I mentioned that we left from Priestfield Stadium at 8AM and other then the traffic difficulties on The M25, we have had a good trip up to Bradford City, Brad then mentioned that at least we made it in time for kick off and that was the most important thing, We were confident that Gillingham can get something out of the game against Bradford City, but not over-confident, because we know that this is still a very decent and very strong Bradford City Side that Gillingham are up against, Every game between now and the end of the season is going to be difficult, Bradford City are hoping to get a result against Gillingham to keep there playoff hopes alive, MK Dons are in The League One Relegation Zone, Southend United have improved under Chris Powell’s Management, and Doncaster Rovers will be a very difficult test, after these four matches, we will know precisely what Gillingham will be competing for at the end of the season.

Both teams came out of the tunnel ready for kick off and the atmosphere raises in volume inside Valley Parade as both team’s line up in-front of The Co-Operative Stand for the pre-match warm up, and after the pre-match warm up was concluded, Gillingham came over to where the away supporters were situated inside Valley Parade and the players were applauded before kick off, Gillingham will be kicking towards The Kop In The First Half, and Bradford City were kicking towards The T L Dallas Stand, both team’s were ready for kick off, and hopefully, Gillingham can build on that impressive 3-1 win against Portsmouth with a draw or a win against Bradford City this afternoon - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FIRST HALF:

And It’s Gillingham who create the first half decent goal-scoring opportunity of the match within the first minute of the game, Conor Wilkinson shows great strength in attack to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Bradley Garmston down the left side of the pitch, And Bradley Garmston uses his pace to take on Stephen Warnock, and Bradley Garmston has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross which is routinely saved by Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle, Bradley Garmston is playing further forward as A Left Winger, With Callum Reilly lining up at Left Back.

However, In The Second Minute Of The Match, And Bradford City could of scored in fortuitous circumstances, Tomas Holy has completely mis-kicked the ball up into the air and there is a chance for Bradford City to create a goal-scoring opportunity out of nothing as the ball bounces in Dominic Poleon’s direction, And Dominic Poleon tries to take on Max Ehmer, who manages to get himself in-between the ball and Dominic Poleon and Max Ehmer manages to shield the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - That mis-kicked clearance from Tomas Holy is a warning sign that Gillingham need to be very careful when the ball bounces inside our penalty area, because the playing surface at Valley Parade is dreadful, But the playing surface closest to The T L Dallas Stand is a lot worse compared to what the playing surface is like towards The Kop.

The first foul of the match was awarded in Bradford City’s Favour, As Lee Martin is controversially penalised for his challenge on Tony McMahon, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Nicky Law has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post which is too long, and Jake Hessenthaler chests the ball under control right near the byline, and Jake Hessenthaler takes a touch to control the ball before playing a short pass forwards to Luke O’Neill, and Luke O’Neill clears the ball long down the line and Lee Martin’s persistence chasing the loose ball forces Nathaniel Knight-Percival to kick the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on for Gillingham - I think with how bad the playing surface is at Valley Parade, then kicking the ball long into the channels and trying to win throw on’s in Bradford City’s Final Third may have to be the way Gillingham have to manage the dreadful playing conditions.

And From The Resulting Throw On, Gillingham create a half decent goal-scoring opportunity, Mark Byrne almost picks out Max Ehmer with an dangerous long throw hurled into Bradford City’s Penalty Area, And Nathaniel Knight-Percival has managed to header the ball clear and Nicky Law has managed to help the ball further away from Bradford City’s Goal, and there was the possibility of an counter attacking breaking in Bradford City’s Favour, But Callum Reilly has got to the ball first and fired the ball from left to the right side of the pitch, and Scott Wagstaff on the stretch manages to pass the ball through to Max Ehmer, who was flagged for standing in an offside position and there was no second guessing required, Max Ehmer was offside.

Six Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham create another half chance to try and break the deadlock, Gillingham Have A Throw On Down The Left Side Of The Pitch, And Callum Reilly has thrown the ball square to Jake Hessenthaler, who takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Bradley Garmston, who runs forward in possession of the ball before threading the ball through to Lee Martin on the over-lap, And Lee Martin has managed to get himself through down by the byline on the left side of the pitch, and Lee Martin’s Pull Back has deflected off Romain Vincelot, and the deflection runs kindly through to Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle.

And From Here, Colin Doyle has kicked the ball long down the left side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Right and Max Ehmer takes no chances and headers the ball out of play for A Bradford City Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Alex Gilliead throws the ball short to Shay McCartan, And Shay McCartan plays a one touch layoff out-wide to Alex Gillead, who has fired in an early low cross which is easily collected by Tomas Holy, And From Here, Tomas Holy has kicked the ball long down-field towards Conor Wilkinson and the ball just about runs all the way through to Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle.

Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Dominic Poleon is penalised for his challenge on Gabriel Zakuani In Gillingham’s Final Third, And It’s one of those free kick’s where Gabriel Zakuani isn’t going anywhere and Bradford City Supporters were infuriated with the free kick decision awarded in Gillingham’s Favour, And In The Same Minute, Gillingham create a half decent goal-scoring opportunity, As Bradley Garmston cuts inside into an central position on the pitch, and from twenty five yards out, Bradley Garmston has dragged his shot wide of Colin Doyle’s Right Hand Post, Bradley Garmston playing on the left wing has given Bradford City one or two problems as Bradley Garmston is up against Stephen Warnock down the left side of the pitch.

A Minute Later, And Conor Wilkinson does brilliantly to skilfully go past two Bradford City Players and that piece of skill allowed Conor Wilkinson to run through on goal, and Conor Wilkinson’s Driven Effort Towards Goal Is Blocked and deflected out of play off Romain Vincelot For A Gillingham Throw On Down The Right Side Of The Pitch In Bradford City’s Final Third, And From The Resulting Throw On, Mark Byrne throws a short throw down the line towards Scott Wagstaff and the ball takes a nick off A Bradford City Player, and Scott Wagstaff was shielding the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, But Referee Ross Joyce points for A Goal-Kick, When Scott Wagstaff was convinced that Gillingham should have been awarded a corner kick.

Bradford City are causing Gillingham Problems In The Thirteenth Minute, As Max Ehmer on two separate occasions has blocked two efforts on goal from Shay McCartan, and from the second shot from Shay McCartan, the ball ricochets into Callum Guy’s Path, And Callum Guy’s Low Cross / Shot from the left side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area is charged down by Callum Reilly and Bradford City have been awarded a corner kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Alex Gillead has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross which Max Ehmer has managed to header clear and away from danger, and Lee Martin has tracked back down the left side of the pitch to get on to the defensive clearance from Max Ehmer, and Lee Martin’s short pass is under-hit and cut out by Callum Guy, who is on to the loose ball and passes the ball out-wide to Alex Gillead, and Alex Gillead has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross which is partially cleared away from danger by Gabriel Zakuani, Both Jake Hessenthaler and Mark Byrne close down the loose ball on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Nicky Law passes the ball out-wide to Stephen Warnock, who kicks the ball against Luke O’Neill to win Bradford City A Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Max Ehmer has got on to the loose ball first and kicked the ball long down-field, but the pressure is just relentless from Bradford City, as Romain Vincelot has time and space to bring the ball under his control and Romain Vincelot passes the ball out-wide to Stephen Warnock down the right side of the pitch, and Stephen Warnock has whipped in an early in-swinging cross which almost picks out Alex Gillead at the back post, and there was Jake Hessenthaler to header the ball clear and away from danger - but only just.

Fifteen Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham should have been awarded a throw on, But Bradford City are awarded a free kick instead, as Callum Reilly is penalised for his challenge on Alex Gillead, And Bradford City have been awarded a free kick down the right side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Alex Gillead has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Nathaniel Knight-Percival climbs highest to direct a looping header on goal which is comfortable for Tomas Holy to save, And From Here, Gillingham Turn Defence Into Attack, As Tomas Holy throws the ball out-wide to Bradley Garmston down the right side of the pitch, And Bradley Garmston manages to keep the ball in play and run down the right flank before running slightly into an central position as Bradley Garmston gets closer to Bradford City’s Penalty Area, And Bradley Garmston cuts inside to evade the challenge from Nicky Law before firing a driven effort towards goal which clears Bradford City’s Crossbar by some considerable distance, But it is at least a half chance for Gillingham and something for The Gills to build on.

And something to build on is precisely what happened, Because Gillingham had a half chance in The Seventeenth Minute Of The Match to try and break the deadlock, Tomas Holy has kicked the ball long down-field for Gillingham and Tony McMahon and Nathaniel Knight-Percival both challenge for the high ball with Conor Wilkinson, and although Tony McMahon wins the initial aerial challenge, the second ball drops to Conor Wilkinson, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Conor Wilkinson plays the ball through to Lee Martin on the over-lap, and Conor Wilkinson’s pass was slightly over-hit through to Lee Martin, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Lee Martin is trying some fancy foot-work to whip in a cross, pretending to whip in a cross on the first occasion, before whipping in a low in-swinging cross and Tony McMahon has sliced the ball up into the air and the ball does deflect out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick and that deflection could have easily gone into the back of the net - Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle, and Scott Wagstaff were both looking to challenge for the loose ball, But the ball had already gone out of play for a corner kick.

And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Bradley Garmston has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Max Ehmer gets a faint touch to flick the ball on and the ball ricochets off Callum Reilly on to Romain Vincelot and the ball narrowly deflects behind for another Gillingham Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Bradley Garmston has whipped in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick to try and pick out Luke O’Neill and Alex Gillead has managed to header the ball clear and out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Mark Byrne has hurled in an dangerous long throw and Romain Vincelot has managed to win the first aerial challenge and Callum Guy then wins the second aerial challenge and Jake Hessenthaler beats Nicky Law to the loose ball to play the ball out-wide to Mark Byrne, who plays a first time pass back to Callum Reilly, And Callum Reilly takes a touch to control the ball before cutting inside into an more central position on the pitch, and Callum Reilly goes for goal with a driven effort towards goal from twenty yards out, And Callum Reilly’s Driven Effort towards goal only just about clears Bradford City’s Crossbar and that was another decent goal-scoring opportunity for The Gills.

Twenty Minutes Into The Match, And Shay McCartan is penalised for his challenge on Gabriel Zakuani, And From Here, Gillingham win themselves another corner kick, Tomas Holy kicks the resulting free kick down the line towards Scott Wagstaff, who is looking to take on Alex Gilliead, and Scott Wagstaff forces The Bradford City Defender to concede a corner kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Bradley Garmston has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross and the ball is cleared back into Bradley Garmston’s direction, and rather then let the ball go out of play for A Gillingham Throw On In Bradford City’s Final Third, Bradley Garmston takes one touch to control the ball and another touch to whip in a fantastic cross and Gabriel Zakuani climbs highest to header the ball just wide of Colin Doyle’s right hand post, and Nathaniel Knight-Percival may have just done enough to prevent Gabriel Zakuani from heading the ball on target, I actually thought that Colin Doyle had made the save at the time, but it is more likely that Colin Doyle stopped the ball from going out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, rather then being forced to make a save.

Twenty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Conor Wilkinson has been picked out by Callum Reilly with a long pass down the left side of the pitch, and Conor Wilkinson takes one touch to control the ball before running down towards the byline, and Conor Wilkinson has pulled the ball back across the face of goal and there was no Gillingham Player in the penalty area to get on the end of Conor Wilkinson’s low cross and this perhaps shows the disadvantage of playing one up-front, even though Gillingham have been very solid throughout the match to date so far.

And in the same minute, Luke O’Neill shows some fancy foot-work to evade two challenges before being brought to the floor from Callum Guy’s challenge, And Gillingham have the chance to create a decent goal-scoring opportunity from the resulting free kick, unfortunately, Lee Martin and Luke O’Neill were not on the same wavelength, as Luke O’Neill was looking to play the ball down the line towards Lee Martin, and Lee Martin was perhaps expecting Luke O’Neill to whip in a cross, and the ball has gone out of play for A Bradford City Goal-Kick.

Twenty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Gabriel Zakuani has had to shield a long ball towards Dominic Poleon out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, and Gabriel Zakuani also had to time his challenge to perfection on Nicky Law and clear the ball out of play for A Bradford City Throw On, Gabriel Zakuani is one of many players who are out of contract at the end of the season, and I really do hope that we will get to see Gabriel Zakuani tied down to A Two Year Contract Extension and we will hear an announcement regarding Gabriel Zakuani’s Contract Extension over the next few weeks.

Despite Gillingham putting Bradford City under some considerable pressure defensively with Gabriel Zakuani heading Bradley Garmston’s Corner Kick Wide, And Callum Reilly firing over from distance, Bradford City are starting to ask questions of Gillingham Defensively, As Alex Gilliead uses his pace to take on Callum Reilly down the right side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Left - And Alex Gilliead has whipped in an fantastic low cross which Max Ehmer has managed to block, and the ball ricochets back into Alex Gilliead’s Path, But Mark Byrne was able to intercept the loose ball and clear the ball long down-field.

But that clearance from Mark Byrne is only a temporary reprieve for The Gills, Because Bradford City get themselves on the front-foot in the second stage of the same attack, Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle has possession of the ball, and Colin Doyle has thrown the ball forwards to Nathaniel Knight-Percival, who has run forward in possession of the ball up to the halfway line, and Nathaniel Knight-Percival has passed the ball forwards to Dominic Poleon, who controls the ball on the half-turn and runs forward towards Gillingham’s Goal, And Dominic Poleon passes the ball square to Shay McCartan, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Shay McCartan flicks the ball over Gabriel Zakuani and Max Ehmer and Shay McCartan passes the ball out-wide to Stephen Warnock, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Stephen Warnock is waiting for some movement before passing the ball short to Nicky Law, who is being closely marked by Mark Byrne, And Nicky Law lays the ball off to Stephen Warnock, And Stephen Warnock takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball square to Shay McCartan on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Shay McCartan has flicked the ball over Max Ehmer’s Head first time towards Dominic Poleon, who gets himself in-between the ball and Gabriel Zakuani, And Dominic Poleoen takes one touch to control the ball, and another to hit a shot on the turn which Gabriel Zakuani has managed to block, but the ball runs all the way through to Tomas Holy, who has been forced to make a routine save.

After Tomas Holy has been forced to make a routine save, Tomas Holy kicks the ball forward towards Conor Wilkinson, who does brilliantly to retain possession of the ball, and Conor Wilkinson does brilliantly to flick the ball over two Bradford City Players and although Alex Gilliead has managed to time his challenge to perfection on Conor Wilkinson on the halfway line, Alex Gilliead’s challenge has been diverted out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, and you have got to say that Conor Wilkinson has done brilliantly to win Gillingham A Corner Kick Out Of Nothing, and from the resulting corner kick, Bradley Garmston has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Nathaniel Knight-Percival has managed to header the ball partially clear down towards the left side in Bradford City’s Final Third, And Jake Hessenthaler is penalised for his challenge on

Alex Gilliead, and Bradford City have been awarded a defensive free kick in there own half of the pitch.

And From The Resulting Free Kick, Colin Doyle has kicked the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer has won the initial aerial challenge to header the ball forwards up towards the halfway line and Conor Wilkinson losses out to Matthew Kilgallon challenging for the ball in the air on the halfway line, and Alex Gilliead hooks the ball over his shoulder to kick the ball long down the right flank and Shay McCartan wins the initial aerial challenge and Mark Byrne headers the ball away from goal and Matthew Kilgallon plays a short pass down the line towards Alex Gilliead, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Alex Gilliead looks to pick out Dominic Poleon with a threaded through-ball, But Mark Byrne has made a crucial block and Gabriel Zakuani kicks the ball clear towards the halfway line, But Romain Vincelot has won the aerial challenge and headed the ball back to where Gabriel Zakuani has cleared the ball from, and Callum Guy gets on to the loose ball, turns past Callum Reilly and runs towards goal in possession of the ball, And Callum Reilly has clipped Callum Guy and Bradford City have been awarded a free kick which I thought looked soft at the time, but looking at the highlights, Callum Reilly’s challenge deserved to be penalised for a foul, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Tony McMahon has curled the ball over Gillingham’s Defensive Wall and into the side netting by Tomas Holy’s Left Hand Post - I think Tomas Holy had that effort on goal from Tony McMahon covered, but I have got to say that Tomas Holy dived very late, and had Tony McMahon’s effort on goal been on target, then Bradford City could have taken the lead.

Thirty One Minutes Into The Match, And Nathaniel Knight-Percival picks out Dominic Poleon with a long ball over the top and had Dominic Poleon not trod on the ball then The Bradford City Striker would have been in on goal one on one with Tomas Holy, But Dominic Poleon still manages to get a shot away on goal which is blocked and charged down by Jake Hessenthaler, and Mark Byrne gets to the loose ball and plays the ball forward to Max Ehmer, And Max Ehmer takes no chances and kicks the ball out of play for A Bradford City Throw On, And it is a case of anywhere will do for Gillingham and getting the ball clear is better then allowing Bradford City to create A Goal-Scoring Opportunity.

However, Bradford City did create a goal-scoring opportunity from the resulting throw on, as Nathaniel Knight-Percival throws a long throw down the line and Luke O’Neill and Shay McCartan both miss the ball, but the ball runs through to Stephen Warnock, who just about gets to the loose ball ahead of Scott Wagstaff, But Scott Wagstaff does time his challenge on Shay McCartan to perfection, but the loose ball runs all the way through to Nathaniel Knight-Percival, And Nathaniel Knight-Percival clips a long pass down the line and Stephen Warnock flicks the ball first time into Dominic Poleon’s Path, And Dominic Poleon gets to the loose ball ahead of Gabriel Zakuani, And Dominic Poleon headers the ball out-wide to Stephen Warnock, who plays a first time pass centrally towards Nicky Law, who manages to flick the ball over Gabriel Zakuani’s head to try and pick out Dominic Poleon, And Callum Reilly is in the right place at the right time to stop Dominic Poleon from getting a shot off towards goal, but the chance is still there for Bradford City, as Alex Gilliead tee’s up Shay McCartan, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Shay McCartan see’s his first time driven effort towards goal blocked by Bradley Garmston, and the loose ball ricochets into Dominic Poleon’s path, who spins past Jake Hessenthaler and fires a fiercely struck shot wide - A Very Scrappy Goal-Scoring Opportunity, But Bradford City are starting to show sign’s of dominance after an impressive start to this match from The Gills, that effort from Dominic Poleon is a warning sign for Gillingham to try and step things up and try and get on the front-foot between now and half time.

Thirty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham win themselves a free kick in a promising position on the pitch, Conor Wilkinson has possession of the ball for Gillingham down the right side of the pitch in Bradford City’s Final Third, And Conor Wilkinson passes the ball back to Luke O’Neill, And Luke O’Neill whips in an dangerous first time cross and Matthew Kilgallon has managed to clear the ball away from danger and Max Ehmer gets to the loose ball first and headers the ball forward towards Bradford City’s Penalty Area, and Conor Wilkinson wins the aerial challenge to try and flick the ball on towards Lee Martin, But Romain Vincelot was there to make the block, And Matthew Kilgallon has kicked the ball long down-field and although Dominic Poleon has managed to get to the loose ball first, a poor first touch from The Bradford City Striker, allows Luke O’Neill to get to the loose ball, and Luke O’Neill passes the ball down the line towards Scott Wagstaff, who skilfully manages to take on Nathaniel Knight-Percival and The Bradford City Centre Back is penalised for a clumsy foul on Scott Wagstaff, And Gillingham are awarded a free kick in a promising position on the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Bradley Garmston and Lee Martin are both standing over the loose ball, and Lee Martin has whipped in an fantastic in-swinging cross and Conor Wilkinson does well to get to the ball first and try and header the ball into the right corner of the net, But Colin Doyle dives to his left to make a very good save and gather the ball at the first attempt - A Chance For Gillingham to potentially open the scoring there.

And From Here, Bradford City turn defence into attack very quickly, Goalkeeper Colin Doyle rolls the ball out to Romain Vincelot, and Romain Vincelot takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forward to Nicky Law, and Nicky Law squares the ball to Callum Guy on the halfway line in a left from central position on the pitch, And Callum Guy is allowed to run forward in possession of the ball, and Callum Guy has tried to pick out the bottom right corner of the net with a curling effort which only just narrowly went wide of Tomas Holy’s Left Hand Post, and that was a huge goal-scoring opportunity for Bradford City, and Gillingham cannot just sit off and allow Bradford City to try there luck from distance.

A Minute Later, And Nathaniel Knight-Percival is penalised for his challenge on Mark Byrne, And from the resulting free kick, Max Ehmer’s quick pass through to Scott Wagstaff is intercepted by Callum Guy and the loose ball runs into Tony McMahon’s Path, And Tony McMahon takes a touch to control the ball before squaring the ball to Matthew Kilgallon, and Matthew Kilgallon just about retains possession of the ball despite Bradley Garmston’s Challenge, and Jake Hessenthaler then challenges The Bradford City Centre Back and Bradley Garmston and Alex Gilliead are competing for the ball on the touchline as the ball goes out of play, and Gillingham are awarded the throw on, And Bradley Garmston quickly throws the ball to Lee Martin in an central position on the pitch, And Lee Martin takes a touch to control the ball, and Lee Martin takes another few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Scott Wagstaff down the right side of the pitch in Bradford City’s Final Third, And Scott Wagstaff takes a touch to control the ball before looking to take on Nathaniel Knight-Percival, And Scott Wagstaff cuts inside into an more central position before curling the ball just wide of the top left corner of the net - And Scott Wagstaff wasn’t far away from opening the scoring for Gillingham and that was a decent goal-scoring opportunity for The Gills.

And From Here, Gillingham created two decent goal-scoring opportunities in quick succession, the first opportunity see’s a long ball from Max Ehmer almost pick out Lee Martin with a long ball over the top and Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle has to dive on to the loose ball to ensure that Lee Martin does not open the scoring for Gillingham, But It Is The Goal-Scoring Opportunity In The Thirty Eighth Minute Of The Match Where Gillingham should have at least hit the target, And From Here, Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle has kicked the ball long down the right side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Left - And Gabriel Zakauni has managed to make a crucial interception and Jake Hessenthaler has got on to the loose ball and poked the ball down the left flank towards Bradley Garmston, who has managed to keep the ball in play by heading the ball down the line and Bradley Garmston then has the pace to get on the end of his own headed pass, and Bradley Garmston uses his pace to run down the left wing before cutting inside on to the edge of Bradford City’s Penalty Area, And Bradley Garmston picks out Scott Wagstaff with a pass across Bradford City’s Penalty Area, And Scott Wagstaff takes a touch to control the ball before dragging his shot wide of Colin Doyle’s Right Hand Post - I thought that Scott Wagstaff should of gone for goal with a first time effort, and that is another goal-scoring opportunity for The Gills.

Forty One Minutes Into The Match, And Gabriel Zakuani does brilliantly to stop Dominic Poleon getting on the end of Nicky Law’s through-ball, and Gabriel Zakuani shields the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, And In The Forty Third Minute Of The Match, Stephen Warnock has taken Scott Wagstaff out down the right side of the pitch and Gillingham are awarded a free kick and Stephen Warnock is the first player to be booked by Referee Ross Joyce, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in a very promising position on the pitch, But before that free kick can be taken, Callum Reilly is down on the deck and requires treatment, and with not long until half time, Callum Reilly can always get some treatment at half time and continue playing in the second half, But Callum Reilly’s injury is serious enough for him to be substituted straightaway and Connor Ogilvie comes on to replace Callum Reilly, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Luke O’Neill has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick, and although Max Ehmer has managed to get the ball under control, The Linesman Down The Near Side has his flag raised for offside.

Bradley Garmston is penalised for his challenge on Romain Vincelot, But Gillingham have a penalty appeal turned down just as we approach the first minute of stoppage time, Luke O’Neill has picked out Scott Wagstaff with a long pass down the line and Scott Wagstaff takes a touch to control the ball before threading the ball through to Conor Wilkinson, who has gone to ground inside Bradford City’s Penalty Area and the questions are being asked whether that was or wasn’t a penalty kick, I wasn’t sure if that was a penalty kick to be honest, It didn’t look clear cut at the time and there has been no highlights of the incident that I can look at which suggests whether this was or wasn’t a penalty kick for Gillingham.

And The Final Noteworthy Moment Of The First Half Is Gabriel Zakuani making sure that Dominic Poleon doesn’t get on the end of Matthew Kilgallon’s long ball down-field and Gabriel Zakuani has shielded the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, and after two minutes of stoppage time, Referee Ross Joyce blows the half time whistle and both Bradford City and Gillingham go in at the break with the score-line still goal-less.

HALF TIME: BRADFORD CITY 0 - 0 GILLINGHAM

I sent the following two tweets at half time ONE: HALF TIME: BRADFORD CITY 0-0 GILLINGHAM - Wagstaff and Garmston have switched flanks in the first half and Reilly was playing at LB, Reilly saw his header saved by Doyle and Wagstaff has had two fantastic goal-scoring opportunities, second chance should have been hit first time AND TWO: Bradford City have managed to get in and behind once or twice but the playing surface at Valley Parade is terrible, If Gillingham can step it up in the second half, there is a very good chance that Gillingham can go on and win this match, Eaves may well come on around 60 mins.

I also shared the tweets pre-match about Adam Barrett getting a decent reception from Southend United Supporters before kick off, and Ben Chapman was starting for Faversham Town, Adam Barrett was out-standing for Gillingham in our League Two Championship Winning Season and Adam Barrett played a crucial role in helping Gillingham retain our League One Status the following season as well, As For Ben Chapman, It was great to see Ben Chapman start for Faversham Town, and we are obviously hoping that the young midfielder starts for Faversham Town on a regular basis while he is out on loan.

Because Of Callum Reilly’s Enforced Substitution, I cannot see Steve Lovell making a second change at half time, But Tom Eaves can always come on around the hour mark if we need a goal to break the deadlock, But the one thing Gillingham have to be wary about is not throwing the game away, because Gillingham have created plenty of goal-scoring opportunities, even though Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle hasn’t been seriously tested in-between the sticks, But Bradford City are not going to be second best all game, they are going to have a spell in this match where they are on top, and Gillingham have to keep the score-line level when Bradford City are in the ascendency.

Also, I think kicking towards The Kop must be a big motivating factor for Bradford City, because The Kop is two tiered and I can see Bradford City Supporters behind the goal playing there part in rallying there side on to pick up all three points, It’s the same whenever Gillingham kick towards The Rainham End In The Second Half, that always gets the best out of The Gills whenever we’re having a disappointing first half, Hopefully, It’s Gillingham and not Bradford City who put in the performance levels to give there supporters something to cheer about at the full time whistle.

Both teams came out on to the pitch ready for the second half, Connor Ogilvie was out on the pitch much earlier then his team mates to warm up at half time to make sure he was warmed up for the second half, Bradford City Manager Simon Grayson hasn’t made any changes to the team he named at the very start of the match, But If Bradford City do need to make any changes, then I am sure that Simon Grayson has got one or two players on the bench who can come on and make an impact.

SECOND HALF:

The first noteworthy moment of The Second Half was Romain Vincelot being penalised for his challenge on Lee Martin, and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick down the right side of the pitch on the halfway line, and from the resulting free kick, Max Ehmer has kicked a high and diagonal ball from right to left and Matthew Kilgallon was in the right place at the right time to header the ball clear and away from danger, With Gillingham now kicking towards The TL Dallas Stand, the playing surface down this end of the pitch is a lot worse then the playing surface closest to The Kop Stand, And this could well see Gillingham change every so slightly the way we create goal-scoring opportunities, because the playing surface at Valley Parade is dreadful.

However, In The Forty Eighth Minute Of The Match, Bradford City open the scoring and take the lead, Matthew Kilgallon has possession of the ball for Bradford City on the halfway line, And Matthew Kilgallon takes a touch to control the ball before attempting to pick out Dominic Poleon with a long pass down the line, But Luke O’Neill is in the right place at the right time to intercept the ball, and Luke O’Neill takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball down the right side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Half To Scott Wagstaff, who tries to spin past Nathaniel Knight-Percival, and The Bradford City Defender manages to intercept the ball, but it looks like for a moment that the loose ball would run through to Conor Wilkinson, But Nathaniel Knight-Percival times his challenge to perfection on The Gillingham Striker and Nathaniel Knight-Percival also times his challenge on Mark Byrne to perfection as well, and the loose ball falls to Nicky Law, who just about beats Conor Wilkinson to the loose ball and Dominic Poleon passes the ball back to Tony McMahon, who takes a touch to control the ball before clipping the ball out-wide to Stephen Warnock, who takes a touch to control the ball down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Stephen Warnock passes the ball to Dominic Poleon in an central position on the pitch on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Dominic Poleon gets the ball under control before shifting the ball on to his right foot and Dominic Poleon has fired the ball into the bottom left corner of the net and there was absolutely nothing that Tomas Holy could have done about that - great strike, and a great goal from Dominic Poleon.

That goal was frustrating to concede because Gillingham were slightly on top in The First Half, But the old saying is that you have to score when you are the more dominate side in the game, and Gillingham failed to score in the first half, and Bradford City have opened the scoring with the first goal-scoring opportunity in The Second Half, What was especially annoying about that goal was the number of challenges that Gillingham put in from Mark Byrne, Conor Wilkinson and Scott Wagstaff trying to go past Nathaniel Knight-Percival, and the ball just would not bounce in Gillingham’s Favour, And Now, Gillingham have got a lot of work to do to try and get something out of this match, the only consolation conceding early on in The Second Half is that there is plenty of time remaining for Gillingham to get something out of this match, I predicted A Draw In The NoirCat Prediction League, and given that Gillingham are a goal down, I would gladly take a draw now.

Forty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Romain Vincelot is penalised for his challenge on Bradley Garmston, But it is in the same minute where Bradford City manage to create another decent goal-scoring opportunity, as Gillingham are looking to get themselves back on to level terms immediately, Max Ehmer kicks the ball long down-field and Conor Wilkinson has chested the ball under control before playing the ball out-wide to Scott Wagstaff down the right side of the pitch in Bradford City’s Final Third, And Scott Wagstaff turns back on himself to retain possession of the ball, And Scott Wagstaff passes the ball back to Mark Byrne, who takes a touch to control possession of the ball, And Mark Byrne tries to pick Luke O’Neill out with a clipped pass over the top, But Nathaniel Knight-Percival is in the right place at the right time to header the ball clear, And Dominic Poleon has managed to keep the ball in play, And Dominic Poleon runs down the left flank in possession of the ball, And Dominic Poleon runs from Bradford City’s Final Third up towards the halfway line in possession of the ball, And Dominic Poleon passes the ball out-wide to Stephen Warnock, who has made a supporting run alongside Dominic Poleon, And Stephen Warnock just about gets to the loose ball ahead of Max Ehmer and passes the ball inside centrally to Callum Guy, who takes two touches to control the ball, And Callum Guy tries his luck from twenty five yards out, But Callum Guy’s Shot lacks any power and rolls comfortably into Tomas Holy’s Grasp - A Routine Save From Tomas Holy, But A Save That The Gillingham Goalkeeper has still had to make.

Fifty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Jake Hessenthaler is down on the deck requiring treatment, Bradford City Supporters were furious because they believed they should have been awarded a free kick, and after getting some treatment from physio Gary Hemens, Jake Hessenthaler was back on his feat and OK to continue playing, and once play can resume, Dominic Poleon has managed to get through down by the byline and Dominic Poleon kicks the ball against Gabriel Zakuani to win A Throw On For Bradford City right in the far corner, And From The Resulting Throw On, Alex Gilliead throws the ball short to Callum Guy, who takes one touch to control the ball, and another touch to try and whip in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post which has been charged down by Connor Ogilvie at the expense of conceding a corner kick for Bradford City, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Nicky Law has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post which is headed clear by Connor Ogilvie straight back to Nicky Law, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Nicky Law has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross with plenty of pace which is flicked on by Shay McCartan, and Shay McCartan’s flick on ricochets off Max Ehmer and just wide for another corner kick for Bradford City.

And From the Resulting Corner Kick, Nicky Law has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Luke O’Neill has done really well to flick the ball away from goal with a decent defensive header, but the loose ball falls kindly into Nathaniel Knight-Percival’s Path, And Nathaniel Knight-Percival has whipped in a very disappointing cross from Bradford City’s Point Of View, and the ball has gone out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, and the pressure on to Gillingham’s Goal has been relieved for now, as long as the score-line remains at 1-0, then Gillingham have still got a chance of getting something out of this match.

Fifty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham have the opportunity to try and get themselves back on to level terms, Conor Wilkinson is fouled by Callum Guy twenty five yards from goal, But Referee Ross Joyce waves play on as Bradley Garmston has possession of the ball, and Bradley Garmston has fired an driven effort well wide of Bradford City’s Goal by some considerable distance and every Gillingham Supporter thought there was going to be some retrospective punishment for Callum Guy, who had fouled Conor Wilkinson, But Referee Ross Joyce has decided not to book The Bradford City Midfielder, And A Minute Later, Max Ehmer has kicked a diagonal cross-field pass towards Bradley Garmston and Romain Vincelot has headed the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On In Bradford City’s Final Third, And From The Resulting Throw On, Mark Byrne has thrown the ball short to Bradley Garmston, who takes a touch to control the ball before firing in an dangerous low cross which ricochets off Romain Vincelot, and the ball deflects out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, and the atmosphere raises in volume from the back of the away end, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Scott Wagstaff passes the ball short to Bradley Garmston, who fires in a first time cross which is blocked and cleared by Matthew Kilgallon, and Matthew Kilgallon’s clearance only just runs through to Tomas Holy, who tricks Dominic Poleon with a nice bit of skill and passing the ball forwards to Mark Byrne.

Sixty One Minutes Into The Match, And Scott Wagstaff passes the ball out-wide to Mark Byrne down the right side of the pitch in Bradford City’s Final Third, And Mark Byrne takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in an dangerous in-swinging cross which was comfortable for Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle to save with ease, Scott Wagstaff was anticipating a give and go and Scott Wagstaff was in a decent position to get on the end of a return pass from Mark Byrne.

And having gathered Mark Byrne’s Dangerous In-Swinging Cross, Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle kicks the ball down the right side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Left - And Dominic Poleon uses a neat bit of skill to go past Gabriel Zakuani, who falls to floor, But Gabriel Zakuani saves the ball and pulls the ball back into his grasps and Gabriel Zakuani has taken one for the team and stopped Dominic Poleon from running through on goal, and Gabriel Zakuani is correctly shown A Yellow Card And Bradford City have been awarded a free kick, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Nicky Law has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Conor Wilkinson has headed the ball clear and away from danger at the near post, and the loose ball falls kindly to Shay McCartan, who has possession of the ball for Bradford City, and how or why Referee Ross Joyce has penalised Max Ehmer for a foul was an absolute joke, and Bradford City have been awarded a free kick for a nothing decision, and from the resulting free kick, Alex Gilliead whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Gabriel Zakuani headers the ball clear and away from danger for A Bradford City Corner Kick.

And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Nicky Law has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post which is too long for anyone in A Bradford City Shirt to header on target or back across the face of goal, But Shay McCartan managed to keep the ball in play and Shay McCartan passes the ball back to Stephen Warnock, who takes a touch to control the ball, before whipping in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Tomas Holy gathers the ball with ease.

Referee Ross Joyce is then the source of our frustration, as he awards a foul against Scott Wagstaff when Matthew Kilgallon wasn’t going anywhere in possession of the ball, and than hand-ball decision against Conor Wilkinson which was equally just as bad, I just hope that we’re not constantly talking about Referee Ross Joyce’s Performance at the full time whistle, these free kick decision’s, whilst are very irritating, at least haven’t contributed to Bradford City scoring a second goal.

But In The Sixty Seventh Minute Of The Match, Gillingham make there second substitution of the match, As Tom Eaves comes on for Mark Byrne, And With Mark Byrne on nine yellow card’s and this match being the final match before the cut off point, then it makes sense to substitute Mark Byrne, Tom Eaves coming on to play alongside Conor Wilkinson in attack will hopefully provide Gillingham with more of an attacking threat with Twenty Three Minutes And Stoppage Time Remaining.

And Tom Eaves coming on as substitute see’s Gillingham create a decent goal-scoring opportunity, Romain Vincelot just about manages to kick the ball long down-field despite pressure from Jake Hessenthaler and Max Ehmer wins the aerial challenge up against Shay McCartan and plays the ball through to Lee Martin, who misses the ball completely and because of the awkward bounce, Tony McMahon cannot get the ball under control either and Scott Wagstaff passes the ball through to Conor Wilkinson, who takes a touch to control the ball, And Conor Wilkinson passes the ball down the line for Scott Wagstaff to run on to, And Scott Wagstaff cannot get to the ball first as Stephen Warnock manages to kick the ball away from Scott Wagstaff, but the loose ball falls kindly into Luke O’Neill’s Path, And Luke O’Neill takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post, and Matthew Kilgallon manages to header the ball clear and Lee Martin and Tony McMahon both miss the aerial challenge on the edge of the penalty area and Jake Hessenthaler beats Nicky Law to the ball, and Jake Hessenthaler picks out Bradley Garmston with a pass, and Bradley Garmston is taken out by Romain Vincelot and the ball spins up into the air and Tom Eaves flicks the ball on and Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle makes the save - That looked liked a foul on Bradley Garmston to me - and that challenge from Romain Vincelot on Bradley Garmston was a challenge that I thought was a foul, and considering that the challenge on Bradley Garmston was inside Bradford City’s Penalty Area, then had a foul been given, then Gillingham would have been awarded a penalty kick.

And In The Sixty Eighth Minute Of The Match, Gillingham win themselves a corner kick, as Tom Eaves cross / shot down the left side of the pitch is charged down by Matthew Kilgallon and the atmosphere raises in volume from the back of the away end, and from the resulting corner kick, Luke O’Neill has whipped in a very poor cross and Lee Martin losses possession of the ball down the right side of the pitch, and Lee Martin is lucky not to be booked for pulling Alex Gilliead back and there was a slight possibility of an counter attack for Bradford City, thankfully, Alex Gilliead’s long pass down the line goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On.

Seventy One Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham create a half decent goal-scoring opportunity, Conor Wilkinson has possession of the ball for Gillingham down the left side of the pitch in Bradford City’s Final Third, And Conor Wilkinson has tried to pick out Tom Eaves with an dangerous in-swinging cross and Tom Eaves cannot get on the end of Conor Wilkinson’s cross and it looked liked the ball was going to go out for A Bradford City Throw On, But Scott Wagstaff has managed to keep the ball in play and take a few touches in possession of the ball, And Scott Wagstaff has whipped in an dangerous low in-swinging cross which was inches away from picking out Conor Wilkinson, and the ball goes out of play for A Bradford City Goal-Kick.

And once the ball had gone out of play, Bradford City make there first substitution of the match, As Kai Brunker comes on to replace Shay McCartan, And in the aftermath of that substitution, Gillingham are still pressing Bradford City for the goal that will bring Gillingham back on to level terms, Colin Doyle has kicked the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer wins the aerial challenge up against Dominic Poleon, And Jake Hessenthaler gets to the loose ball first and passes the ball square to Bradley Garmston just inside Bradford City’s Half Of The Pitch, And Bradley Garmston takes a touch to control the ball before looking to pick out Conor Wilkinson with a clipped pass down the line, And Romain Vincelot comes across to header the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, Deep In Bradford City’s Final Third right in-front of where The Gillingham Supporters are situated inside Valley Parade.

And From The Resulting Throw On, Bradley Garmston throws the ball short to Lee Martin, who takes two touches in possession of the ball, and Lee Martin threads the ball through to Bradley Garmston down the left side of Bradford City’s Penalty Area, and Bradley Garmston takes on Matthew Kilgallon, But Bradley Garmston has ran out of room and over-ran the ball out of play for A Bradford City Goal-Kick.

Steve Lovell has one substitute remaining, and looking at our various options, Liam Nash can come on to play alongside Tom Eaves and Conor Wilkinson in attack, Or, Ben Nugent can come on to play up-front just to give Bradford City something to think about defensively, I cannot see Franck Moussa or Navid Nasseri coming on, Gillingham need to try and get back on level terms, and we either bring on Liam Nash who can provide Gillingham with something different in attack, or, we bring Ben Nugent on and go route one to try and find that equaliser.

Seventy Four Minutes Into The Match, And Tony McMahon’s foul on Jake Hessenthaler wasn’t given, much to the irritation from every Gillingham Supporter In The Away End, And In The Seventy Fifth Minute Of The Match, Bradford City had the opportunity to double there lead and make the three points safe, Colin Doyle kicks the ball long down-field for Bradford City and Conor Wilkinson wins the aerial challenge on the halfway line to herder the ball towards Tom Eaves, And Tony McMahon gets to the loose ball first and kicks the ball long down the left side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Right - And Max Ehmer has time to get the ball under control and pass the ball down the line towards Luke O’Neill, who tries a first time flick to play the ball towards Lee Martin, But Nathaniel Knight-Percival is on to the loose ball, and Nathaniel Knight-Percival takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball through to Kai Brunker, And Kai Brunker takes a touch to control the ball before cutting inside and passing the ball square to Dominic Poleon, who was roughly twenty five yards out from Gillingham’s Goal, And Dominic Poleon plays a first time return pass through to Kai Brunker who goes for goal first time with a low effort on goal which is straight at Tomas Holy, And Tomas Holy was able to gather the ball with ease - But that was another goal-scoring opportunity for Bradford City.

Seventy Five Minutes Into The Match, And Conor Wilkinson is penalised for his challenge on Stephen Warnock, But Gillingham create a decent goal-scoring opportunity a minute later, Tony McMahon manages to intercept a pass towards Tom Eaves, And Tony McMahon takes another touch to control the ball before losing possession of the ball to Lee Martin momentarily, and because of the poor playing surface, the ball bounced back towards Tony McMahon, and Tony McMahon passes the ball back to Romain Vincelot, who passes a first time pass through to Callum Guy, And Callum Guy takes a touch to control the ball before running down the right side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Left - And Callum Guy tries to take on Connor Ogilvie, who has read the situation very well, and Connor Ogilvie gets himself in-between Callum Guy and the ball and Connor Ogilvie manages to pass the ball down the line towards Bradley Garmston, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Bradley Garmston runs forward in possession of the ball drawing two players out of position, And Bradley Garmston back-heals the ball back to Tom Eaves, who runs into an more central position on the pitch, and Tom Eaves continue’s running into an central position before unleashing a fiercely driven shot towards goal which bounced right in-front of Colin Doyle, And Colin Doyle has saved and gathered the ball at the second attempt before Lee Martin can tap in the re-bound - A Very Good Goal-Scoring Opportunity For The Gills.

Seventy Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Luke O’Neill has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Romain Vincelot manages to get the ball partially clear and away from danger, And Tom Eaves is penalised for his challenge on Tony McMahon, And In The Same Minute, Conor Wilkinson manages to pick out Tom Eaves with an fantastic through-ball and The Linesman down the far side of the pitch had his flag raised for offside when we all thought that Tom Eaves was onside.

But It Is In The Eighty First Minute Of The Match Where Gillingham should have equalised and level the game up at 1-1, Tony McMahon kicks the ball long down-field for Bradford City and Jake Hessenthaler headers the ball forwards for Gillingham and Nathaniel Knight-Percival beats Scott Wagstaff to the loose ball to header the ball away from The Gillingham Midfielder and Jake Hessenthaler wins the aerial challenge up against Nicky Law and Scott Wagstaff plays a short pass out-wide to Luke O’Neill, who manages to keep the ball in play, And Luke O’Neill passes the ball back to Jake Hessenthaler, who takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball centrally to Scott Wagstaff, and Scott Wagstaff takes a touch to control the ball before running from the right / centre to the centre of the pitch, And Scott Wagstaff squares the ball to Connor Ogilvie, who takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Bradley Garmston, And Bradley Garmston uses his pace to take on Alex Gilliead, and Bradley Garmston gets himself to the byline and stands the ball up towards the back post and Conor Wilkinson cannot direct his header on target AND THAT WAS THE CHANCE FOR GILLINGHAM TO EQUALISE!!!!!!!!!! - Maybe Nathaniel Knight-Percival had put Conor Wilkinson off, but there will not be many better goal-scoring opportunities (if any) that are better then the opportunity that Conor Wilkinson just had to score for Gillingham.

Eighty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Bradford City were awarded a throw on down the right side of the pitch, when the throw on should have been awarded to Gillingham, thankfully, Alex Gilliead’s Throw Down The Line Towards Dominic Poleon was poor and the ball runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, But Gillingham are not exactly getting decision’s in there favour from The Match Official’s at the moment.

Once the ball goes out of play, Defender Daniel Devine comes on to replace Midfielder Nicky Law In The Eighty Fourth Minute, As Bradford City are just looking to try and shore things up defensively and see out the rest of this match, But the foul count keeps rising against Gillingham, and in-particular, against Tom Eaves, The first foul awarded against Tom Eaves was for a soft challenge against Tony McMahon, but the second foul awarded against Tom Eaves was an absolute joke, Max Ehmer has played a long diagonal cross-field pass towards Tom Eaves, who does brilliantly to chest the ball under control, and Tom Eaves flicks the ball past Romain Vincelot and somehow Referee Ross Joyce has penalised Tom Eaves for a foul, and every single Gillingham Supporter was furious with Referee Ross Joyce, ABSOLUTE JOKE REF!!!! Was My response, And your just waiting for Tom Eaves to be shown A Yellow Card From Referee Ross Joyce, which would be Tom Eaves tenth booking of the season and that would mean that Tom Eaves would pick up a two match suspension.

In the aftermath of that decision, Steve Lovell makes Gillingham’s Third And Final Substitution, As Liam Nash comes on for Jake Hessenthaler, and Gillingham are throwing everything forward to try and get something out of this match, But the soft free kick’s are constantly being awarded against Gillingham, because it is Gabriel Zakuani who is now penalised for his challenge on

Kai Brunker, and I am not sure what was said to Referee Ross Joyce at half time, but he has gone from refereeing the game consistently, to constantly awarding free kick’s to Bradford City, and Bradford City then make there third and final substitution, as Omari Patrick comes on to replace goal-scorer Dominic Poleon in The Eighty Ninth Minute, and Bradford City have also used all of there substitutions, And Bradford City using all of there substitutions is very relevant, because Alex Gilliead has gone down requiring treatment and Bradford City will have to go down to ten men for the rest of the match if Alex Gilliead was unable to continue, But Alex Gilliead was OK to play on for Bradford City.

And The Fourth Official has put his board up to show FIVE ADDITIONAL MINUTES OF ADDED TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - COME ON GILLS!!!!!!!! And just as we approached The Ninetieth Minute Of The Match, Gillingham are awarded a free kick, Colin Doyle kicks the ball long down-field for Bradford City and Gabriel Zakuani wins the aerial battle to try and header the ball forwards towards Liam Nash, But Romain Vincelot was in the right place at the right time to header the ball clear, and Max Ehmer beats Omar Patrick to the loose ball and pass the ball out-wide to Luke O’Neill, And Luke O’Neill takes a few touches in possession of the ball, skilfully evades Omar Patrick’s attempted challenge, And Luke O’Neill kicks the ball long down-field to try and pick out Tom Eaves and Romain Vincelot just about makes a crucial last ditch interception and the ball falls to Scott Wagstaff on the edge of the penalty area, and Daniel Devine is penalised for his challenge on Scott Wagstaff and shown A Yellow Card, and when Gillingham were awarded a free kick, the loudest most sarcastic cheer erupted from the back of the away end, Because Gillingham have been on the end of some controversial refereeing decision’s throughout the second half.

And From The Resulting Free Kick, Max Ehmer, Conor Wilkinson and Luke O’Neill all stand over the loose ball, and I thought that Luke O’Neill was going to take it, But Max Ehmer tee’s up Conor Wilkinson to drive a fiercely struck effort towards goal which takes a huge deflection off Romain Vincelot and the ball ricochets out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, At Least the free kick wasn’t hit wayward and off target, and Gillingham can still cause Bradford City problems from the resulting corner kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Lee Martin passes the ball short to Bradley Garmston who passes the ball short back to Lee Martin, And Lee Martin whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross And Bradford City Goalkeeper Colin Doyle punches the ball clear to the edge of the penalty area, And Liam Nash takes one touch to control the ball and the loose ball falls into Bradley Garmston’s path, and Bradley Garmston runs down the left side of Bradford City’s Penalty Area, And Bradley Garmston pulls the ball back across the face of goal, And Connor Ogilvie hits a first time volley towards goal which is accidentally blocked by Conor Wilkinson and the poor bounce means that Tom Eaves cannot direct the ball towards goal, had the ball bounced up off the turf, then Tom Eaves would have had a simple tap in, and you do wonder if it is going to be Gillingham’s Day.

Ninety Four Minutes Into The Match, And Liam Nash was penalised for a soft challenge on Tony McMahon, And Kai Brunker was penalised and shown A Yellow Card for his challenge on Scott Wagstaff and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick, And Gillingham have the chance from this free kick to cause Bradford City problems defensively, and from the resulting free kick, Luke O’Neill passes the ball short to Connor Ogilvie, who passes the ball down the line towards Bradley Garmston, And Bradley Garmston passes the ball inside to Lee Martin, right by the byline down the left side of the pitch, and Lee Martin passes the ball back to Bradley Garmston, who takes a touch to control the ball before firing in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Conor Wilkinson cannot jump high enough to get a telling connection on the ball, but the ball does fall kindly to Liam Nash inside Bradford City’s Penalty Area, And Liam Nash takes a touch to control the ball before trying to pick out the top left corner of the net with a driven effort towards goal which sadly doesn’t hit the target, And that may well be it, It would have been great to see Liam Nash come on and make an impact from the substitutes bench by scoring his first ever Football League Goal.

But there was still time remaining for one final goal-scoring opportunity, All be it, after surviving a real scare, As Luke O’Neill’s Back-Pass puts Tomas Holy under a lot of pressure, and Tomas Holy shows coolness under pressure by calmly passing the ball out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, who turns back on himself, passes the ball back to Tomas Holy, And Tomas Holy takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Luke O’Neill down the right side of the pitch, And Luke O’Neill runs forwards in possession of the ball up towards the halfway line, And Luke O’Neill kicks the ball high and long towards the edge of Bradford City’s Penalty Area, And Max Ehmer flicks the ball on towards Lee Martin who’s shot towards goal from an acute angle wasn’t powerful enough to beat Colin Doyle - and that was the final noteworthy moment of The Second Half, And Bradford City held on for the 1-0 win, And The Gillingham Players collapse to the deck and need to be picked up on to there feat again.

FULL TIME: BRADFORD CITY 1 - 0 GILLINGHAM

Despite our best efforts to try and get something out of the match in the closing stages, It just wasn’t to be and Bradford City ended there winless run with a hard fought 1-0 win against Gillingham and I think that Gillingham’s Efforts throughout the ninety minutes deserved a draw, and I thought that Gillingham were going to battle back from a goal down and get an equaliser, and we had our chances at the end of this match to get something out of the game, but it just wasn’t to be.

The Players Applauded The Supporters after the full time whistle, and The Gillingham Players were applauded for giving it everything, and that’s one thing you can say about Gillingham under Steve Lovell’s Management, even when we have lost games, Like Bury 2-1 at Gigg Lane and Wigan Athletic 2-0 at The DW Stadium, Gillingham have been in every match and still with a chance of getting something from the match at the full time whistle, Gillingham have not been thrashed, and you can see that by looking at Gillingham’s Defensive Record and how Gillingham have one of the best defensive records in League One This Season.

I spoke with Ben and Colin after the game against Bradford City in The Concourse and It was a real shame that Ben had seen Gillingham go down to a 1-0 defeat against Bradford City, especially as Gillingham’s Form Under Steve Lovell has generally been magnificent and I do believe that a draw would have been a fair reflection of what we have seen over the course of the entire ninety minutes, But with that result against Bradford City, even though other results have generally gone in Gillingham’s Favour, The League One Playoff Places are unattainable now, I think most of us generally accepted that The League One Playoffs were going to be a long shot, but if someone offered us this scenario back when Steve Lovell first took over initially as Caretaker Manager before being appointed as Gillingham Manager, then we would have snapped there hand off.

And as I was walking back to The Kings Ferry Coach after exiting the ground, you look at the number of Bradford City Supporters Walking Around Valley Parade and Bradford City must be the heart of the community and to get 20,000+ Attendances In League One really is commendable, our last two away games against Portsmouth at Fratton Park and Bradford City at Valley Parade have seen 18,000+ / 20,000+ attendances in League One, and these are the type of matches you want to see Gillingham playing in, also, that win against Portsmouth was fantastic, our first ever visit to Fratton Park and Gillingham pick up all three points.

I got on the coach and sat down in my seat and I mentioned to Nicholas that any lingering hopes of Gillingham challenging for the playoffs is over now, Nicholas agreed, and looking at The League One Table, Gillingham are eight points behind Peterborough United (Nine Points if you include goal difference) with nine games to play, But realistically, your talking about Gillingham winning eight of our remaining nine matches to stand a chance of reaching the playoffs, and that type of run is going to be a very tall order, And Also, Gillingham still have to play against Rotherham United, Blackburn Rovers, and Plymouth Argyle, and those matches are going to be very difficult.

Once everyone was back on the coach, we were on our way back home, and I took to Twitter to help pass the time on the journey back to Kent, And I sent the following tweet, FULL TIME: BRADFORD CITY 1-0 GILLINGHAM Poleon's goal was the difference between both sides, Ref Ross Joyce gave so many soft fouls against Gillingham and I was waiting for Eaves to get a two match suspension with this ref, Wilkinson heading Garmston's Cross was our best chance.

There was also some very good news In The Kent Non League Scene, As Bromley drew 1-1 against Gateshead and won 4-2 on aggregate to reach The FA Trophy Final which will be played At Wembley Stadium, and so far, there has been no date confirmed of The FA Trophy Final, But that may well be a game to have a look at going to, If The FA Trophy Final is played after The Football League Season has finished.

I then sent the following Tweet On Twitter,,, BRADFORD CITY 1-0 GILLINGHAM - Gillingham unfortunately could not build on our impressive 3-1 away win against Portsmouth with a result against Bradford City, Feel free to ask me any questions you have about today's match….. I then re-tweeted a few tweets, include Matt’s Video Tweet which showed Bradford City’s Opening Goal, And I included as many Gillingham Supporters into that tweet as possible, And Hendon winning 4-1 against Billiericay Town was a fantastic result, and you start to wonder if Billericay Town’s prospects of getting promoted into The Conference South are going to happen, Glenn Tamplin has to surely be the most disliked manager in Non League Football.

Looking At The League One Table, Gillingham drop to Thirteenth In The Table and Plymouth Argyle did lose 2-0 against Charlton Athletic, I always thought that The League One Playoff Positions were going to be a tall order and Gillingham had a very slim chance at best of securing a top six finish, But all the while the playoff positions are mathematically possible, we wanted to see Gillingham push as hard as we can to try and secure an unlikely playoff position, because the last thing we want to see is Gillingham lose four or five games on the bounce and this season completely petters out into nothing.

Other results In Non League Football caught my eye, Chatham Town drew 1-1 with Sheppey United, and of course, Bromley reached The FA Trophy Final was an out-standing achievement and you have to say congratulations to Bromley Football Club, And while I was checking my notifications, Nicola asked me the following question, I moan about Josh Parker quite a bit... Do you think it could have been different had he played today? and I responded with the following answer, I think we all would love to have Parker available for selection today, But Gillingham's overall performance deserved a point, and Wilkinson had the best chance when he headed Garmston's Cross over the crossbar with ten minutes to go.

Nicholas had responded to one of my tweets I sent at half time, and I sent the following response back,,, The Ref constantly awarding free kicks against Eaves was frustrating, And I was just waiting for The Referee to book Eaves which would have meant that Tom Eaves would have picked up a two match suspension, Eaves made an impact when he came on, as Gills switched to two up-front, Nicholas replied back by mentioning that, Agreed, at least we've managed to get to the 37 game mark without Eaves and Byrne getting another booking. They can't get suspended for 10 yellow cards now.

Gillingham’s Away Attendance was 298 and Diane and Ann thought that our away attendance was much higher then that, It took a while before Gillingham finally confirmed the away attendance, And Gillingham did confirm that the attendance was 298 and I shared that tweet from Gillingham’s Official Twitter Account with as many people as possible, Nicholas needed Gillingham’s Attendance For The Prediction League, and if no away attendance was officially announced, then that would have been very irritating.

Whilst looking on My Twitter Feed, Gillingham Town were top of The Dorset Premier League and Gillingham Town won 3-1 Away From Home Against Hamworthy Recreation (It took me a lot of searching to try and find the score from Gillingham Town’s Match) I have always looked out for Gillingham Town’s scores and checked on how well they are doing, Hopefully, We will get the chance to watch Gillingham Town play at home before Yeovil Town V Gillingham, Because Yeovil Town are the closest club to Gillingham Town.

Bradford City tweeted a photo of where The Gillingham Supporters were situated In The Northern Commercials Stand, And I shared that photo with as many Gillingham Supporters On Twitter and We’re starting to see tweets from Glen Johnson and Bradley Garmston on Twitter, And there was a quote from Steve Lovell, which means that we should start to see Steve Lovell’s Post Match Comments Very Soon Online, Ann had just finished charging up her mobile phone with her Power-Pack, And Ann asked if I wanted to borrow The Power-Pack, and as The Battery Life On My Mobile Phone was at 40%, I borrowed the power-pack and thanked Ann for allowing me to have The Power-Pack, for away journeys as long as Bradford City, there really needs to be plug charger / USB Chargers On The Coach.

Luke had posted an interesting comment before kick off which I had only just seen as we were traveling back home on the coach, Colin Doyle had played in goal for The Republic Of Ireland against Turkey On Friday Night, before playing in goal for Bradford City against Gillingham, That level of commitment has to be commended, And there is a good chance that Republic Of Ireland kicked off at 7.45PM / 8PM On Friday Night, So Colin Doyle will have played in two competitive matches in less then Twenty Four Hours.

Louis had tweeted how The Playoff Places In League One were out of reach, but he still wants Gillingham to end this season on a good note, And I replied back with the following response,,,, If Gills end this season in the top half of League One, Then Gills will be seeded In The League Cup 1st Round Draw and we would avoid The Championship Clubs In Round 1, It is important that we end this season with some momentum, So that Gills can take that form into next season.

I then saw Steve’s Fantastic Tweet, and Steve sent the following,,,, Any #Gills fan disappointed about not getting in the playoffs needs to cast their mind back to Pompey at home in October on Sky. I thought that day we were down. The fact that a top half finish is on with zero investment in the squad is a great achievement from Lovell. UTG, I responded back with the following,,, If someone offered me Twentieth Position In League One when Steve Lovell took over as Gillingham Manager, I would have taken that with both hands, Gillingham had seven points from twelve games when Lovell took over, Gills are now thirteenth In League One with Forty Nine Points, Matt also responded to our messages with the following, a win and a few draws, And I would be happy to draw a line under this season.

I then saw Brad’s Tweet where Brad mentioned that Gillingham rarely lose at Valley Parade, Bradford City’s form is awful, Gillingham’s away form is mega, only one result, Bradford City 1-0 Gillingham, And I responded back with the following,,,, Well, You did call it Brad, Seven Points out of twelve from Doncaster Rovers, Rotherham United, Scunthorpe United and Bradford City is not too bad - I think those are the four closest clubs to you in League One.

Also, Kentish Football finally tweeted the date of The FA Trophy Final, which is The Twentieth of May, I remember when Me And Rob went to The FA Vase Final when Tunbridge Wells lost 2-1 against Spennymoor Town, and Rob is clapping Josh Stanford’s Equaliser, and there I was proper celebrating like Gillingham had scored, I brought The DVD of The FA Vase Final which has got ninety minutes of highlights and full match commentary as well.

Gabriel Zakuani was the next Gillingham Player / Staff Member to tweet there thoughts on The Bradford Game, Matt had posted another video clip from Bradford City V Gillingham With Bradley Garmston setting up Scott Wagstaff in the first half when Scott Wagstaff dragged his shot wide, and that was the goal-scoring opportunity where I thought that Scott Wagstaff should have gone for goal with a first time effort, rather then taking a touch to control the ball.

We arrived at Peterborough Services at 8PM and once the coach had parked up, everyone got off the coach, And Me and Louis spoke about how The League One Playoffs are very unlikely, although we want to see Gillingham finish this season strongly, and of course, being seeded in The First Round Of The League Cup gives Gillingham something to play for, because if Gillingham are seeded in The League Cup, that would mean that Gillingham would avoid all The Championship Clubs in The First Round.

I brought Large Fries and Nine Chicken Nuggets From McDonalds, Diane and Ann then told me that they got speaking with A Rotherham United Supporter and this Rotherham United Supporter mentioned that Bradford City ground-share Valley Parade With A Rugby Club, and as we had some time to spare before we had to get back on to the coach, I decided to look this up, and I looked up Bradford Bulls and where they played there home matches, And Bradford Buls play there home matches at Odsal Stadium, which has got a 27,000 Capacity, Interestingly, Odsal Stadium has a higher stadium capacity then Valley Parade, As Valley Parade has a 25,136 Stadium Capacity.

Once I collected my order, Me, Diane and Ann decided to head back to The Kings Ferry Coach, and I sat down on the coach to eat my meal, rather then try and rush our meals sitting down in the services and dash back onto the coach, and once I was back on the coach, I sat down and eat my meal, and once I had finished me meal, I put the rubbish in the rubbish sack and Diane asked me why I don’t bring a packed lunch with me for away games, I used to do that, but I much prefer to buy what I am going to eat, rather then pack a lunch, and find that I don’t eat much of the food I take with me, It’s Drink you tend to need more then food for a long away trip, as you often get dehydrated throughout the day, and it doesn’t help that the air conditioning is not working on the coach as well.

I then checked on Twitter to see that Faversham Town lost 1-2 against Hastings United, Stuart Nelson was named in The League Two Team Of The Week Last Week after saving a penalty for Yeovil Town, and I saw this tweet from Tony who supports Bradford City, And Tony Tweeted The Following Message To Gabriel Zakuani,,,,, Hi Gabriel, Bradford City fan here, unlucky today, I thought you had a terrific game. My son is an U13 centre back, playing tomorrow, we watched your performance specifically and called it out as a great barometer and education for him, you did the basics immensely and much more.,,,, Hopefully, Gabriel Zakuani can sign an extended contract with Gillingham Football Club over the next few weeks.

Mark Byrne was the next Gillingham Player to tweet about The Bradford City Match, And Gabriel Sutton Posted This Article About The Bradford City V Gillingham Game LINK IS HERE - http://www.thesackrace.com/news/24th-march-2018/bradford-city-record-first-win-under-simon-grayson - Gabriel thanked me for sharing his article and sent me the following reply,,,,, Appreciate the shout-out, How far do you reckon this Gills side is from a top six push next year? This was a really good question and I had to think for a minute or two before responding back with my own answer, and I responded back with the following,,,, We need to offer contracts to Martin, Zakuani and Byrne, Youngsters Hadler, O'Mara, Simpson, Oldaker (who is highly rated) Chapman, List and Mbo are players I can see offered new deals as well. Lovell needs to sign the two year contract extension - our most important signing, Gabriel responded back with the following response, Zakuani, I was really impressed with., and I replied back mentioning that, I really do hope that Zakuani signs a new deal, Max Ehmer has signed A Two Year Contract Extension and Steve Lovell is planning contract negotiations with players he wants to hang on to, I hope Zakuani is also tied down for the next two seasons at Gillingham Football Club.

As for players Gillingham need to sign to be in contention for A Playoff Place, A 1st Choice Left Back, A Central Attacking Midfielder who is very creative, If Lovell sticks with a diamond midfield formation, then more strength in the middle of the park, possibly another striker, I have also expanded on this over the past week, as I have mentioned the following,,,, This Coming Summer is huge For Gillingham, Plenty of players are out of contact and who we retain will give us an idea on what formation(s) Gills will line up with next season, Lovell has mostly lined up with a 4.4.2 diamond or 3.5.2, Last two games have seen a 4.2.3.1 formation, Who we hang on to will give us some idea on how Gillingham might line up next season, But who Steve Lovell will add to the squad in the off season will give us a much clearer picture, Steve Lovell will need to add more squad depth to the squad out-side The Starting Line Up, and try and add a few players of quality to the side, If we’re to try and push for a playoff place next season.

And the big news of the night was Scunthorpe United Sacking Graham Alexandra, Scunthorpe United are in The League One Playoff Positions, and for Scunthorpe United to sack Graham Alexandra is completely unexpected and something must have gone on behind the scenes for The Chairman to consider making a managerial change, And Scunthorpe United must have A Manager Lined Up, otherwise why make the managerial change in the first place ???

Peter came round to take bookings for up and coming away games, Diane, Ann and Myself were traveling via car to Southend United and we are going to leave very early because of The Dartford Crossing, and we can see a lot of Gillingham Supporters looking to make a day of it, although, a lot will depend on the weather, and I am not sure if the trains are going to be running properly on Easter Monday, Oldham Athletic we will be traveling via coach, and Peter mentioned the pick up times for Oldham Athletic Away, And Bristol Rovers we will be traveling to via car, and those three matches are the final three away matches of The 2017 / 2018 Season.

We arrived back in Kent and started to drop people off, Our First Drop Off Point was out-wide Strood Sports Centre before we headed along to the bus stop on The Strood Side Of Rochester Bridge where we dropped off Two Gillingham Supporters before we headed back towards Priestfield Stadium, And Diane, Ann, Nicholas, Louis and quite a few Gillingham Supporters got off the coach, Diane and Ann double checked that they had everything on them, and I mentioned that I will see them on Thursday, for what will be our first home game in four, five or even six weeks, because Gillingham’s Last Home Game was a goal-less draw against Walsall, and Gillingham will play against MK Dons at Home On Thursday Night.

I Said C Ya To Nicholas, Diane, Ann and Louis as they got off the coach, and I started to double check that I had everything on me, and after Peter was dropped off, the next drop off point was out-side The White Horse, and Me and Gary thanked the drivers, and after we had got off the coach, Me and Gary spoke about the pitch, which has to be one of the worst playing surfaces we have seen for a long time, Gigg Lane was bad, But Bradford City’s Pitch made Priestfield Stadium’s Playing Surface looked like Wembley Stadium in comparison, We both agreed that any lingering hopes of Gillingham challenging for the playoffs are now gone with that result, and it was always going to be a big ask to try and push for a top six position, But that defeat against Bradford City has ended A Playoff Challenge for The Gills, Because it is going to take eight wins from nine games to try and secure sixth spot.

But at least Gillingham are in mid-table, we’re not hovering above the relegation zone, We’re not Twenty Third In League One, which is where Gillingham were in the table when Steve Lovell first took charge when Gillingham won 1-0 away from home against Peterborough United at London Road, and we haven’t been smashed by any team through Steve Lovell’s Reign As Gillingham Manager, I said C Ya To Gary before making the ten minute walk back home, and I was back home at 22.30PM, And having got up at 5.30AM in the morning and leaving my house at 7.10AM, it has been a long day which has been unrewarded as Gillingham fail to pick up the point I think Gillingham’s Efforts Deserved, Hopefully, Gillingham can recover from this set back with results against MK Dons and Southend United over The Easter Weekend, Four Points From Both Matches would be excellent, But back to back wins and Gillingham picking up six points out of six would be out-standing, Hopefully, Gillingham can recover from this set back against Bradford City with two results against MK Dons and Southend United - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#BradfordCity #Gillingham #Gills #football

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