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fan-of-mulligan · 8 years ago

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FOM BLOG: GILLINGHAM 2 - 1 BURY

My Thoughts on Gillingham V Bury……………

I got A Lift over to Priestfield Stadium at 1PM and before leaving the house I made sure I had the following things on me,,,,,, (Money, Keys, My Season Ticket, My Samsung Galaxy S2, Spare Lids, Lynx, My Gillingham Bag with Pads and Pens, And A Packet Of Polo’s), after being dropped off in Woodlands Road - Where The Supporters Coach would usually park up before heading off to away games - I waked along Chicago Avenue, before walking up Toronto Road to go to The Newsagents on The Corner to buy a 500ML Bottle of Coca Cola for £1 before making my way towards The Clubs Shop and Ticket Office, as I walked along Redfern Avenue I saw Robin and Brian and spoke to them about The League Cup Game against Southend United on Tuesday Night, Brian was hoping that Gillingham played a rotated eleven and use The Southend United Match as A Competitive Reserve Fixture, Brian wanted Gillingham to win the match of course, but I really wanted Gillingham to win, even going as far as saying that I wanted Gillingham to win The League Cup Match more then The League Game, and to get both wins against Southend United, by the same score-line was a fantastic start to The 2016 / 2017 season.

Unfortunately, Robin told me that Rose will no longer be going to Gillingham Matches anymore as Rose suffered a nasty fall after The Burton Albion Game in our final away game of the season, and Football Stadiums don’t have railings in the isle for supporters to hold on to if your struggling to move up the stairs, I know that Rose really wanted to continue to watch Gillingham Play, and I hope that Rose can at least watch Gillingham play home matches at Priestfield Stadium.

I said C Ya to Brian and Robin before going into The Club Shop and buying My Match Day Programme for £3 and Diane was there and we were speaking about the win against Southend United and Diane had already brought her tickets for The Scunthorpe United and Shrewsbury Town Away Games - matches we will be driving too - and I went to queue up in The Ticket Office to buy My Scunthorpe United and Shrewsbury Town Tickets for £42, Watford Tickets were going on sale on Monday, I spoke to Jim who was also buying his tickets for Scunthorpe United and Shrewsbury Town and he was also going to go to The Watford League Cup Tie, neither of us could see Gillingham selling a lot of tickets for that Second Round Tie, as Gillingham will be away to Watford on A Tuesday Night - but with Watford at home to Arsenal and Chelsea either side of The Gillingham Game, I am sure that Watford Manager Walter Mazzarri will make eleven changes for that Watford Game and use The Gillingham Match as A Competitive Friendly, to give those outside the starting eleven, the chance to get ninety minutes under there belts.

As I was standing in the way in The Ticket Office, I said C Ya to Jim, before making my way back inside The Club Shop to try on A Light-Weight Jacket, The Jacket I brought was slightly larger then my old jacket, but I needed to go one size higher because the pockets were very small and also, one size lower and the jacket didn’t fit at all, and fifteen pounds for A Jacket and Trousers wasn’t too bad, Me and Diane decided to stand outside and wait for Stephen and Gary, because I said I would meet up with Stephen on The 1.15 Train at Rainham, but I managed to get a lift over to the ground instead.

As we waited for Stephen and Gary, we saw Alan and Irene and we spoke with them about The Southend United Cup Match on Tuesday Night and how it was strange to get the same result against the same team, at the same ground, in exactly the same scenario as Gillingham went 1-0 down to A Stephen McLaughlin Goal before turning the match on it’s head, Alan was pleased to be sitting towards the front of the stand at Roots Hall after what happened last season, I think Gillingham were given The Entire North Stand on Saturday, where as last season, I think the end block was sectioned off which explained the over-crowding in the isle and the crowd surge after Luke Norris’s goal that day meant that quite a few people fell over, Alan thought it was strange that Me and Diane don’t sit together in the same stand, I mentioned that I have sat in my same seat in The Medway Stand for eleven year’s and know the people around me, and Alan and Irene have sat in there same seat in The Gordon Road Stand for years so they knew where I was coming from.

As Alan and Irene headed round to The Gordon Road Stand, Diane was also going to head on over to her seat, we saw Lisa, James, Tom and Gary, and Lisa was delighted to be back to her usual seat in The Rainham End and Stephen just caught up with us as Diane was heading over to The Gordon Road Stand, and we also spoke to Richard, who was delighted to put a name to A Twitter Profile, as some people constantly change there Twitter Names which gets very confusing, I said 3-1 again for The Gills for my score prediction, Stephen predicted 2-1, just as long as we get the win which is the important thing, but we have started the season really well against Southend United and we were hoping to build on those results with a win against Bury, and get our first home league win of the season in our first home league game of the season, Richard didn’t stop for long, but said he hoped to see us over the coming season, and maybe, just maybe, Gillingham can do better then ninth in League One This Season.

Stephen had brought some Gills Shorts for Joshua, who he was hoping to take to his first ever Gillingham Match This Season, and I don’t have any Friends For a Fiver Or Kids For A Quid Vouchers in My Season Ticket, apparently there will be announcements regarding any Friends For A Fiver Matches, but announcing those matches just days before Gillingham play A Home Game isn’t enough notice, Gillingham could put something on Twitter that one match this season is five pounds a ticket providing that the ticket is brought from A Season Ticket Holder, but if there isn’t enough notice, I won’t be able to buy A Ticket for Stephen or anyone else, because of the lack of vouchers, Stephen may well be going to fewer Gillingham Matches this season, but he is hoping to tick off some of the northern away trips, like Bolton Wanderers, I know Diane and quite a few other Season Ticket Holders are annoyed about the lack of Kids For A Quid or Friends For A Fiver Vouchers, as they were always useful to have in the back of your Season Ticket Book.

Eventually Gary met up with Me and Stephen and even Gary couldn’t remember the last time that Gillingham had played against the same opposition twice at the same ground just four days a part, and the same score-line in exactly the same scenario has happened in both matches, because Stephen McLaughlin had opened the scoring for Southend United, but as soon as Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Cody McDonald scored the equalisers on Saturday Afternoon and Tuesday Evening respectively, Gillingham were able to turn the match on it’s head and pick up three points and progress to The Second Round of The League Cup respectively, what these two matches show is that Gillingham have the resolve within the squad to be able to recover from the set-back of going a goal down, and to win back to back away games after going behind in both matches is very good going.

Gary believes that those two results means that Gillingham can finally put Last Season’s Form behind them, because it is Southend United who have lost there last seven matches in a row in all competitions and that can quite easily have been Gillingham had Southend United won both matches against The Gills, Gary added that Gillingham starting The 2015 / 2016 season so well wasn’t as surprising because Gillingham really kicked on towards the end of The 2014 / 2015 season to end twelfth in League One, and that was a positive end to the season which enabled Gillingham to kick on at the start of the following season, it is much harder to get off to a good start when your form has been inconsistent the previous season, and yet, that is what Gillingham have done, starting this season with two away wins in a row, with the possibility of making it three wins on the spin - IF Gillingham can win against Bury.

Gary was telling me and Stephen some stats before the game, Bury had lost thirteen of there previous seventeen away matches, and in nine of those seventeen matches, Bury have failed to score and Gillingham have won four and drawn four of there previous eight home league games against Bury, Bury Manager David Flitcroft has clearly turned to experience to try and improve Bury’s Away Form as Ben Williams 33, Tom Pope 30, Tom Soares 30, Neil Danns 33, Leon Barnett 30, Antony Kay 33, Paul Rachubka 35 and Chris Brown 31 will all provide experience in A Bury Squad who ended sixteenth in League One, having earned promotion from League Two The Season Before, so Bury will be looking to consolidate yet again this season and perhaps look at a top half finish, clearly an improvement away from home is needed to end higher up The League One Table as far as Bury are concerned.

Me, Stephen and Gary were all speaking about the expenditure at Gillingham Football Club, Scott Wagstaff, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Adedeji Oshilaja, Jamie O’Hara, Billy Knott, Lee Martin, Paul Konchesky, Josh Pask, Joe Quigley, Mark Byrne AND Bradley Dack is still at the club, I mentioned that selling Luke Norris for £150,000 to Swindon Town and his saved wages have enabled Gillingham to sign Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Jamie O’Hara and Josh Pask, but Gary cannot believed that we have been able to sign players of Paul Konchesky and Jamie O’Hara’s quality, Paul Konchesky was released by Premier League Champions Leicester City and he played over thirty times for QPR in The Championship, and Jamie O’Hara was A First Team Player at Fulham, if these two had played ten times in The Championship, you would say “fair enough” we have signed them, but both players were ever present for Fulham and QPR in The Championship.

There has been an “HOW HAVE WE SIGNED THEM” Comment for quite a few players signed this summer, Paul Konchesky, Billy Knott, Jamie O’Hara, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Scott Wagstaff, either Paul Scally is going over and beyond Gillingham’s Playing Budget, we have got better finances then we think we have got, or maybe, Justin Edinburgh has got all these players through the door because we have accepted an offer for Bradley Dack, at the moment, Bradley Dack is injured and injured players cannot move between clubs, so there is the possibility that Gillingham have made all the signings we have made so far, AND, Gillingham will keep Bradley Dack after The Summer Transfer Window Slams Shut.

I did wonder if we’re using the additional funds we are getting from the games against Charlton Athletic, Millwall, MK Dons, Oxford United, Northampton Town and Bristol Rovers as a means of signing a few of these players, as League One is more southern based in 2016 / 2017 compared to the previous season, but Gary admitted that is risky, as home games could be postponed on A Saturday and you would have a lower attendance for A Tuesday Night, but the signings Gillingham have made so far have been remarkable, but one result which could help Gillingham in recouping our expenditure, is IF Gillingham were to win against Watford and get a glamour tie in The Third Round Of The League Cup.

And that is achievable, as Watford are at home to Chelsea and Arsenal either side of The Gillingham Game and Watford will rotate there side and basically use the cup tie against Gillingham as a competitive friendly, as New Watford Manager Walter Mazzarri will want to see what his players outside the starting line up can do, Gary had to head off inside and get to his seat, so Me and Stephen said - C Ya After The Game - before talking about how Gillingham are going to line up, and we also got speaking to Daniel, and Daniel felt that the signing of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas gave Gillingham the lift we needed at just the right time, as Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has scored three goals in two appearances, and he looks like a striker who can link up with Cody McDonald and these two will score and create goals this season, I also mentioned to Daniel that Rob had just come back from America in The Morning so he is going to feel a bit jet-lagged watching The Gills Play Bury in The Afternoon, Daniel didn’t stop for long, but it was good to speak to Danial before the game, and Stephen decided to go to Block C and we will meet up after the game, hoping that Gillingham get there first home win of the season, and that Gillingham have made it three wins from three.

I made my through The Family Enclosure Entrance, Brought One Fifty / Fifty Match-Day Lottery Ticket and took to my seat next to Andrew and Charlotte, and after the final game of The 2015 / 2016 season, I said to Charlotte that Bradley Dack will unfortunately leave Gillingham Football Club in the summer, no-one saw the possible scenario of Bradley Dack playing in A Gillingham Shirt at the start of The 2016 / 2017 season, especially with the signings Gillingham have made over the summer.

Eventually we saw The Team News On Twitter and Gillingham Lined Up As Follows,,,,,,,,,, Stuart Nelson, Ryan Jackson, Josh Pask, Adedeji Oshilaja, Paul Konchesky, Josh Wright, Mark Byrne, Emmanuel Osadebe, Billy Knott, Cody McDonald, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas SUBS: Tom Hadler (GK), Mitchell Dickenson, Darren Oldaker, Jamie O’Hara, Jake Hessenthaler, Rory Donnelly and Joe Quigley - I thought that Jamie O’Hara would have started for Gillingham and like-wise, I also predicted Jake Hessenthaler to start as well, but Emmanuel Osadebe and Mark Byrne retain there spots in The Start Line Up having both been named among the substitutes bench against Southend United in The League Cup Tie, while Billy Knott replaces Bradley Dack in The Central Attack Position On The Pitch.

Now Bury won against Charlton Athletic on the opening day of the season and they lost to Burton Albion in The First Round of The League Cup after playing an additional thirty minutes as Burton Albion Verses Bury went to Extra Time, so the results have been mixed for Bury, and Bury Manager David Flitcroft has added more experience to his Bury Squad to enable Bury to push for A Mid-Table Position in League One This Season.

The Teams came out of the tunnel ready for kick off as Gillingham and Bury Lined Up in-front of The Medway Stand, Bury were playing in there changed Black and Green Away Kit, after Gillingham’s Pre-Match Huddle on the halfway line, I thought that Referee Brendan Malone was going to make both teams switch ends, thankfully, that wasn’t the case and Bury were kicking towards The Rainham End in The First Half, and Gillingham were kicking towards The Brian Moore Stand, meaning that Gillingham will be kicking towards The Rainham End in The Second Half.

FIRST HALF

Bury showed how they were going to play early on against The Gills as Mark Byrne is fouled by Anthony Kay within the first sixty seconds of the match, Bury will look to try and disrupt Gillingham and perhaps look to break the match up by conceding fouls and free kicks, a minute later and Gillingham were on the front foot as Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has possession for The Gills down the left side of the pitch, as Jay Emmanuel-Thomas pealed out-wide to get possession of the ball, and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas cuts inside and gets an early shoot away on target, but Tom Pope is well positioned to clear the ball out of play and away from Bury’s Goal, but at the expense of a corner kick.

Billy Knott goes across to take the resulting corner kick for The Gills, and set plays have been highly successful for Gillingham in the opening two matches of the season against Southend United, Billy Knott’s in-swinging corner kick towards the near post is headed clear and away from danger by Neil Danns, but only as far to Ryan Jackson on the edge of Bury’s Penalty Area, and from twenty five yards out, Ryan Jackson has hit an first time effort towards goal which curled away from Ben Williams Right Hand Post just when we thought that Ryan Jackson had opened the scoring for The Gills, Ryan Jackson is now getting more shots on and off target this season, he failed to hit the target against Southend United in The League Game, but had attempts on goal in Cup Game at Roots Hall which was blocked, and after just three minutes in our first match at Priestfield Stadium, Ryan Jackson has hit another effort on goal which has only just flown wide of Ben Williams Right Hand Post - good effort from Ryan Jackson, and something that Gillingham can build on.

A Minute later and in The Third Minute Of The Match, Bury created an fantastic goal-scoring opportunity to open the scoring, Ben Williams kicks the ball long down-field and Emmanuel Osadebe wins the aerial challenge, but Bury Centre Back Anthony Kay wins the aerial battle up against Cody McDonald and Anthony Kay headers the ball to Tom Pope, who shields the ball away from Adedeji Oshilaja, and it looked liked that Bury Midfielder Jacob Mellis had fouled Emmanuel Osadebe, but play continued and Neil Danns runs forward in possession of the ball down the right flank and Neil Danns takes on Paul Konchesky and gets to the byline, and Neil Dann checks the ball back to Craig Jones, who whips in a high and hanging cross towards the far post and Tom Pope headers the ball back to Nicky Clark, and The Bury Winger / Striker hits a first time effort over Stuart Nelson’s crossbar, when I thought that Nicky Clark should of brought the ball down before going for goal, thankfully Nicky Clark choose the former rather then the latter, otherwise Bury could have taken an early lead at Priestfield Stadium.

Into The Fifth Minute of the match now and Emmanuel Osadebe has possession of the ball for Gillingham in our third of the pitch and Emmanuel Osadebe has the pace to run past Tom Soares and try and pick out Cody McDonald with a perfectly weighted through-ball, but Nathan Cameron intercepts the ball and Nathan Cameron passes the ball out-wide to Tom Soares, who slips and falls over and Emmanuel Osadebe picks up the loose ball and plays the ball forward to Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas’s quick movement draws the foul from Anthony Kay, and Gillingham have a free kick in Bury’s half of the pitch.

Ant it is from this free kick where Gillingham do open the scoring, Josh Wright and Billy Knott play a one / two from the resulting free kick and Josh Wright plays the ball out-wide to Paul Konchesky, who takes a touch and Paul Konchesky switches the ball from the left to the right to pick out Mark Byrne, and Mark Byrne takes a touch to control the ball, before playing a fantastic pass in-between Anthony Kay and Nicky Clark to pick out Ryan Jackson on the over-lap, and even though Nicky Clark slid to try and play the ball back to Ben Williams, Nicky Clark couldn’t get enough contact on the ball and Ryan Jackson showed great composure to slot the ball underneath the advancing Ben Williams to open the scoring for The Gills.

That goal lifted any nervous that were floating around Priestfield Stadium because Gillingham’s Home Form at the back end of The 2015 / 2016 season was dreadful, with Gillingham losing all four league games against Walsall, Port Vale, Shrewsbury Town and Millwall, there is still a long way to go in this match and Gillingham haven’t got the three points in the bag, but that early goal from Ryan Jackson has enabled Gillingham to grab a foot-hold in the game, just after that guilt edge goal-scoring for Nicky Clarke two minutes earlier for the visitors.

Bury saw the good and bad from Winger / Striker Hallam Hope, as Hallam Hope handled the ball in the seventh minute to relieve any pressure building up on Gillingham’s Goal, and in the Ninth Minute, Hallam Hope uses his pace to drive Bury further up the pitch and win a throw on off Josh Pask, A Second Goal for Gillingham before Half Time would put The Gills in a commanding position to go on and pick up all three points.

Eleven Minutes into the match and Bury came very close to equalising, Stuart Nelson kicks the ball long down-field and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas does extremely well to bring the ball down with his first touch, but Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was clearly impeded by Anthony Kay, but no free kick was awarded by Referee Brendan Malone as Tom Soares plays the ball back to Ben Williams, who kicks the ball long down-field first time, but Josh Wright is unchallenged as he wins the ball in the air and Josh Wright’s header is intercepted by Greg Leigh, who plays the ball through first time to Neil Danns, who skips past Adedeji Oshilaja’s challenge on the halfway line, as Adedeji Oshilaja had moved high up the pitch to try and intercept the ball and now it was three on three as Neil Danns skips past Josh Pask’s challenge and Neil Danns plays the ball out-wide to Tom Pope, who whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards Hallam Hope, but there was Paul Konchesky to header the ball over the crossbar and concede a corner kick - better to concede a corner kick then a goal.

And Bury do threaten from the resulting corner kick as Neil Danns whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross, and Neil Danns picks out Nathan Cameron with a fantastic delivery towards the far post, but Nathan Cameron could only header the ball over the crossbar and wasn’t able to direct his header on target, but it was another chance for Bury, who have grown stronger into this match since going behind to Ryan Jackson’s early goal.

Josh Pask was showing his qualities in this match winning the aerial battle up against Tom Pope on a few occasions and The Eighteen Year Old Centre Back on A Season Long Loan from West Ham United is even out-performing Adedeji Oshilaja, who is having one of those games where things are not coming off for him, as Adedeji Oshilaja tried to intercept the ball before Neil Danns could get there and that lead to Paul Konchesky having to header Tom Pope’s cross behind for A Corner Kick, and a few cross-field passes towards Ryan Jackson have been over-hit and gone out of play for A Bury Throw On, I do think that the lack of any pre-season games means that Adedeji Oshilaja still needs a few more games before he is back to 100% in his match fitness / match sharpness levels, as Adedeji Oshilaja only played forty five minutes of pre-season football against Leyton Orient before The 2016 / 2017 season started.

Sixteen Minutes into the match and Josh Wright is penalised for persistent fouling on Tom Pope, and it was from here where Bury came very close to scoring as the visitor’s have been on top since Ryan Jackson has scored for The Gills, Bury do look a threat in wide area’s, especially with Hallam Hope and Nicky Clark providing Bury with a lot of pace down the flanks, Hallam Hope and Greg Leigh link up nicely down the left flank, and Hallam Hope has whipped in a sensational cross which almost picks out Tom Pope at the far post and Stuart Nelson has to dive at full stretch to claw the ball away from danger, and Paul Konchesky is there to mop up and kick the ball further away from Gillingham’s Goal - not convincing goalkeeping from Stuart Nelson, but Stuart Nelson did claw the ball away from Tom Pope to keep the score-line at 1-0 for The Gills.

Andrew felt that Gillingham might well be looking for A New Goalkeeper in A Year’s Time, this is Stuart Nelson’s fifth season at Gillingham and Stuart Nelson is thirty four and by the end of his contract with the club Stuart Nelson will be thirty six, I think Justin Edinburgh will be looking at A Younger Keeper eventually, we have currently got a very promising goalkeeper in Tom Hadler who could well be Gillingham’s First Choice Goalkeeper within the next two or three season’s, as Tom Hadler has all the necessary attributes to be an fantastic goalkeeper for Gillingham Football Club, Tom Hadler just lacks experience in League Football, I am sure Tom Hadler will get his chance for Gillingham in The Football League Trophy and Kent Senior Cup this season.

A Minute Later and Bury wanted a free kick as Hallam Hope went through on goal and went to ground underneath Adedeji Oshilaja’s challenge and Referee Brendan Malone waved play on, with boo’s around Priestfield Stadium aimed towards Bury Winger / Striker Hallam Hope as Adedeji Oshilaja timed his challenge to perfection, that’s better from Adedeji Oshilaja, who after a few mis-placed passes and not getting to the loose ball ahead of Neil Danns, has done extremely well to intercept the ball as Hallam Hope was one on one with The Gillingham Centre Back.

Bury are still on the front-foot and creating the better chances, because in The Nineteenth Minute Bury had another chance to score an equaliser as Gillingham really have been second best in the past ten minutes, Nathan Cameron plays the ball out-wide to Craig Jones, who clips the ball down the line towards Tom Pope, but Adedeji Oshilaja gets to the ball first, but Adedeji Oshilaja mis-kicks the ball and Tom Pope gets to the second ball and after retaining possession of the ball, Tom Pope plays the ball inside to Jacob Mellis, who plays a one / two with Nicky Clark, and Jacob Mellis drags his shot well wide of Stuart Nelson’s right hand post, but Jacob Mellis’s shot almost picks out Hallam Hope at the far post, but the ball does go out of play for A Goal-Kick.

So we’re twenty minutes into the match and Gillingham have taken an early lead through Ryan Jackson, but since that goal it is the visitor’s Bury who look more likely to score as Gillingham have put in a very flat performance, from what we have seen so far you would have thought that Gillingham played for one hundred and twenty minutes on Tuesday Night and not Bury, because Gillingham just haven’t been energetic, we’re second to the ball and defensively we’re making mistakes which haven’t been capitalised on by Bury, the score-line is what we wanted, but since Ryan Jackson’s goal, it looks like Gillingham are sitting on the one goal lead, rather then trying to grab a second goal.

Bury are still applying the pressure and you can hear a pin drop as the atmosphere in and around Priestfield Stadium was very quiet, there was a level of nervousness around the ground as Gillingham had lost the previous four home league games and we didn’t want to lose five in a row,

Bury have A Throw On Down The Right Side Of The Pitch as Craig Jones throws the ball to Neil Danns, who was going to play the ball back to Craig Jones, before skilfully going past Billy Knott and playing the ball back to Anthony Kay, who takes a touch to control the ball and Anthony Kay plays the ball out-wide to Greg Leigh, who plays the ball inside to Hallam Hope, who wins a very cheap free kick up against Ryan Jackson and Brendan Malone does award Bury A Free Kick in a very promising position on the pitch as this free kick is within shooting territory.

And from the resulting free kick, Neil Danns whips a curling effort over the wall to the far left corner of the net and Stuart Nelson dives to his right to save and gather the ball before quickly distributing the ball to Paul Konchesky, excellent save from Stuart Nelson and just the sort of save Stuart Nelson needed to boost his confidence, still the visitors are causing Gillingham a lot of problems though because two minutes later and in The Twenty Seventh Minute it is Tom Pope’s turn to try and score Bury’s Equaliser, Greg Leigh has whipped in an dangerous cross from the left wing and Gillingham do not clear there lines properly and Tom Pope cannot keep his shot down as Tom Pope cannot get a clear shot on target and thankfully from A Gillingham Point Of View, Tom Pope can only fire the ball over the crossbar, another chance for Bury and you could hear the frustrations around Priestfield Stadium, because if Bury had better strikers then they would have turned this match around and would be winning 2-1.

Gillingham have been flat, and here I was telling Andrew how great Gillingham have been in the last two matches against Southend United, and our performances at Roots Hall haven’t been transferred to our performances levels at Priestfield Stadium, granted, Gillingham still have the lead and we’re still in a winning position, but if Bury are going to continue getting goal-scoring opportunities like the one we had just seen from Tom Pope, and Neil Dann’s Free Kick, then Bury are going to score that equaliser eventually.

A Minute Later and Gillingham do have A Free Kick as Hallam Hope had fouled Ryan Jackson in The Twenty Eighth Minute, this is the chance for Gillingham to try and grab a crucial second goal after surviving the attacking onslaught from Bury, such a shame that Gillingham waste the free kick as Billy Knott’s high and hanging cross is meat and drink for any goalkeeper and Ben Williams is able to gather the ball with ease despite pressure from Adedeji Oshilaja, and from here Bury could have scored, as Ben Williams kicks the ball long down-field and Hallam Hope was questionably flagged for offside and Bury Manager David Flitcroft wasn’t impressed with The Linesman’s Decision at all, but what I was impressed with, was the fact that Josh Pask made the recovery run to intercept the ball and prevent Bury from getting a shot off on goal even if Hallam Hope had managed to get behind Gillingham’s Defence in the first place - The Youngster On Loan From West Ham United was the stand out player in the first half, and the Gills have done extremely well to sign Josh Pask on A Season Long Loan.

Thirty One Minutes into the match and The Gills start to show there qualities in midfield as Josh Wright, Mark Bryne and Billy Knott plays some excellent one touch passing and Billy Knott has the awareness to play the ball through to Paul Konchesky on the over-lap and Paul Konchesky’s cross is blocked, but Paul Konchesky gets to the loose ball first and plays the ball back to Adedeji Oshilaja, and this time Adedeji Oshilaja picks out Ryan Jackson with a fantastic cross-field pass and Ryan Jackson has the pace to go past Hallam Hope who was leaning and obstructing Ryan Jackson - REF!!!! - Was My Response, and Brendan Malone also thought that Hallam Hope was obstructing Ryan Jackson, and The Bury Winger / Striker is the first player to be shown a yellow card.

Gillingham are starting to build up a sustained period of pressure now and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Billy Knott are both standing over the resulting free kick down the right side of the pitch, and Billy Knott leaves Jay Emmanuel-Thomas to take the resulting free kick, and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas whips in a fantastic cross with plenty of pace, which does reach Adedeji Oshilaja at the far post, but The Linesman down The Medway Stand Side Of The Pitch had his flagged raised for offside.

A Minute Later and Josh Pask is in the right place at the right time again, this time intercepting the ball from Tom Pope as The Former Port Vale Striker was teeing himself up for a long range effort on goal and Josh Pask plays the ball out-wide to Mark Byrne, who plays the ball inside to Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who flicks the ball over the top leaving a foot-race between Cody McDonald and Nathan Cameron and Ben Williams comes rushing off his line to try and narrow the angle or get to the ball first, but you have got to say that was excellent defending from Natham Cameron, who prevented Cody McDonald from getting on to the loose ball after Cody McDonald had rounded Ben Williams, and Nathan Cameron does clear the ball away from danger and it is Bury’s turn to survive the latest onslaught on to there goal, Nathan Cameron and Anthony Kay are doing a number on Cody McDonald and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, because both centre backs have given Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Cody McDonald very little room to manoeuvre, Bury also have Tom Soares, Jacob Mellis and Neil Danns in the middle of midfield, who will have been given instructions to double mark Cody McDonald and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, as these two are already up and running for The Gills, having scored against Southend United in the previous two matches, Cody McDonald has one goal in two games, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has three goals in two games.

Thirty Seven Minutes into the match and Gillingham almost doubled there advantage, Josh Wright and Mark Byrne play a one / two and Josh Wright plays the ball forward to Billy Knott on the halfway line and Billy Knott plays the ball forward to Mark Byrne, who ran forward in possession of the ball and Mark Byrne played the ball through for Ryan Jackson to chase and Ryan Jackson gets to the loose ball ahead of Greg Leigh, and Ryan Jackson pulls the ball across to Josh Wright who would have got a shot off on target at the very least if it wasn’t for Nathan Cameron, who timed his challenge to perfection and cleared the ball away from danger, at the time, I thought Nathan Cameron had fouled Josh Wright and Gillingham were going to be awarded a penalty kick, but the highlights show a different story, as Nathan Cameron made a fantastic challenge to prevent Gillingham from scoring the crucial second goal.

The Two Newport County Players combined again for that move as Mark Byrne played the ball through to Ryan Jackson to run on to, and the two Newport County Players nearly combined again, as Ryan Jackson’s long throw into Bury’s Penalty Area see’s Mark Byrne penalised for a foul, Mark Byrne has been very combative and competitive in Gillingham’s Midfield, winning a lot of second balls and his small stature and the way Mark Byrne plays reminds me of Danny Spiller, as Mark Byrne puts himself about and has the energy levels to move up and down the football pitch.

Forty Two Minutes into the match and Gillingham create two clear cut goal-scoring opportunities to try and double our lead before half time, Adedeji Oshilaja plays the ball through to Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, who has possession for Gillingham in our half of the pitch, and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas plays the ball out-wide to Mark Byrne and even though Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was fouled, play continued as Mark Byrne played the ball back to Josh Wright, who squared the ball to Billy Knott and Billy Knott ran forward in possession of the ball from the halfway line to just out-side Bury’s Penalty Area, and Billy Knott played the ball out-wide to Paul Konchesky, who delivers a fantastic cross first time and Emmanuel Osadebe’s header crashes against the underside of the crossbar and stays out and Greg Leigh’s defensive header can only tee up Billy Knott on the edge of Bury’s Penalty Area, and Billy Knott squares the ball to Jay Emmanuel-Thomas who plays the ball back to Billy Knott, who takes a touch and Billy Knott crosses the ball to the right side of Bury’s Penalty Area and Josh Wright has hit a spectacular volley towards goal and the quality strike by Josh Wright is matched by a out-standing save by Ben Williams and Craig Jones kicks the ball down-field to clear the ball away from danger.

Still the chance is there for The Gills to create another goal-scoring opportunity as Josh Pask controls the ball and goes on a driving run forward only to lose out to Tom Soares, but Josh Pask still managed to poke the ball through to Mark Byrne, but Bury Centre Back Anthony Kay came across to make the interception, great persistence from Josh Pask there, who has put in a really impressive performance in the first half so far.

But after those two goal-scoring opportunities in quick succession for The Gills, Bury came close to equalising before The Half Time Whistle, Anthony Kay plays the ball inside to Neil Danns, who squares the ball to Tom Soares, and Tom Soares plays the ball forward to Nicky Clarke who had Craig Jones on the over-lap and Bury can create an decent goal-scoring opportunity from this position and Nicky Clark does play the ball through to Craig Jones on the over-lap, and Craig Jones’s low cross isn’t cut out properly by Adedeji Oshilaja and Tom Pope is on to that loose ball very quickly and Tom Pope’s effort on goal is a snapshot effort saved low down by his near post from Stuart Nelson and Adedeji Oshilaja keeps the ball in play to prevent the corner and Adedeji Oshilaja does clear the ball away from danger, it hasn’t been the best of first half performances from Adedeji Oshilaja, and Stuart Nelson needed to bail his team-mate out by making that save at his near post, and Bury have created plenty of goal-scoring opportunities to get themselves back on level terms at the very least.

Gillingham could have scored right before half time themselves as the end of the first half see’s the most end to end action as both teams are pushing to score, 2-0 would put Gillingham in an commanding position, while Bury are trying to find an equaliser themselves, Paul Konchesky and Emmanuel Osadebe are linking up nicely down the left side of the pitch and Emmanuel Osadebe tee’s up Paul Konchesky to whip in another sensational cross which almost picks out Cody McDonald in the six yard box, but there is Nathan Cameron to kick the ball out of play at the expense of a corner kick, Billy Knott’s in-swinging corner kick towards the near post is also headed out of play by Craig Jones for another corner kick, unfortunately, Gillingham don’t create any clear cut goal-scoring opportunities from the third corner kick, but the final five minutes of the first half, had more action then the previous twenty minutes, and after one minute of added time, Referee Brendan Malone blew his whistle for half time and Gillingham do have the lead at Priestfield Stadium thanks to Ryan Jackson’s goal after six minutes.

HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 1 - 0 BURY

This is Gillingham’s flattest performance of the season to date so far, the first ten minutes were fine, and the final five minutes plus stoppage time saw efforts from Emmanuel Osadebe and Josh Wright hit the underside of the crossbar and brilliantly saved by Ben Williams respectively, but Bury have been on top for a large amount of this match and with a more prolific striker in there ranks, then Bury would be level at the very least.

But Ryan Jackson took his goal really well and the same move again The Thirty Eighth Minute saw Mark Byrne play the ball through to Ryan Jackson and Ryan Jackson’s pull-back would have picked out Josh Wright had Nathan Cameron not timed his challenge to perfection, and The Two Newport County Players have linked up really well down the right side of the pitch for Gillingham, and in-particular, I was impressed with Mark Byrne’s display in Midfield, as Mark Byrne was winning second balls, putting himself about, and both passes Mark Byrne played through for Ryan Jackson to run on to were superb, Gillingham’s Midfield looks very strong when you take into consideration that Bradley Dack, Scott Wagstaff, Lee Martin and Aaron Morris are on the sidelines injured, and Jake Hessenthaler, Jamie O’Hara and Darren Oldaker were all named among the substitutes bench.

Another player who has really impressed is Josh Pask, as The Young Centre Back On Loan From West Ham United has made several crucial interceptions, anticipated where the ball is going to be so Josh Pask’s positioning has been spot on and even though Hallam Hope was flagged for offside after Ben Williams long kick down-field, Josh Pask was there making the recovery run to intercept the ball, from his performance away at Southend United in The League Cup and from what we have seen in the opening first forty five minutes against Bury, you can see why West Ham United have given Josh Pask A Three Year Deal.

Josh Wright and Emmanuel Osadebe were both really unlucky not to open the scoring before half time and 2-0 to Gillingham would put the Gills in a commanding position to go and win this match, and we can do with that all important second goal, Bury are a good side and they will consider themselves very unlucky not to open the scoring as Stuart Nelson had to make a save low down by his near post to stop Tom Pope from scoring and Stuart Nelson did extremely well to save and gather that free kick from Neil Danns, Adedeji Oshilaja isn’t having the best of matches for Gillingham, but I am putting that down to a lack of pre-season and this is Gillingham’s Third Game In A Week.

And I do think that we’re starting to feel the affects of three matches in a week - why The League Cup First Round cannot be played on The Saturday The Week before The League Season Starts I have no idea ??? - I do think that Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Cody McDonald are starting to feel the affects of three games in a week, but I also think that Nathan Cameron and Anthony Kay have done an exceptional job restricting both strikers from being as involved in this match, compared to the previous two matches against Southend United.

Me, Colin, Tom and David were speaking about any possible changes Gillingham could make at half time, I personally don’t think Justin Edinburgh will make any substitutes at half time, but Jake Hessenthaler and Jamie O’Hara could both come on past the hour make to freshen up Gillingham’s Midfield, there are no players on yellow cards who need to be substituted at half time to avoid the risk of going down to ten men, in-fact only Hallam Hope has been shown a yellow card throughout the entire match so far.

SECOND HALF

As expected, Justin Edinburgh didn’t make any tactical changes at the start of The Second Half, but David Flitcroft does make a double substitution for Bury as Zeli Ismail and Danny Mayor have been brought on for Hallam Hope and Nicky Clark, Zeli Ismail is a player who is very quick and very direct and a player who Gillingham need to watch out for in The Second Half, clearly David Flitcroft is going for it, because all Bury’s performance has lacked so far is a goal, because The Shakers have had there chances to score an equaliser on more then one occasion.

And The Visitors are fast out of the starting blocks as Jay Emmanuel-Thomas fouls Craig Jones, and Bury take the resulting free kick very quickly as Tom Soares almost picks out Zeli Ismail on the far side, but The Bury Winger cannot control the ball and Paul Konchesky mops up and Gillingham do clear there lines, Bury have made there intentions clear with the two substitutes as Zeli Ismail and Danny Mayor will give Bury more of a threat in the final third and Bury have made a fast start to The Second Half.

Forty Nine Minutes into the match and Gillingham create a very good attacking move, Emmanuel Osadebe is really causing Bury problems as Emmanuel Osadebe skilfully retains possession of the ball before playing the ball inside to Billy Knott, and Billy Knott plays the ball square to Mark Byrne, who picks out Ryan Jackson again on another over-lapping run, Ryan Jackson slips the ball inside to Jay Emmanuel-Thomas who is wide right, and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas takes it upon himself to create his own goal-scoring opportunity and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas’s run and shot is blocked and cleared by Nathan Cameron - who is having a really good game for Bury - and that is Gillingham’s best goal-scoring opportunity of The Second Half, and once again, Mark Byrne and Ryan Jackson have linked up very nicely down the right side of the pitch.

But from the resulting throw on, and Bury had a great chance to get back on to level terms, Ryan Jackson takes a short throw on to Jay Emamnuel-Thomas and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas plays the ball back to Ryan Jackson, who whips in a sensational cross which is headed clear by Nathan Cameron just as Cody McDonald was looking to header that cross towards goal, Jacob Mellis wins the ball on the edge of the penalty area ahead of Josh Wright and plays the ball forward to Zeli Ismail, who plays the ball back to Jacob Mellis as Zeli Ismail makes an off the ball run forward and this allows Jacob Mellis to play the ball forward to Zeli Ismail - who has made an real impact since coming on at half time - and Zeli Ismail runs into a more central position to evade Josh Pask’s challenge, and Zeli Ismail plays a fantastic pass to Tom Pope on the left side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Tom Pope fires over the angle of crossbar and post and almost equalised for the visitors’s, that was the chance for Bury to equalise and another warning that Gillingham need to be wary about.

A Minute later and Emmanuel Osadebe shows an incredible piece of skill to retain possession of the ball as Emmanuel Osadebe skips past challenges from both Jacob Mellis and Danny Mayor before being tackled by Tom Soares, how and why Bury win A Free Kick as Emmanuel Osadebe is the player being tackled we have no idea, but Emmanuel Osadebe’s skill full run had every Gillingham Supporter on the edge of there seats, hard to believe that Emmanuel Osadebe was a goalkeeper at the age of thirteen when you can see the levels of athleticism and the amount of running Emmanuel Osadebe puts out there on the football pitch.

Fifty Three Minutes into the match and Josh Wright is penalised for his challenge on Neil Danns and Justin Edinburgh is getting frustrated on the sidelines, Tom Soares tries to pick out Zeli Ishmail on the left wing, but Josh Pask chests the ball to get the ball under control and then Josh Pask plays a brilliant ball over the top which almost picks out Paul Konchesky on the left wing, but Josh Pask’s pass is over-hit and goes out of play for a goal-kick, five year’s a go Paul Konchesky will have kept that ball in play, but at the age of thirty five, it is a tall order expecting Paul Konchesky to get on the end of those long passes over the top.

Fifty Five Minutes into the match and Bury had a half chance to try and level the scores as Tom Pope plays the ball in-between Paul Konchesky and Adedeji Oshilaja, and Jacob Mellis had made the over-lapping run, but The Bury Midfielder couldn’t keep the ball in play and Gillingham had a goal-kick, looking at our available substitutes, you would think that one or both of Jake Hessenthaler and Jamie O’Hara would come on for the final thirty minutes to add more legs to Gillingham’s Midfield, both Mark Byrne and Emmanuel Osadebe are playing really well at the moment, but I am sure that if Gillingham are looking to make a change, then freshening up things in midfield is precisely where the changes need to happen.

Two Minutes Later, and in The Fifty Seventh Minute and Gillingham do double there advantage, Stuart Nelson kicks the ball long down-field and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas does win the aerial challenge up against Tom Soares and Greg Leigh wins the second header by heading the ball clear and away from danger, Tom Pope wins the aerial battle up against Adedeji Oshilaja and Danny Mayor plays the ball forward before Josh Wright can get to the loose ball, and Danny Mayor stayed down trying to imply to Referee Brendan Malone that he was fouled, but play continued and Paul Konchesky plays the ball back to Stuart Nelson, who kicks the ball long down-field.

Nathan Cameron wins the aerial battle up against Cody McDonald, but Emmanuel Osadebe gets to the loose ball and runs wide before passing the ball square across the pitch and Mark Byrne was able to pick out Ryan Jackson on the over-lap, and Ryan Jackson takes a touch to control the ball before firing in a low cross which deflects off Anthony Kay and there was nothing Ben Williams can do about that as Gillingham double there lead, Doug mentioned that Ryan Jackson had scored for Gillingham over The PA System, but it was clear even on first time viewing that the final touch had come off A Bury Player and at 2-0 up, Gillingham are in a decent position to go on and win this match.

So Far, Justin Edinburgh isn’t considering any substitutions, but you would of thought that having signed for Gillingham the day before, that Jamie O’Hara would get a run-out, and with just over half a hour to play and Gillingham winning 2-0, then this would be the ideal scenario for Jamie O’Hara to make his debut for Gillingham, Colin felt that Rory Donnelly on for Cody McDonald would be a good substitution as it hasn’t happened for Cody McDonald in-front of goal against Bury, both Cody McDonald and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas have been snuffed out by Centre Backs Nathan Cameron and Anthony Kay, but when your strikers aren’t scoring you want someone else to step up and score, and against Bury, Ryan Jackson has been the player to step up, scoring one and assisting The Own Goal with an dangerous low cross.

And on The Hour Mark it could, and perhaps, should have been 3-0 to The Gills, Stuart Nelson kicks the ball long down-field and Nathan Cameron wins the aerial challenge up against Cody McDonald, but Josh Wright wins both aerial challenges up against Danny Mayor and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas brings the ball down and plays the ball out-wide to Emmanuel Osadebe, who has Zeli Ismail and Craig Jones doubling up on him, and Emmanuel Osadebe plays the ball through to Paul Konchesky on the over-lap, and Paul Konchesky fires in an dangerous cross towards the far post and Mark Byrne couldn’t get a clean strike on the ball and neither can Mark Byrne keep the ball in play, 3-0 for The Gills would kill this match off and give Justin Edinburgh the luxury of being able to rest key players, and perhaps give Darren Oldaker and Mitchell Dickenson the opportunity to make there competitive debuts for The Gills.

A Minute Later and in The Sixty First Minute and Zeli Ismail came very close to pulling one back for The Shakers, Greg Leigh plays the ball inside to Danny Mayor on the halfway line and The Bury Midfielder was able to turn and run at Gillingham’s Defence and Danny Mayor plays the ball to Neil Danns, who cannot retain possession of the ball as he loses out to Josh Wright and Adedeji Oshilaja, but Jacob Mellis plays the ball through to Tom Pope, but there was Adedeji Oshilaja in the right place to hook the ball over his shoulder to clear the ball away from danger, but Cody McDonald loses out to Anthony Kay as Gillingham cannot get out, and Anthony Kay headers the ball forward to Tom Soares, who plays the ball back to Nathan Cameron, and Nathan Cameron plays the ball down the like to Craig Jones, and Craig Jones plays the ball forward to Zeli Ismail, who skips past Paul Konchesky’s challenge and runs into a more central area on the pitch, and from twenty five yards out, Zeli Ismail’s effort on goal flashes just wide of Stuart Nelson’s Left Hand Post, although Stuart Nelson did have that effort on goal covered - still it was another chance for Bury and they keep creating chances.

In The Sixty Second Minute and Emmanuel Osadebe had the chance to wrap all three points up by scoring Gillingham’s Third Goal Of The Match - and scoring three goals a game is something that Gillingham have done to Southend United on two separate occasions already this season - Stuart Nelson kicks the ball long down-field from the resulting goal-kick and Cody McDonald wins the aerial challenge up against Nathan Cameron, but Jay Emmanuel-Thomas cannot get to the second ball as Greg Leigh kicks the ball high into the air, Paul Konchesky then headers the ball into Emmanuel Osadebe’s path and Emmanuel Osadebe beats Craig Jones to the loose ball and Emmanuel Osadebe can pass to either Cody McDonald or Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, or go for goal himself, but Emmanuel Osadebe checks back and drags just shot wide of Ben Williams right hand post as Emmanuel Osadebe’s shot on goal crashes into the advertisement board - I suppose Emmanuel Osadebe had the confidence to take that shot on all by himself, and The Young Midfielder is playing with a lot of confidence and clearly backs his ability, I would have liked to have seen him pick a pass out though.

Four Minutes later and Bury pull one back in The Sixty Sixth Minute, Adedeji Oshilaja plays a short pass to Paul Konchesky, who plays the ball down the line to Emmanuel Osadebe, and Emmanuel Osadebe holds the ball up, turns past Tom Soares, but there was Craig Jones to pick up the loose ball and square the ball to Zeli Ismail, and Zeli Ismail plays the ball out-wide to Tom Soares, who is challenged by Paul Konchesky, but Tom Soares is lucky that the ricochet bounces into his favour and The Bury Midfielder runs down the right wing and Tom Soares takes a few more touches on the ball before delivering a fantastic cross, and Tom Pope headers the ball back across the face of goal into the far right corner of the net, great cross, great header, great goal, and there was nothing Stuart Nelson can do about that.

OK, The ricochet was lucky and very lucky that the ball stayed in play, and that was an great cross from Tom Soares and Tom Pope headers those chances into the back of the net all day long, such a shame that the perfect victory has gone now as I was hoping that Gillingham would keep a clean sheet, but with twenty four minutes plus stoppage time remaining, the victory isn’t guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination and Gillingham need to make sure that we held on for all three points at the very least.

There was a nervousness around Priestfield Stadium when Tom Pope scored that header for 2-1, the atmosphere wasn’t great throughout the entire match, but this was a big twenty four minutes plus stoppage time for The Gills, and the supporters needed to stick with the team and keep backing the players, hopefully a third goal will calm those nervous and Gillingham need to re-establish that two goal lead as quick as possible.

Seventy Minutes into the match and Billy Knott is down on the deck requiring treatment, after a minute or two, Billy Knott is OK To Continue and Bury make there third substitute of the match as Niall Maher comes on for Craig Jones, Gillingham have yet to make any substitutions, while the attendance at Priestfield Stadium was announced as 5,324, with 189 supporters from Bury - Gillingham are one of a handful of clubs to announce the away attendance during the match, not many clubs across The Football League actually do this.

Nathan Cameron makes two important interceptions for Bury in The Seventy Third and Seventy Fifth Minutes respectively, In The Seventy Third Minute, Emmanuel Osadebe does extremely well to chest a long cross-field pass from Josh Pask to control the ball and Emmanuel Osadebe flicks the ball over his shoulder, and that ball over his shoulder from Emmanuel Osadebe almost picks out Cody McDonald, but there was Nathan Cameron to intercept the ball, and in The Seventy Fifth Minute, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas is finding Nathan Cameron to be an immovable object as Nathan Cameron challenges Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and doesn’t mess around by kicking the ball clear and away from danger.

And in The Seventy Sixth Minute, Bury should of scored the equaliser and this was such a guilt edge goal-scoring opportunity for the visitor’s, Neil Danns, Tom Soares and Danny Mayor are all keeping possession of the ball nicely, and Danny Mayor plays the ball through to Greg Leigh on the over-lap, and Greg Leigh’s first time cross picks out Tom Pope and Tom Pope cannot get the strongest of connections on the ball and Tom Pope’s glancing header goes out of play for A Goal-Kick - that was the chance for Bury and Tom Pope knows it as well - COME ON GILLS!!!!!! - Was My Response, because the last thing we wanted to see was Gillingham drop two points from a two goal lead.

Emmanuel Osadebe’s challenge on Neil Danns was hard but fair, and The Bury Midfielder is down while play continue’s, but Cody McDonald eventually kicks the ball out of play while boo’s can be heard around Priestfield Stadium aimed towards Neil Danns who was OK To Continue for Bury, and he had to play on as Bury had made all three substitutes, in The Seventy Ninth Minute and Gillingham made A Double Change, but The Fourth Official messed up The Substitutes Board, so the players substituted had to be called off by Justin Edinburgh - Jake Hessenthaler and Rory Donnelly on, Billy Knott and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas Off.

Billy Knott has put in a real shift and was rightfully applauded off and Jake Hessenthaler will give Gillingham that much needed bite in midfield, while Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has struggled in-front of goal, and Rory Donnelly will get a nice eleven minute runout plus stoppage time to try and score that all important third goal for The Gills.

Eighty Minutes into the match and every Gillingham Supporter was infuriated with Referee Brendan Malone for awarding Bury A Free Kick when Tom Pope had pushed Paul Konchesky to the floor, Justin Edinburgh was not impressed with Referee Brendan Malone and made his points known to Brendan Malone from the technical area - but what a ridiculous decision that was - and the chance was here for Bury to score the equaliser and Danny Mayor whips in a dangerous free kick towards the far post and Stuart Nelson was off his line to gather the loose ball, great catch from Stuart Nelson, and precisely what Gillingham needed to relieve the pressure building on our own goal.

Eighty Four Minutes into the match and Jake Hessenthaler is booked for clipping Danny Mayor as Jake Hessenthaler was trying too hard to try and win the ball back, great opportunity this is for Bury, and this free kick can go all the way through if Bury go for a cross / shot approach, Neil Danns goes across to take the resulting free kick, and Neil Danns dangerous in-swinging cross is headed clear by Rory Donnelly and Rory Donnelly also beats Greg Leigh to the loose ball and kicks the ball long down-field, and Mark Byrne headers the ball further forward and Jake Hessenthaler almost nicks the ball off Niall Maher on the halfway line, but The Bury Defender kicks the ball long down-field.

Tom Soares tries to flick the ball on into Nathan Cameron’s path but Adedeji Oshilaja wins the aerial challenge and Tom Pope and Adedeji Oshilaja compete for the second ball, but Tom Pope has possession of the ball inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, but Tom Pope has Ryan Jackson, Josh Pask and Mark Byrne all around him and Tom Pope’s shot on the turn is blocked by Ryan Jackson, and the ball ricochets into Emmanuel Osadebe’s path - Run Osadebe - was out chant and Emmanuel Osadebe ran forward in possession of the ball and Emmanuel Osadebe’s pass to Jake Hessenthaler is poor and cut out by Tom Soares, but Emmanuel Osadebe shows great levels of persistence to win the ball off Niall Maher and Emmanuel Osadebe has won Gillingham A Free Kick within shooting territory here.

Gillingham make there third and final substitution as Joe Quigley comes on for Cody McDonald on The Eighty Seventh Minute, neither Cody McDonald or Jay Emmanuel-Thomas have had joy in-front of goal against A Bury Side who have planned to double mark Cody McDonald and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas all day, but Gillingham are closing in on all three points if they can hang on for the remaining three minutes plus additional time - Danny Mayor was booked for dissent in the aftermath of that free kick being awarded to Gillingham, Rory Donnelly’s driven effort on goal from the resulting free kick is driven into the wall and Bury do clear there lines, the chance was there for The Gills to score that all important third goal to wrap all three points.

A Minute later and Joe Quigley shows why he has been brought on as Joe Quigley has the strength and skill to hold the ball up and shrug off the challenges from both Zeli Ismail and Tom Soares and Joe Quigley’s run down the right wing is halted in his tracks by Anthony Kay, but Joe Quigley has won Gillingham A Corner Kick - well done Joe Quigley - use your strength to retain possession of the ball and keep the ball in Bury’s Half Of The Pitch.

Mark Byrne and Paul Konchesky are happy to keep possession of the ball in Bury’s third of the pitch, there is no intention of trying to grab a third goal from The Gills, and Niall Maher kicks the ball out play and how Referee Brendan Malone awards Bury A Throw On, we have no idea ??? - after the first throw on is headed out of play by Joe Quigley, Niall Maher’s second long throw down the line is won in the air by Mark Byrne, Adedeji Oshilaja does enough to win the second header up against Zeli Ismail, Mark Byrne plays the ball back to Paul Konchesky, who takes a touch and plays the ball down the line to Rory Donnelly, who losses out to Nathan Cameron and Neil Danns plays the ball back to Greg Leigh, who kicks the ball long down-field and Mark Byrne wins the aerial challenge and this time Joe Quigley is in-front of Neil Danns, and Joe Quigley is running and twisting to find an opening and Anthony Kay is chasing shadows, and when Joe Quigley checks back on to his left foot, Joe Quigley fires the ball over the crossbar before Greg Leigh can try and block Joe Quigley’s effort on goal.

Not bad from Joe Quigley, that run helped ran down some of the time remaining in this match, although where on earth did six additional minutes of added time come from, there were only four subs in The Second Half because Bury made an double substitution at half time and only two goals scored, so we had no idea where those six minutes came from ??? if it was the other way around there might be three minutes shown on the clock for The Gills.

Josh Pask was Named As The Sponsor’s Man Of The Match and The Young Centre Back On Loan From West Ham United deserved the award, Josh Pask has been superb in defence for Gillingham against Bury and making his debut in The League Cup and experiencing a change of Centre Back didn’t faze him at all against Southend United, now making his home debut for The Gills, and Josh Pask looks like an experienced defender who is adapting to life as A First Team Defender very easily, West Ham United have got themselves a quality centre back and someone who is only going to get better and better, the more competitive first team football he plays.

Ninety Three Minutes into the match and Rory Donnelly is booked for kicking the ball away as Gillingham try and keep the ball in the far left corner of the pitch and Emmanuel Osadebe is penalised for his challenge on Zeli Ismail, thankfully from the resulting free kick on the halfway line, Neill Dann’s floated free kick towards the back-stick doesn’t pick anyone out and goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

But Bury are throwing the kitchen sink at Gillingham and Greg Leigh’s long ball into the heart of Gillingham’s Defence is headed clear by Josh Pask and Zeli Ismail cannot get past Mark Byrne or Emmanuel Osadebe to whip in a cross, and that is it, after six minutes of additional time, Gillingham held on and pick up all three points.

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 2 - 1 BURY

Make no mistake, this was Gillingham’s worst performance of the season, we played a lot better in our two matches at Roots Hall against Southend United, but three points is three points and that is all that matters, Bury came to Priestfield Stadium with a game-plan and that game-plan was to stop Cody McDonald and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, and to be fair to Bury that is what they did, because neither striker got themselves on the score-sheet, but when your strikers don’t score you want someone else to step up and that player was Ryan Jackson, who scored one and assisted the own goal as well, a shame we conceded that header from Tom Pope, but we take the win and move on to The Swindon Town Game on Tuesday Night.

Colin asked me who Gillingham got next, I said Swindon, Colin said he give that game a miss until I said it was a home game, and Colin said c ya on Tuesday Night, I stayed behind to applaud the players, who likewise, applauded the supporters and Gillingham go top of League One after that result, early days of course, but three wins from three in the opening week of the season is fantastic stuff - well done Gills.

I made sure I had everything on me before making my way to The Exit, always nice to hear - FANTASTIC DAY - Over The PA System as you leave Priestfield Stadium as you only hear Fantastic Day after Gillingham Win, but that was a gritty performance from The Gills, but at least we stopped the rot and got back to winning ways in our first match at Priestfield Stadium this season, that’s what we wanted, our first home game of the season and our first home win of the season, it didn’t matter how Gillingham got the win, just as long as we got it.

I saw Lisa, Gary, Tom, Mick and James, and Lisa was delighted to be back in her seat in The Rainham End again, and it was nice to be back to winning ways which is what we all wanted to see, and with Swindon Town at home on Tuesday Night, there is the opportunity for The Gills to make it two home wins from two in quick succession.

I saw Diane who said that she was buying My Watford Ticket so I just need to give Diane the money on Tuesday and I cannot see many Gillingham Supporters going to Watford, I know Watford are in The Premier League, but a away tie at Vicarage Road, a 7.45PM Kick Off and having to travel The M25 will put a few people off from going, I still think that we will take 500 - 600 to Watford though, I have already been to Vicarage Road before, but I think Gillingham can cause an upset against Watford.

Me and Diane went to speak with Stephen and Gary about the game against Bury, three wins from the opening three games of the season, Gary felt that Gillingham have firmly put last season behind them as we could of equalled a club record of five consecutive league defeats in a row, which is why you could feel that nervousness around Priestfield Stadium after Tom Pope had scored, we spoke about individual player performances like Ryan Jackson, Mark Byrne and in-particular Josh Pask, who was sensational for Gillingham and deserved his Man Of The Match Award for an stunning defensive display, but another player who did put in a good shift was Nathan Cameron, because he took Jay Emmanuel-Thomas out of the game and thankfully Ryan Jackson took up the goal-scoring responsibility and scored the opening goal, the second goal was clearly an own goal, although Doug gave the goal to Ryan Jackson and BBC Gave The Goal to Adedeji Oshilaja, so someone is right and something is wrong there as well.

Gary had ninety one teams in The NoirCat Cup, so either there will be a series of group stages or someone gets given A Bye, I entered twenty one wins and twenty five defeats for Diane so there won’t be any points for drawing, but even Gary finds Excel more complicated to use for NoirCat, as Calc is a free spread-sheet document to download online and Gary was saying how it was so much easier using Calc then it was using Excel, but there have been so many complaints regarding The NoirCat Forms This Season that some changes might be needed for next season - Stephen is looking to bounce back into the top flight as soon as possible.

We also got speaking about all the signings that Gillingham have made, and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Scott Wagstaff, Billy Knott, Paul Konchesky, Jamie O’Hara, and Lee Martin, these are all big name signings and Gary was wondering and scratching his head how or why we have been able to sign all of these players, AND, Keep Bradley Dack at the club, maybe Bradley Dack is going, but a win against Watford and a money spinning tie in Round Three Of The League Cup and that tie would bring in some much needed revenue.

Keith Burt has been brought in as Gillingham’s Director Of Football Development, and I cannot tell you just how important The Director Of Football Development Role is becoming in English Football, Andy Hessenthaler did a remarkable job in this role and his passion for Gillingham Football Club helped The Gills sign the likes of Myles Weston, Adam Barrett, Deon Burton, Stuart Nelson, Ben Strevons, and Leon Legge, and Keith Burt has clearly had the same impact if Gillingham are signing the likes of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Scott Wagstaff, Paul Konchesky, Jamie O’Hara, Billy Knott and Lee Martin, the key is, making sure that the manager has a say on the players coming in, you don’t want A Newcastle United Scenario where The Manager is called Head Coach and has no say or minimal say on player recruitment.

Tom Hitchcock and Anton Ferdinand are the latest two players linked with a move to Gillingham, I showed Gary My Season Ticket because My Season Ticket has only gone up by a tenner, it hasn’t gone up by £200 pounds here, but this squad looks the strongest on paper Gillingham have had at this level for a long long time, the midfield in-particular is looking very strong and another centre back I would be happy with, if we’re signing Tom Hitchcock, he isn’t here to be fifth choice, so can Justin Edinburgh really keep five strikers of Cody McDonald, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Rory Donnelly, Tom Hitchcock and Joe Quigley all happy ??? - one would surely have to go out of those five, I could understand signing A Young Up and Coming Striker to be fifth choice - which is what Stephen said as well - but Tom Hitchcock coming in will surely mean that someone is going out.

Diane couldn’t wait around for long and Gary decided to head off while I spoke with Stephen for a bit, I had ten minutes before having to make a move at 17.25PM, as I was getting a lift back, and we spoke about the flat atmosphere inside Priestfield Stadium, which was partly duo to the nervousness experienced when Tom Pope scored and we thought - here we go again - thankfully Gillingham held out for the win, also, A 5,324 attendance is a bit low to be honest, I am not expecting 6,500+ here, but surely there would have been 5,500+ for the first home league game of the season, especially after back to back away wins against Southend United.

I had to make a move and said that I will speak later to Stephen, and I walked back along Chicago Avenue towards Woodlands Road where I was going to be picked up, and Dad mentioned that Mum wanted FishCake and Chips and added that there had been some strange results in The Premier League and Football League, like Newcastle United losing at home to Huddersfield Town, but Gillingham sitting top of League One, even though it is only Match-Day Two, is an unbelievable start to The 2016 / 2017 season.

We stopped off at Peters on The A2, And I brought A Small Portions Of Chips and A Cheese-Burger, and A Small Portion Of Chips and A FishCake for £8.20, so three matches played, three wins out of three, top of League One with six points out of six, through to The Second Round Of The League Cup, Eight Goals Scored, Three Goals Conceded, and Gillingham have signed Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Josh Pask and Jamie O’Hara, as far as opening weeks of the season goes, it has been good news after good news for The Gills - maybe, just maybe, Gillingham can make it four wins out of four when we play against Swindon Town at Priestfield Stadium - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#Gillingham #RyanJackson #FootballLeague #LeagueOne

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