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fan-of-mulligan · 7 years ago

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FOM BLOG: GILLINGHAM 3 - 3 SOUTHEND UNITED

My Thoughts On Gillingham V Southend United………………

I Left My House at 12.50PM in the afternoon and I made sure I had the following things on me,,,,,,,, (Money, Keys, My Gillingham Season Ticket, My Samsung Galaxy S2, Spare Battery, My Gillingham Jacket, Spare Lids, My Gillingham Scarf, My Gillingham Bag, Football Programmes, A Packet Of Polo’s, Pad and Pens, and a 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola) - and I made sure I had everything on me before making the fifteen / twenty minute walk from my house to Rainham Train Station, and once I arrived at Rainham Train Station at 13.10PM, I brought My Return Train Ticket To Gillingham for £4, And just before leaving My House, I had posted the following status updates on Facebook And Twitter,,,, On My Way To Priestfield Stadium as Gillingham take on Southend United, Hopefully, Gills Pick Up All Three Points Today - COME ON YOU GILLS

I got on The 13.15PM Train, and checked for any messages on Facebook and Twitter, I got a few likes and feedback from tweets I had sent earlier in the day, and I was in A Conversation On Twitter Discussing How Gillingham Should Line Up Against Southend United, Should Liam Nash Start, and the importance on systems and formations, which is what the bulk of our conversation on Twitter Was About, I had the opinion that Gillingham would stick with the same 5.3.2 / 3.4.1.2 Formation, Simply Because we are trying to integrate so many new signings into The First Team and we have signed players specifically to fit into this formation, But we will have to wait and see on how Gillingham will line up against Southend United.

I arrived at Gillingham Train Station at 13.20PM and made my way towards Priestfield Stadium, and I saw A Lot Of Southend United Supporters Around The Ground so Southend United should travel in excellent numbers and there should be a very good turnout at Priestfield Stadium for what is essentially a derby, there isn’t any animosity between both clubs, because there have been so many players who have played for Gillingham And Southend United, and I am going to name A Starting Eleven Of Players Who Have Played For Both Clubs…… GK Simon Royce RB Sean Clohessy CB John Egan CB Adam Barrett LB Paul Clarke RM Jermain McGlashan CM Mark Bentley CM Kevin Maher LM Myles Weston ST David Crown ST Andy Thompson - It Isn’t Surprising that there have been so many players who have played for Gillingham and Southend United, given that both clubs are so close to each other geographically.

I arrived out-side Priestfield Stadium at 13.30PM, And The Southend United Team Coach had just turned up and Southend United had plenty of supporters around The Team Coach and this only strengthened my belief that this should be a decent turnout, Southend United Home And Away is one of many reason’s why it was so important that Gillingham retained there League One Status Last Season, and you want to see the team you support competing in the highest possible division that you can play in, for Gillingham, League One is Higher Then League Two, so we want to see Gillingham Playing In League One.

I queued Up In The Ticket Office To Buy My Ticket For Oxford United Away - £24 For One Adult Ticket is now the norm for League One Ticket Prices - Diane intends to drive to Oxford United and AFC Wimbledon, and Oxford United Away Is On The Saturday, With AFC Wimbledon Away On The Tuesday Night, and with only Seventy Four Seated Tickets On Sale For AFC Wimbledon Away, we will have to move quickly to snap up those tickets, because standing at AFC Wimbledon is horrible, and as I mentioned to Diane, When I have done Best Ground / Worst Ground Reviews, I cannot put AFC Wimbledon’s Ground as the worst ground because there rise up through the divisions has been so remarkable, our opponents this afternoon have one of the worst stadiums in League One, because the away end at Roots Hall is horrible with the supporting pillars, the over hanging roof and the speakers all hindering your view on the pitch, Southend United are in a similar situation to Gillingham in that we’re both trying to move to newer stadiums with much larger capacities, and better facilities, especially parking facilities because Roots Hall and Priestfield Stadium are both in huge residential area’s.

After Buying Our Oxford United Tickets, Me And Diane went into The Club Shop to buy our Match-Day Programmes for £3 each before waiting outside to see if Gary was here, And Me And Diane were waiting for the team news to come through, and the first bit of news we saw on Twitter was that Liam Nash was starting, finally, I think Liam Nash is over-duo A Starting Appearance For Gillingham having come on as substitute in all four previous fixtures for Gillingham This Season, I just think that Liam Nash looks like A Striker, he looks like a player who is capable of getting in and behind the oppositions defence and Liam Nash just offers Gillingham something different in attack that Tom Eaves and Josh Parker do not have, We have been calling for Josh Parker not to play up-front for the past two games at least, I like Josh Parker and he is a decent footballer, I just do not think Josh Parker should play up-front for Gillingham.

Lisa, Alan and Irene spoke with Me and Diane pre-match, and we spoke about Last Saturday’s Disappointing Defeat against MK Dons and how that was our worst performance of the season, but even though that was our worst performance of the season so far, Gillingham could have picked up a point against Southend United had Josh Wright just hit the target from The Penalty Spot, to blaze the ball over the crossbar was very disappointing and those are the games where you have got to get something out of the match.

Finally, Gillingham’s Team News Appeared On Twitter, And Gillingham Lined Up As Follows,,,,,,,,, Tomas Holy (GK), Max Ehmer, Gabriel Zakuani, Alex Lacey, Luke O’Neill, Mark Byrne, Billy Bingham, Connor Ogilvie, Lee Martin, Liam Nash, Tom Eaves SUBS: Steve Arnold (GK), Ben Nugent, Scott Wagstaff, Darren Oldaker, Jake Hessenthaler, Josh Parker and Greg Cundle - It was great to see Billy Bingham back in The Starting Line Up Again, because Billy Bingham has been missing in the middle of Gillingham’s Midfield, and Liam Nash has been long over-duo A Starting Appearance For Gillingham, Formation Wise, I think Adrian Pennock will stick with The 3.5.2 / 5.3.2 Formation that we have played in every match so far.

But The Big News Was Josh Wright’s Omission From The Match-Day Squad, Now Josh Wright could be injured and this explains his absence, But My Initial Reaction is that there has been a offer accepted for Josh Wright and as The Charlton Athletic Rumours have not gone away all summer, then I believe that Charlton Athletic have made A Offer that was too good to turn down, and if that is the case then we’re not in a position to turn down a good fee for a player who could leave Gillingham Football Club for nothing in a year’s time, A Real Shame To See Josh Wright leave Gillingham Football Club, but if the offer is deemed acceptable, then we’re not in a position to turn down a good transfer fee for Josh Wright.

Alan and Irene headed round while Me and Diane waited for Gary to get his thoughts pre-match, and I didn’t see Gary before the game, Charles Breakspear was Referee For Gillingham V Southend United and he is another Referee we need to look out for, But it does appear that there are some controversial decisions being debated about in The Premier League already, As Morgan Schneiderlin was shown A Second Yellow Card when he intercepted the ball cleanly when Everton played against Manchester City On Monday Night, Before Kick Off, there were two things we were hoping for, One, Gillingham Pick Up All Three Points, and Two, The Referee isn’t taking centre stage and we’re constantly taking about refereeing decisions left, right and centre.

Diane decided to head round to her seat in The Gordon Road Stand and I headed off to the entrance for The Family Enclosure Stand, I brought one fifty / fifty match day lottery ticket, and I got speaking with A few Gillingham Supporters about Josh Wright not being in the side, and I think Josh Wright is going to sign for Charlton Athletic and this is a hypothetical scenario here, But I think Charlton Athletic have offered £50,000+ and offered a player that they don’t want but Gillingham might need to try and get the deal done, and possibly Charlton Athletic might offer A More Creative Midfielder Or A Striker in exchange to try and get the deal done, But With Josh Wright not being in the squad, I think it looks very likely that A Transfer Fee has been concluded for Josh Wright.

I also got speaking with Martin pre-match who predicted a draw or Southend United nicking a winner, With Gillingham beating Southend United three times last season, The Double In The League, and The League Cup First Round Win, I could see Gillingham keeping that run going and possibly nicking the winner to get our season off and running, Gillingham do have a decent record against Southend United, and I am hoping that record carries on this afternoon.

I mentioned to Martin that at MK Dons, I could hear Colin a few rows behind me and there was a altercation between Gillingham Supporters as we were really struggling during a dreadful spell in the second half, When Colin arrived, he mentioned it was a disagreement with elderly supporters who told Colin, and other fans, that you should back Adrian Pennock 110%, But this was during a spell during the match where change was needed and something needed to change, If you spoke to every Gillingham Supporter, most, if not all have there question marks over Adrian Pennock, but at the same-time realise that he is working with a much lower playing budget and at least has addressed the defensive problems, we need to try and resolve the situation in attack, because Gillingham need to start getting themselves on the score-sheet, and we will probably need to score at least twice to try and pick up all three points against Southend United At Priestfield Stadium.

Looking around the ground, the turnout was really poor, and Gillingham V Southend United Is A Derby Game Essentially, I haven’t realised that it was Bank Holiday Weekend which might well explain the poor attendance, but if attendances keep dropping, the playing budget will be cut to cover costs, which means the likelihood to sign better quality players looks less and less likely, It’s going to be a difficult season this season, Southend United have brought decent numbers with them to Priestfield Stadium, and you look at the players Phil Brown has signed, he has built a side that are pushing for A Playoff Place In League One, they look like they are going to be a strong out-fit in League One This Season.

Colin added that Liam Nash is either going to be inspired to play exceptionally well, or, the step up in class is there for all to see, and we were hoping for the former over the latter, and hopefully the big man, little man combination up-front will work successfully, And Tom Eaves and Liam Nash will give Gillingham more of a balance in attack, although, we are hoping to see these two get more goal-scoring opportunities and some service provided to them in open play.

Colin and Martin went to there seats, while I went to my seat in The Medway Stand as both teams walked out on to the pitch at Priestfield Stadium, the atmosphere raised in volume around the ground as this crucial League One Encounter is about to get underway, Thankfully, Referee Charles Breakspear didn’t switch ends, meaning that both teams will be kicking towards the ends there supporters are situated in The Second Half, As Gillingham will kick towards The Rainham End, and Southend United will kick towards The Brian Moore Stand, I did think for a moment that Referee Charles Breakspear was going to switch ends, but he didn’t and Gillingham will be kicking towards The Brian Moore Stand In The First Half.

Hopefully, Gillingham can finally get there season back on track with a win against Southend United and start this run of three home matches in a row with our first win from these three important home fixtures, Three Points Today will do very nicely - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!

FIRST HALF:

And Southend United make an incredible fast start to this match as Jason Demetriou has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross from the right side of the pitch and already Tomas Holy has been called into action to punch the ball clear and away from danger and Luke O’Neill reacts quickest to get to the loose ball and play the ball down the line towards Lee Martin.

In The Third Minute Of The Match, And Southend United could have scored a very controversial opening goal, As Southend United have the pace to hit Gillingham on the counter attack as Jermaine McGlashan goes on a driving run forward down the right side of the pitch, and Connor Ogilvie has come across, put himself in-between Jermaine McGlashan and the ball and Connor Ogilvie is clipped and brought to the ground, and every Gillingham Supporter was expecting a free kick to be awarded in our favour, but no free kick was awarded, much to our irritation, and now Jermaine McGlashan is basically through on goal and Jermaine McGlashan see’s his shot towards goal saved by Tomas Holy towards the near post and Gillingham survive a real scare, But Referee Charles Breakspear should have awarded Gillingham A Free Kick For Jermaine McGlashan’s Foul On Connor Ogilvie, in the aftermath of that chance for Jermaine McGlashan, Michael Timlin is penalised for his challenge on Lee Martin and finally Gillingham are awarded A Free Kick, but had Jermaine McGlashan scored that one on one effort, then every Gillingham Supporter would have been infuriated.

And From The Resulting Free Kick, Gillingham came close to opening the scoring, as Tomas Holy manages to pick out Luke O’Neill down the right side of the pitch in Southend United’s Final Third With A Fantastic Pass, and Luke O’Neill brings the ball down with his first touch and manages to clip the ball over Stephen Hendrie’s Attempted Challenge, and Luke O’Neill just about manages to beat The Southend United Left Back to the ball and Luke O’Neill see’s his fiercely struck shot towards goal saved by Mark Oxley and John White manages to get the ball partially clear and away from danger, but the second ball falls kindly to Lee Martin, who brings the ball down nicely with his first touch before playing a neat one / two with Liam Nash, and Lee Martin fires a curling effort over Southend United’s Crossbar - A Good Start To The Match From The Gills.

Five Minutes Into The Match, and Connor Ogilvie plays a long pass down the line which picks out Liam Nash down The Gordon Road Stand / Brian Moore Stand Side Of The Pitch, and Liam Nash’s First Time Hooked Cross goes out of play for A Southend United Goal-Kick, But A Minute Later, And Gillingham are putting Southend United under a lot of pressure, and Liam Nash plays the ball through to Lee Martin down by the byline down The Gordon Road Stand / Brian Moore Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Lee Martin has fired in an dangerous low cross which is well defended at the near post by Anton Ferdinand, who slides in to clear the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, and The Gills could well open the scoring from the resulting corner.

And that is almost precisely what happens, as Lee Martin whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross into the heart of Southend United’s Penalty and Max Ehmer climbs highest to header the ball wide of Mark Oxley’s Left Hand Post, another good goal-scoring opportunity for The Gills and this is precisely what we wanted to see from Gillingham straight from the kick off, on the front-foot, creating goal-scoring opportunities and asking questions of Southend United’s Defence Early On.

Eight Minutes Into The Match, and Gillingham continue to build on this promising start to the match as Mark Byrne plays the ball forward to Liam Nash, who takes a touch to control the ball before playing out-wide to Luke O’Neill, who has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick, and Tom Eaves has climbed highest to header the ball over Mark Oxley’s Crossbar, another decent goal-scoring opportunity for The Gills and we have probably seen more goal-scoring opportunities in The First Eight Minutes then we saw throughout the entire match against MK Dons at Stadium MK The Previous Saturday.

A Minute Later, and Southend United Have A Throw On Down The Left Side Of The Pitch, and Stephen Hendrie has thrown the ball down the line and Alex Lacey has headed the ball clear and out of play for A Southend United Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Stephen Hendrie has thrown the ball short to Michael Kightly, who plays a one touch layoff out-wide to Stephen Hendrie, who see’s his first time cross charged down by Luke O’Neill.

And From The Resulting Throw On, Instead of putting Gillingham’s Defence Under Pressure, It Is Gillingham who are looking to hit Southend United On The Counter Attack, as Luke O’Neill nips in to intercept the ball and play the ball behind him towards Alex Lacey by the byline by The Medway Stand / Rainham End Side Of The Pitch In Gillingham’s Final Third, and Alex Lacey has cleared the ball long down-field, and Tom Eaves has headed the ball down into Mark Byrne’s Path, and Mark Byrne has managed to play the ball through to Liam Nash, But Referee Charles Breakspear had already penalised Michael Timlin for his challenge on Mark Byrne and that free kick decision was frustrating because Liam Nash had possession of the ball and was looking to continue Gillingham’s Attack, Michael Timlin was booked for his challenge on Mark Byrne, and you do wonder how many yellow cards we are going to see throughout the entire match ???

And From The Resulting Free Kick, Alex Lacey clips the ball down the line towards Liam Nash, who wins the aerial challenge up against Michael Kightly, and Liam Nash reacts quickest to slide in on the deck to not only keep the ball in play and prevent the ball going out of play for A Southend United Goal-Kick, But Liam Nash does brilliantly to win Gillingham A Free Kick Down The Right Side Of The Pitch, as Liam Nash draws the foul from Michael Kightly, Fantastic tenacity from Liam Nash and it is a passage of play like this which is why Gillingham Supporters have been so desperate for Liam Nash to start in recent weeks.

And Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring from the resulting free kick, as Billy Bingham has fired in an dangerous cross / shot, hard and low across the face of goal and John White has booted the ball clear for Southend United and Mark Byrne has headed the ball back into the heart of Southend United’s Penalty Area, But The Linesman Down The Medway Stand / Brian Moore Stand Side Of The Pitch had his flagged raised as Lee Martin was flagged for standing in an offside position - This Has Been A Very Promising Start To The Match For Gillingham and something to build on.

This match really has started at one hundred miles A Hour, Because Southend United are on the front-foot and Luke O’Neill times his challenge to perfection on Marc-Antoine Fortuné, and Luke O’Neill needed to time that challenge to perfection as well, and Alex Lacey kicks the ball long down-field and Tom Eaves gets the faintest of touches to flick the ball on into Liam Nash’s Path, who runs down the right side of the pitch in possession of the ball, and Liam Nash waits for support, checks the ball back, and Lee Martin whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross which is comfortable for Mark Oxley to save, but again, this is showing that Gillingham are on the front-foot and it is something to be positive about.

But Southend United do give us a reminder to be wary of them in attack, Jermaine McGlashan has been a threat for Southend United, and The Former Gillingham Winger has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Alex Lacey has only partially cleared the ball away from danger, and Stephen Hendrie plays the ball inside to Simon Cox right on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Simon Cox tee’s up Marc-Antoine Fortuné to hit a fiercely struck shot that thankfully hit the back of The Rainham End and not the back of the net - A Early Warning Sign From Southend United - and with Marc-Antoine Fortuné and Simon Cox In Attack, and Michael Kightly and Jermaine McGlashan out-wide, then we have got plenty to be concerned about as far as Southend United’s Firepower is concerned.

Southend United are really pushing for that opening goal of the game, and Gabriel Zakuani makes a fantastic block to prevent Marc-Antoine Fortuné from getting a shot off on goal, and the follow up effort from Michael Kightly is then blocked by Alex Lacey, and finally, the cross Stephen Hendrie towards the back-stick is over-hit and runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, Desperate Defending From The Gills, but desperate defending has ensured that Southend United do not open the scoring.

But Southend United do open the scoring in controversial circumstances, Jason Demetriou plays the ball back to John White, who is forced to pass the ball back to Mark Oxley, and Liam Nash is charging The Southend United Goalkeeper Down and this forces Mark Oxley to quickly clear the ball down-field down the left side of the pitch, and Mark Oxley’s rushed clearance actually turns into a decent pass into Stephen Hendrie, and Stephen Hendrie chests the ball down before hooking the ball over his shoulder as Luke O’Neill looks to close The Southend United Left Back Down, and Stephen Hendrie’s hooked pass is aimed towards Marc-Antoine Fortuné, But Alex Lacey gets to the ball first and hooks the ball over his shoulder to get the ball partially clear and away from goal, However, Simon Cox manages to bring the ball down with his first touch and play the ball out-wide to Michael Kightly on the left wing, and Michael Kightly takes a touch to control the ball, gets a lucky ricochet off Alex Lacey before running down the left wing to get to the loose ball ahead of Gabriel Zakuani, and Michael Kightly checks back inside and whips in an sensational cross and Max Ehmer can only partially header the ball clear to Jermaine McGlashan at the back-stick, and Jermaine McGlashan chests the ball down and Jermaine McGlashan see’s his driven shot towards goal loop up into the air off Connor Ogilvie and I thought that Tomas Holy was fouled by Ryan Leonard, who manages to react to the second ball quickly ahead of Alex Lacey to hook the ball over his shoulder and over Tomas Holy’s Head and despite the protests from Gillingham Supporters, the goal stands and Southend United have taken the lead, and that is a real shame, because Gillingham have played really well so far, and probably the best we have played attack wise all season, but when you are on top, you have got to take your chances and Gillingham haven’t done that, but I do have question marks over the goal and whether that was a foul on Tomas Holy ???

Now Gillingham face an uphill battle to try and turn this match on it’s head, especially as Gillingham have yet to find the back of the net all season, Gillingham now need to score twice to try and get something out of the game, because you do wonder how many times Southend United are going to get themselves on the score-sheet throughout the entire match ???

Twenty Three Minutes Into The Match, and John White has been penalised for his challenge on Tom Eaves, But Southend United had the golden opportunity to double there advantage, As Gabriel Zakuani’s cross-field pass picks out Michael Kightly, who is now baring down on to Gillingham’s Goal and Stephen Hendrie takes over possession of the ball, and The Southend United Left Back see’s his shot towards goal blocked by Gabriel Zakuani, and the ricochet falls kindly into Simon Cox’s Path, and Simon Cox cannot hit the target with his follow up effort towards goal and that is a massive let off for Gillingham, and A Huge Let Off For Gabriel Zakuani as well, who will be breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Twenty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Southend United are on the front-foot yet again, Southend United Goalkeeper Mark Oxley kicks the ball long down-field and Billy Bingham wins the initial aerial challenge and Marc-Antoine Fortuné brings the ball down and retains possession of the ball before playing the ball back to Jason Demetriou, who clips the ball down the line towards Jermaine McGlashan and Connor Ogilvie manages to get himself in-between the ball and Jermaine McGlashan, and Jermaine McGlashan’s persistence forces Connor Ogilvie to concede the corner kick.

And Southend United came close to doubling there advantage from the resulting corner kick, as Ryan Leonard whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Tomas Holy comes off his goal-line and completely misses the ball, and Marc-Antoine Fortuné brings the ball down and lays the ball of to Anton Ferdinand who fires a first time effort over Gillingham’s Crossbar and into the back of The Rainham End, I am not sure who Tomas Holy is having ago at, because if you attempt to go for a cross, you either catch it or punch it clear, completely missing the ball is Tomas Holy’s Error and one he needs to avoid making throughout the rest of the match.

A Minute Later, and Gabriel Zakuani times his challenge to perfection, But Gillingham really are under the cosh and ever since Southend United have scored, the visitors have been in the ascendency, and Gillingham really are struggling to get a foot-hold into the game at the moment, and fouls and free kicks are starting to slow the pace and tempo of this match down, as Billy Bingham and Luke O’Neill are both penalised for there challenges on Marc-Antoine Fortuné, Gillingham just cannot find that out-ball at the moment.

And when we did have the chance to get the ball forward, Tom Eaves heavy touch as Gillingham are looking to counter attack hasn’t helped at all, Thirty Four Minutes Into The Match, and Luke O’Neill is forced to concede A Corner Kick at the back-stick as Southend United are really on top at this present moment in time, and Southend United look to cause Gillingham some problems defensively from the resulting corner kick as Michael Kightly fires in a dangerous low cross and Tomas Holy does brilliantly to dive low and gather the loose ball, however, Tomas Holy tries to quickly distribute the ball quickly and this goes towards Gillingham’s Detriment, as Southend United win possession of the ball back and Marc-Antoine Fortuné now looks to get a shot off on goal and Tomas Holy is forced to make another save, this time with his feat and the ball does spin up into the air and out of play for another corner kick, It’s Going To Be A Very Long First Half For The Gills.

The Corner Kick didn’t come to anything, But Max Ehmer’s pass back to Tomas Holy was horrific, passing the ball back to your goalkeeper with the ball bouncing at mid-height off the turf means that Tomas Holy has no other choice but to kick the ball into the stands, and we as Gillingham Supporters are getting frustrated and we’re getting irritated, and that’s a real shame, because for the first fifteen minutes, Gillingham were superb, but once the goal went in, Southend United look a completely different side and Gillingham have dropped a level or two.

And Southend United are looking to create a decent goal-scoring opportunity from the resulting throw on, as Simon Cox throws the ball back to Jason Demetriou, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Jason Demetriou takes a touch to control the ball, hook the ball over Liam Nash’s Head, runs into a more central position on the pitch before passing the ball out-wide to Stephen Hendrie, who takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a high and hanging cross into the heart of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Marc-Antoine Fortuné’s header is on target and Tomas Holy dives low to his left to make a solid save.

And we started to see a bit more from Gillingham in a attacking sense, Because In The Thirty Seventh Minute, Luke O’Neill whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick towards Lee Martin, and although Lee Martin doesn’t get to the ball, his presence forces Anton Ferdinand to knock the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner - COME ON GILLS!!!!!!, Ws My Response - And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Lee Martin has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross which is cleared at the near post by John White, and the second ball comes back towards Lee Martin, who see’s his second cross charged down by Stephen Hendrie,.

But Gillingham do have A Throw On In Southend United’s Final Third Down The Medway Stand / Brian Moore Stand Side Of The Pitch, Mark Byrne has hurled in an dangerous long throw into the heart of Southend United’s Penalty Area and Max Ehmer manages to flick the ball on and Jason Demetriou headers the ball partially clear and away from danger and Gabriel Zakuani loses out to Marc-Antoine Fortuné in the air, and from here, Southend United turn defence into attack as Simon Cox brings the ball down and threads the ball out-wide to Jermaine McGlashan who sprints forward in possession of the ball and Southend United have got a four on two in attack and Jermaine McGlashan carries on his run right up to the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Jermaine McGlashan threads the ball through to Michael Kightly on the over-lap, and Michael Kightly’s dangerous low cross is cut out by a combination of Alex Lacey and Tomas Holy, and Southend United have thankfully only been awarded A Corner Kick.

Thankfully, Michael Kightly’s in-swinging cross towards the back-stick is over-hit and runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, and from the resulting goal-kick, it just looks more and more likely that Southend United are going to score, Tomas Holy kicks the ball long down-field and Ryan Leonard wins the aerial challenge to header the ball down-field and Marc-Antoine Fortuné plays a one touch layoff into Simon Cox’s Path, and Simon Cox takes a touch to control the ball before threading the ball through to Jermaine McGlashan, who is one on one with Connor Ogilvie, and Jermaine McGlashan is twisting and turning and Jermaine McGlashan shifts the ball on to his right foot and fires a driven effort towards goal which had to be tipped over the crossbar by Tomas Holy, And Southend United have been awarded another corner kick.

Thankfully, Southend United do not create a goal-scoring opportunity of note from the resulting corner kick, But In The Fortieth Minute, and Josh Parker comes on for Max Ehmer in what was a combination of an enforced substitution and a tactical substitution, I thought this change meant that Luke O’Neill was going to move inside to Right Centre Back with Josh Parker playing at Right Wing Back, But I stand corrected, it looks like Gillingham are going to line up with A 4.4.2 Formation, and play with Josh Parker and Lee Martin on either flank, and Liam Nash and Tom Eaves will continue to lead the line for Gillingham in attack.

And that change just appeared to give Gillingham a lift, as Marc-Antoine Fortuné is penalised for his challenge on Josh Parker In The Forty Second Minute, And Gillingham have the chance to go in at the break on level terms, and from the resulting free kick, Lee Martin has aimed an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Alex Lacey has header the ball back across the face of goal and Mark Oxley has made a routine save for Southend United.

And In The Forty Fourth Minute, Gillingham were awarded another free kick, Gillingham have A Throw On Down The Left Side Of The Pitch, and Connor Ogilvie throws the ball short to Billy Bingham, who played the ball short out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, and Jermaine McGlashan has been penalised for his challenge on The Gillingham Left Back, and Gillingham have the chance to get the match back on to level terms from the resulting free kick, and that is almost precisely what happens as well, as Lee Martin whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Liam Nash scoops to allow the ball to go over his head, and the ball deflects off Ryan Leonard and the ball then hits Tom Eaves and goes out of play for A Southend United Goal-Kick, that free kick routine almost came off for The Gills.

And The Final Noteworthy Moment Of The First Half, Was Gabriel Zakuani being in the right place at the right time to clear the ball away from danger, and Referee Charles Breakspear blows his whistle for Half Time, and Southend United’s Controversial Opening Goal is the difference between the two sides, although, Southend United should have extended there lead further, and 1-0 gives us hope that Gillingham can get themselves back into this match, possibly nick the draw, or, even go on and win the game from a losing position.

HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 0 - 1 SOUTHEND UNITED

Colin, Martin and myself spoke about The First Half in all of it’s entirety as we gave our own analysis of the mach so far, and Southend United should be out of sight and they should be two or three goals to the good now, and it is a shame that we are saying that, because for the opening fifteen minutes Gillingham were on the front-foot and our performance levels were very good, Gillingham were asking Southend United a few question marks defensively and we were causing them problems at the back, but as soon as Southend United opened the scoring, they flipped a switch and have been dominate from then onwards, and Gillingham have been disappointing.

The goal we conceded was debatable, It could well have been given as a foul on Tomas Holy but the foul not being given allowed Southend United to nip in and score a very soft goal, although I have question marks about the goal being awarded in the first place, But ever sine the goal has gone in, Jermaine McGlashan, Anton Ferdinand, Marc-Antoine Fortuné and Michael Kightly have all had chances to score, and the 1-0 score-line gives us as Gillingham Supporters some hope that things can change and that Gillingham can get something out of the game.

We spoke about Tom Eaves performance so far, which has been largely hit and miss, at times in The First Half, Tom Eaves First Touch was heavy and he couldn’t retain possession of the ball, and there were other times where Tom Eaves has flicked the ball on and put himself about, his strike partner Liam Nash has been tenacious, full of running and endeavour and he could well be a hidden gem for Gillingham Football Club This Season.

Colin added that he has got huge sympathy for Adrian Pennock, because The Playing Budget has been cut, This Time Last Season, Gillingham were signing the likes of Billy Knott, Paul Konchesky, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Scott Wagstaff, Jamie O’Hara and Chris Herd, Now, we’re signing players like Alex Lacey, Tom Eaves, Billy Bingham, Steve Arnold, Ben Nugent and Liam Nash, now, of course these players will all appreciate being at Gillingham and they will perhaps try harder then some of our marquee signings last year, But Colin believes that this is A League Two Squad Playing In League One, and we clearly need that stardust, and players who are capable of producing magical moments that turn defeats into draws, and draws into win are the type of players who cost a lot of money - money, which it appears that Gillingham do not have at this present moment in time.

It’s clear for all to see that Gillingham can do with signing another striker, and we can do with another creative player in midfield, whether we have the money to sign both players, or, Josh Wright needs to leave to finance the new additions will be something we will find out over the next week or so, Hopefully, Adrian Pennock can bring in a few more players to strengthen the squad and strengthen area’s of the team that clearly need improving, I realise that we can rely on The Free Agent Market if we need further additions, but I think there are players available on loan that we’re eager to sign.

With Josh Parker coming on for Max Ehmer, I don’t think we will see Adrian Pennock making a second substitution at half time, Now we do have Scott Wagstaff on the bench if we need to make a change to try and get ourselves back on to level terms, and maybe we will see Scott Wagstaff come on for Gillingham during The Second Half, If someone were to ask you to name Gillingham’s Best Player In The First Half, then that would be difficult to answer, because everyone has been so hit and miss throughout the first forty five minutes so far.

I also spoke to David briefly during the half time interval, and David mentioned that he would take a draw now, and I guess with Gillingham 1-0 down and the score-line could be so much more worse, then yeah, I would take a draw as well, But I am hoping that Gillingham can turn things around and picking up all three points from a losing position - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SECOND HALF:

Both Teams came out on to the pitch at the start of the second half, and neither Southend United Manager Phil Brown, or Gillingham Manager Adrian Pennock made any half time substitutions at the break, with both manager’s looking to save there substitutions for later on in the match, And Straight after the re-start, Luke O’Neill is penalised for his challenge on Michael Kightly, even though Luke O’Neill intercepted the ball first, it’s going to be a very difficult second half for The Gills.

Gillingham win A Throw On In The Forty Sixth Minute Of The Match, And Mark Byrne has thrown the ball long down the line and Tom Eaves has won the initial aerial challenge and forced Southend United Defender Stephen Hendrie to concede A Corner, and the atmosphere from The Rainham End raises in volume as we are anticipating Gillingham pulling the game back on to level terms, And From the Resulting Corner Kick, Lee Martin has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Josh Parker cannot direct his header on target - but this is something to build on for The Gills.

However, Southend United were looking to double there advantage a minute later, as Marc-Antoine Fortuné is twisting and turning in possession of the ball in Gillingham’s Final Third, and Marc-Antoine Fortuné see’s his fiercely struck effort towards goal blocked by Gabriel Zakuani, and Luke O’Neill kicks the ball into Michael Kightly and the ball ricochets off The Southend United Winger out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

In The Fiftieth Minute, Mark Byrne slides in to intercept the ball and Mark Byrne clearly wins the ball ahead of Michael Timlin and Southend United have been awarded A Free Kick, I thought that was a appalling decision from Referee Charles Breakspear, and from the resulting free kick, Michael Kightly has floated in an dangerous in-swinging cross which Tomas Holy has done really well to gather, however, Tomas Holy has quickly distributed the ball to A Southend United Player, fortunately, Tomas Holy does get the ball back again, but we have seen the up’s and the down’s from Tomas Holy throughout the entire match.

Fifty Three Minutes Into The Match, and Anton Ferdinand is forced to knock the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick Down The Gordon Road Stand / Rainham End Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Corner, Lee Martin quickly plays the ball short to Liam Nash, who skilfully evades 1-2 challenges from Southend United Players inside there own penalty area, But Liam Nash has overran the ball out of play for A Southend United Goal-Kick - Good Skill From Liam Nash.

Fifty Six Minutes Into The Match, and Gillingham finally score there first goal of the season and pull themselves back on to level terms, Gillingham have a throw on down the left side of the pitch in Southend United’s Final Third, And Connor Ogilvie has thrown the ball down the line towards Lee Martin, but the throw on is really poor and Jermaine McGlashan nips in there first and squares the ball short to Marc-Antoine Fortuné, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Marc-Antoine Fortuné’s attempted pass forward picks out Gabriel Zakuani, who brings the ball under his complete control, and Gabriel Zakuani takes another touch, passes the ball back to Alex Lacey, who passes the ball down the line towards Luke O’Neill, who takes a touch to control the ball, checks back inside past Michael Kightly and Luke O’Neill makes sure he has the ball under control before whipping in an dangerous in-swinging cross, but John White is in the right place at the right time to clear the ball away from danger, and the chance is still there for Gillingham, as Mark Byrne headers the ball inside to Luke O’Neill, who plays the ball out-wide to Mark Byrne, and Mark Byrne takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in an incredible cross towards the back-stick, and Tom Eaves has climbed highest to header the ball back across the face of goal, and Tom Eaves looping header has beaten the despairing dive from Southend United Goalkeeper Mark Oxley and hit the back of the net.

And that goal is precisely what Gillingham needed as well, great cross from Mark Byrne to pick out Tom Eaves and that was a fantastic header from The Towering Number Nine, We needed a response from Gillingham after a disappointing second half display in The First Half - if that makes sense - but Gillingham have made an impact in The Second Half, and now that Gillingham have pulled themselves back on to level terms, Can Gillingham go on from here and find the winning goal ???

Southend United were looking to go back in-front instantly from the kick off, and In The Fifty Seventh Minute, Southend United Goal-Scorer Ryan Leonard see’s his shot on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area deflect off Gabriel Zakuani and clear Gillingham’s Crossbar, And Southend United have the chance to take the lead from the resulting corner, And from the resulting corner kick, Ryan Leonard has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Tomas Holy does brilliantly to gather the in-swinging cross first time, and Tomas Holy quickly distributes the ball out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, who takes a touch to control the ball before playing the ball forward to Liam Nash, who shows a brilliant turn of pace and skill to evade one challenge and Liam Nash manages to evade Jason Demetriou’s challenge, and Referee Charles Breakspear angered every Gillingham Supporter when he awarded Gillingham A Free Kick, Because Liam Nash was continuing his run forward in possession of the ball, and Adrian Pennock was not happy in the technical area with that decision being given.

Now Jason Demetriou was shown A Yellow Card for his challenge on Liam Nash, but Gillingham could have played on and potentially created a better goal-scoring opportunity and after play stops then Jason Demetriou could have been booked, Everyone around me said the same-thing as well, Referee Charles Breakspear should have waved on for advantage and not award the free kick.

And From The Resulting Free Kick, Connor Ogilvie has clipped in a high and hanging cross into the heart of Southend United’s Penalty Area, And Anton Ferdinand has headed the ball clear to the edge of Southend United’s Penalty Area, and Billy Bingham just gets to the ball ahead of Stephen Hendrie, and I was slightly surprised that this free kick was given in our favour, as I thought that Billy Bingham’s foot was high, But Referee Charles Breakspear does award Gillingham A Free Kick within shooting territory here, and from the resulting free kick, Lee Martin’s driven effort towards goal is blocked by Southend United’s Defensive Wall, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On Down The Medway Stand / Rainham End Side Of The Pitch.

And Gillingham came ever so close to turning this match on it’s head from the resulting throw on as Connor Ogilvie throws the ball short to Lee Martin, who is twisting and turning before checking the ball back towards Connor Ogilvie, who whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post and Tom Eaves looping header beats Mark Oxley and John White is in the right place to get the ball partially clear and away from danger and Southend United do eventually clear there defensive lines, Tom Eaves just looks a completely different player since he has opened the scoring and he is looking a real threat in the air for The Gills Now.

Sixty One Minutes Into The Match, And John White is penalised for his challenge on Tom Eaves, and Josh Parker’s quickly taken free kick towards Liam Nash down the right side of the pitch see’s the flag raised against Liam Nash for Offside, and Gillingham being in the ascendency has forced Southend United Manager Phil Brown to make Southend United’s First Substitution Of The Game as Theo Robinson comes on for Marc-Antoine Fortuné, and I was surprised to see Marc-Antoine Fortuné substituted because The Former Celtic and West Bromwich Albion Striker was causing Gillingham all sorts of problems defensively throughout the entire match.

After Southend United have made that attacking substitution, Gillingham flip the match on it’s head and take the lead in The Sixty Third Minute, Southend United Have A Throw On Down The Left Side Of The Pitch, and Stephen Hendrie throws the ball down the line and Alex Lacey wins the aerial challenge and Josh Parker wins the fifty / fifty challenge with Ryan Leonard and the loose ball ricochets kindly into Billy Bingham’s Path, who takes no chances and smashes the ball long down-field which almost turns into a good pass into Liam Nash’s Path, But John White has headed the ball out-wide and away from goal, and Lee Martin just about does enough to get to the loose ball ahead of Jason Demetriou, And The Southend United Right Back has forced Lee Martin to run away from goal towards the left wing, and Lee Martin manages to back-heel the ball into Connor Ogilvie’s Path, and Connor Ogilvie manages to nip in there ahead of Jermaine McGlashan’s sliding challenge, and Connor Ogilvie goes on a driving run down the left side of the pitch, and Connor Ogilvie has whipped in an fantastic cross and Tom Eaves has done brilliantly to get ahead of Anton Ferdinand to header the ball into the back of the net with a fantastic diving header and there was nothing that Mark Oxley can do about that - great goal, and Gillingham are back in-front.

I don’t think SKY Sports do this goal justice, as they only show the cross from Connor Ogilvie and the header from Tom Eaves, because the build up play for this goal was fantastic and Tom Eaves has capped this move off with a fantastic diving header, great move, great cross from Connor Ogilvie and a great headed goal from Tom Eaves, and Now Gillingham have taken the lead, and it is now a question of can Gillingham hang on to the lead, or possibly go 3-1 up to try and pick up all three points at the fourth time of asking.

Unfortunately, Southend United respond with an instant equaliser, Tom Eaves was penalised for his challenge on Jason Demetriou, and it is from the resulting free kick on the halfway line where Southend United score the all important equaliser, Stephen Hendrie has clipped a high and hanging ball into the heart of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Alex Lacey has headed the ball clear, and Ryan Leonard is first to react to the loose ball by playing the ball forward to Michael Kightly, who takes a touch to control the ball before running in possession of the ball towards the right side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Left - and Michael Kightly plays the ball out-wide to Jason Demetriou, who clips a high and hanging cross inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Luke O’Neill headers the ball clear, but Ryan Leonard beats Liam Nash to the loose ball and headers the ball forward and Michael Kightly takes a touch to control the ball before hitting a snap-shot finish into the bottom left corner of the net.

Great finish from Michael Kightly and The Former Grays Athletic and Wolverhampton Wanderers Midfielder showed his Premier League Class, as Michael Kightly was playing in The Premier League with Burnley Last Season, and that just tells you the calibre of signings that Southend United can make, because Michael Kightly is a top class player who should be playing in The Championship at the very least.

And Southend United could have gone 3-2 up in The Sixty Seventh Minute, Mark Oxley takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Gabriel Zakuani wins the fifty / fifty challenge up against Theo Robinson, and Mark Byrne on the stretch gets the ball partially clear, but Michael Timlin brings the ball down and passes the ball out-wide to Jermaine McGlashan, who takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Simon Cox wins the aerial challenge up against Alex Lacey, and Ryan Leonard headers the ball over Gillingham’s Crossbar from inside The Six Yard Box, and that was a guilt edge goal-scoring opportunity for Southend United, and one that our opponents should be sticking into the back of the net.

A Minute Later, and Billy Bingham is penalised for his challenge on Ryan Leonard, and Simon Cox is then penalised for his challenge on Gabriel Zakuani, and Gabriel Zakuani comes off the worse in this Centre Forward V Centre Back Clash, and Gabriel Zakuani is substituted and Ben Nugent comes on in his place, Ben Nugent gets A Twenty Minute Runout for his Gillingham Debut, Gillingham have now substituted two centre backs during this match, Max Ehmer’s substitution was either enforced or tactical, Gabriel Zakuani picking up an injury was defiantly enforced.

And Gillingham survived a real scare after that substitution was made, as Michael Kightly tests Tomas Holy with a driven effort towards goal which was saved and then gathered by Tomas Holy at the second attempt, Alex Lacey is then penalised for his challenge on Michael Kightly in Gillingham’s Final Third, and now Southend United have got A Free Kick within shooting territory here, thankfully, Michael Kightly’s high and hanging cross was comfortable for Tomas Holy to deal with and this is much better goalkeeping from Tomas Holy, who has looked more assured in the past few minutes, even though his goalkeeping display has been hit and miss throughout the entire match.

Seventy One Minutes Into The Match, and Liam Nash is flagged for standing in A Offside Position, and A Minute Later, Ryan Leonard is penalised for his challenge on Ben Nugent, and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick within our own final third to relieve the pressure building on our own goal, and looking across at who Gillingham can bring on, Scott Wagstaff could always come on and play on The Right Wing and Josh Parker moves across to the left flank, Darren Oldaker can come on to give Gillingham that creative spark in midfield, or, youngster Greg Cundle comes on to strengthen Gillingham’s Attacking Options, as Gillingham can still kick on from here and find the winning goal.

However, In The Seventy Third Minute, Southend United do take the lead for the second time in this match, and Mark Oxley kicks the ball long down-field and Ben Nugent wins the initial aerial challenge and Michael Timlin cushions his header out-wide to Jermaine McGlashan, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Jermaine McGlashan takes a few touches in possession of the ball, and just when Jermaine McGlashan losses his balance, he manages to pass the ball through to Theo Robinson who takes a touch to control the ball before curling a magnificent strike towards goal which crashes against the crossbar and comes back to Simon Cox, who see’s his follow up effort brilliantly saved by Tomas Holy, and Simon Cox reacts first to score the second re-bound, although it looks like for a moment that Jason Demetriou had stuck the ball into the back of the net.

My Initial reaction was that the goal looked offside, having seen the highlights back, I have got to say that the defending from Gillingham for this goal was very disappointing and Tomas Holy can consider himself very unlucky that he couldn’t direct his save from Simon Cox’s Initial Effort off the crossbar further away from goal, Now, Gillingham face an uphill battle to try and get ourselves back on to level terms, and Gillingham have got over Fifteen Minutes Plus Stoppage Time to try and find an equaliser.

After that goal had gone in for Southend United, Greg Cundle comes on for Liam Nash, who perhaps was starting to tire after his first staring appearance for Gillingham and Liam Nash has put in plenty of effort, and Greg Cundle gets the chance to come on, and maybe, just maybe, Greg Cundle could be the here here for Gillingham, and it would be good to see Greg Cundle score his first professional goal for Gillingham.

Theo Robinson is penalised for his challenge on Billy Bingham, and Southend United Manager Phil Brown believed that Southend United should have been awarded A Free Kick, and From The Resulting Free Kick, Connor Ogilvie has aimed a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick and Anton Ferdinand takes no chances and header the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, and the atmosphere raised around the ground and Gillingham have the chance to score an important equaliser, Unfortunately, Lee Martin’s in-swinging cross from the resulting corner kick is headed clear by John White, and Michael Kightly plays the ball forward to try and pick out Theo Robinson, and we are very lucky that Luke O’Neill manages to get himself in-between the ball and Theo Robinson on the halfway line to win Gillingham A Free Kick.

But any attempt to try and gain and advantage from the resulting free kick is wasted, as Luke O’Neill picks out Tom Eaves with a diagonal cross-field pass, But The Linesman has penalised Tom Eaves for his aerial challenge up against John White, and in the same minute, Jermaine McGlashan is penalised for his challenge on Ben Nugent, and this match has turned into fouls and free kicks being awarded to either side, which is very frustrating, and with four substitutions made so far, and the number of goals scored combined with the amount of stoppages in play, there has to be at least five minutes of stoppage time at the end of the match.

But It Is From The Resulting Free Kick Where Gillingham Have Been Thrown A Life-Line, Connor Ogilvie has clipped a high and hanging ball into the heart of Southend United’s Penalty Area and Simon Cox has won the aerial challenge up against Alex Lacey and Ben Nugent manages to bring the ball down before Theo Robinson gets to the loose ball, and Mark Byrne is brought down to the ground inside the penalty area and Referee Charles Breakspear does in-fact point to the penalty spot, in real-time, I couldn’t precisely see the penalty incident, but the highlights show that Theo Robinson has given away the penalty for a reckless challenge on Mark Byrne.

And Up Stepped Tom Eaves - who should have taken Gillingham’s Penalty Kick Against MK Dons The Previous Saturday - and Tom Eaves strikes a powerful driven effort towards the bottom right corner of the net and Southend United Goalkeeper Mark Oxley makes the save, and the ball spins back into Tom Eaves path, and Tom Eaves manages to complete his hat-trick with a tap in, and we could all blow a sigh of relief when Tom Eaves scored the equaliser for Gillingham - Perhaps that was the bit of luck that Gillingham haven’t been getting in recent matches, Can Gillingham go on and find the winner with just over ten minutes remaining ???

Theo Robinson was actually booked when he conceded that penalty and A Yellow Card was the correct punishment, also, I think the triple punishment of a sending off, a penalty and potentially a goal can no longer be given if the player hasn’t been booked already, although if a player slides in and completely takes a player out with a reckless challenge, then The Referee would have no other choice but to send the player off.

This match really is end to end now, Luke O’Neill does manage to clear Southend United’s Throw On Down There Left Side Of The Pitch - Gillingham’s Right - And Billy Bingham does relieve the pressure on Gillingham’s Defence by drawing a foul from Ryan Leonard, and I have been impressed with Billy Bingham’s Performance For Gillingham Against Southend United, With Josh Wright out of the side with this on-going transfer speculation, then it is great to see Billy Bingham back in the side and back playing in the middle of midfield for Gillingham.

And Gillingham could have made the score-line 4-3 from the resulting free kick as well, Tomas Holy has come up to the halfway line to take the resulting free kick, and Tomas Holy has hit a high and hanging diagonal ball into the heart of Southend United’s Penalty Area, and Tom Eaves climbs highest to header the ball on target and Mark Oxley makes the save for Southend United this time, But Tom Eaves has looked a completely different player in The Second Half, winning headers and being the battering ram of a centre forward we expected him to be, two cracking headers and a re-bounded effort from the penalty spot, now if Tom Eaves were to score A Fourth Goal And Score The Winner For Gillingham, then we would all be delighted.

And A Minute Later, Gillingham really did have the chance to score the winner, Mark Byrne plays the ball back to Ben Nugent, who plays the ball out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, who manages to pass the ball down the left flank to Lee Martin down the left side of the pitch, and Lee Martin is twisting and turning, and Lee Martin manages to evade Jason Demetriou and whip in an sensational cross towards the far post which clears Tom Eaves head this time, and Josh Parker comes charging in at the far post, and Josh Parker can only header the ball into the side netting - Golden Opportunity For Gillingham, And Will The Gills rule missing that goal-scoring opportunity, or, will the Gills be given another chance to make the breakthrough ???

Eighty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Stephen Hendrie is penalised and shown A Yellow Card for his challenge on Josh Parker, and from the resulting free kick, Connor Ogilvie passes the ball short towards Tom Eaves, who’s cross towards the back-stick is over-hit and Lee Martin is penalised for his challenge on Jason Demetriou, and Connor Ogilvie is also penalised and shown A Yellow Card for his challenge on Jermaine McGlashan, and Connor Ogilvie had to bring Jermaine McGlashan down as Southend United had the opportunity to hit Gillingham On The Counter Attack, Thankfully, Gillingham do at least clear the resulting free kick but we’re coming up to The Ninetieth Minute Now, and we’re waiting for The Fourth Official to show how many more minutes of stoppage time do we have until The Full Time Whistle will be blown.

And The Fourth Official has his board raised - FIVE ADDITIONAL MINUTES OF ADDED TIME!!!!!!!!! - COME ON GILLS!!!!!!!! - And Southend United look like they are going to be the side who are going to pick up all three points, as Michael Kightly manages to pass the ball in-between Luke O’Neill and Alex Lacey to pick out Theo Robinson, And The Southend United Substitute clips the ball across the face of goal, and what a huge sigh of relief that there wasn’t anyone in Southend United Colours at the back-stick to stick the ball into the back of the net, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

Southend United are awarded a soft free kick in stoppage time, and from the resulting free kick, Ryan Leonard has clipped in an dangerous high and hanging cross towards the far post towards Simon Cox, But The Linesman Down The Medway Stand / Brian Moore Stand Side Of The Pitch has his flagged raised for offside, and Tom Eaves is penalised and shown A Yellow Card for his challenge on Jason Demetriou - Much To The Frustration Of Every Gillingham Supporter Inside Priestfield Stadium.

Ninety Four Minutes Into The Match, And Southend United have an incredible chance to pick up all three points, Anton Ferdinand takes a few touches in possession of the ball for Southend United on the halfway line before clipping the ball long towards Theo Robinson, But Ben Nugent does brilliantly to win the aerial challenge and Luke O’Neill takes no chances by booting the ball high and away from goal, but John White headers the ball inside to Michael Timlin, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Michael Timlin manages to skilfully evade Billy Bingham’s attempted challenge and Michael Timlin see’s his threaded through-ball ricochet off Mark Byrne into Theo Robinson’s Path, and Theo Robinson see’s his shot on target blocked by Mark Byrne, as Theo Robinson was trying to find a shooting angle, and the follow up effort from Michael Timlin was fired wide of Tomas Holy’s Left Hand Post, and Michael Timlin made a great connection with the ball to strike it cleanly, thankfully, that effort wasn’t on target.

Just when I am thinking - Yeah, I take The Point Now - Gillingham had a fantastic opportunity to possibly nick all three points at the death, Gillingham have A Throw On In Southend United’s Final Third Down The Medway Stand / Rainham End Side Of The Pitch, and Connor Ogilvie has thrown the ball down the line and John White has won the aerial challenge, but the second ball falls into Lee Martin’s Path and Lee Martin runs down the left flank to try and win a corner kick, but Jermaine McGlashan also had the pace to get to the ball first, and Jermaine McGlashan shields the ball, passes the ball inside to Jason Demetriou, and Jason Demetriou’s attempted clearance is charged down by Lee Martin and the ball ricochets into Tom Eaves path, and Tom Eaves takes a touch to control the ball and Tom Eaves passes the ball square to Greg Cundle, who takes a touch to control the ball and Greg Cundle came ever so close to placing the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, but the ball takes a slight ricochet off Michael Timlin, and Gillingham have been awarded A Corner Kick.

And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Lee Martin rolls the ball short to Luke O’Neill, who doesn’t control the ball brilliantly with his first touch, and Luke O’Neill cuts inside into an more central position and Luke O’Neill’s dangerous in-swinging cross is comfortable for Southend United Goalkeeper Mark Oxley to gather, and that was the last noteworthy moment of The Second Half, and Gillingham have managed to fight back on two occasions to earn an important point, and you have got to say that given that Southend United had re-taken the lead on The Seventy Third Minute, then this has to be considered an important point for The Gills.

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 3 - 3 SOUTHEND UNITED

After The Full Time Whistle has been blown after a thrilling encounter at Priestfield Stadium, Adrian Pennock went over to Tom Eaves to congratulate him for his hat-trick and applaud The Gillingham Supporters In The Rainham End, some fans have criticised this response as The Gills only drew 3-3 against Southend United, but I have also heard from those who were standing close to where Adrian Pennock was standing, and he was merely showing his backing and appreciation towards A Player who rightfully was being criticised for his first half performance, but Tom Eaves really did step it up with an sensational performance in The Second Half and Tom Eaves fully deserves his Man Of The Match Award - If Only Tom Eaves scored one more goal to help Gillingham to win 4-3 against Southend United.

After I applauded the players off the pitch, and the players deserved there plaudits for battling back to earn a point, I made sure I had everything and I went towards The Players Entrance to catch up with Gary after the game as we had so much to talk about, because that was an action packed second half performance with five goals, could have been a few more as well and this match had everything.

And the first thing that Me and Gary spoke about was the build up play to the second goal and just how brilliant that move was, which was capped off by a brilliant header by Tom Eaves, and when we spoke about the penalty, I mentioned that although Tom Eaves Penalty Was Saved, the ball ran across the line and was heading in and Eaves tapped in the re-bound, But I wonder what would have happened had Mark Byrne scored ??? - Because would Mark Byrne have surely been penalised for encroachment ??? - Thankfully, Tom Eaves scored and this was a non-debatable issue.

However, I wonder what would have happened had Mark Byrne scored, would the penalty have counted, would it have been re-taken, most likely the latter, because I did think that Mark Byrne would have been penalised for encroachment had he scored, Gary then spoke about the number of times Gillingham have won points from losing positions last season, That was one point gained from a losing position, and we are hoping that Gillingham can continue to battle back and win points throughout the season.

We then spoke about how Gillingham went from not scoring but only conceding one goal, to scoring three and conceding three in what was a very entraining game for the neutral and both teams will have been pleased with the point, even though we’re slightly disappointed not to get all three, but when your losing 3-2 with twenty minutes to go, then you gladly take the point, and a point against Southend United is still a solid point.

Me, Diane and Gary started to speak about the controversial refereeing decisions, It appears that The Third Southend United Goal Wasn’t Offside, even though there were calls at the time that it was - Having seen the highlights, it is clear for all to see that The Third Goal isn’t offside - But The First Goal was defiantly a foul on Tomas Holy, If you jump near the goalkeeper nowadays and make contact, normally your penalised, but it was such a poor goal to concede, and from there onwards, Southend United dominated the first half, because for The First Fifteen Minutes Of The Match, Gillingham were very good, The Gills were on the front-foot and causing Southend United a lot of problems, But after Southend United opened the scoring, the score-line could have been anything, and Tomas Holy had one of those games where he made goalkeeping error’s, but he also kept Gillingham in the game with some decent saves as well.

Interestingly, Max Ehmer went off, and it appears that was a combination of being a tactical decision and Max Ehmer picking up a knock, so Max Ehmer had to come off, and then Gabriel Zakuani picks up a knock so two of our senior centre back’s were injured in the same game, Thankfully, Billy Bingham can slot into the centre of defence if we need him to, but we are hoping that Max Ehmer will be back for The Shrewsbury Town Game (Gabriel Zakuani will miss this match because of International Duty), As for the match on Tuesday Night, ironically against Southend United again, I am expecting Adrian Pennock to make quite a few changes For The Football League Trophy Match.

The three of us spoke about our four league games so far, and Doncaster Rovers were newly promoted when they played us so that was a good point for Gillingham, Bradford City were one game away from The Championship Last Season so that was always going to be a tough fixture, MK Dons are one of these teams who you think will be there or thereabouts, but they can also have dreadful season’s as well, and Southend United just missed out on A Playoff Place In League One Last Season, as Gary Mentioned, four tough fixtures at the start of the season, and had those four fixtures been Shrewsbury Town, Oldham Athletic, Blackpool and Rochdale, then we might have been a hundred times more concerned, of course, two points from four games is disappointing and we need to find a way of picking up more points, and The Second Half Performance Against Southend United is encouraging, Gillingham went behind after going in-front and managed to pull the game back to a draw.

But it really does feel like Gillingham are battling and scrapping for every single point we are getting at the moment, it’s going to be a really challenging and very difficult season for The Gills This Season, I think we all expected that to be the case after what happened last season, but Gary pointed out that in 1999 / 2000, Gillingham didn’t win there first five fixtures, and then went on to achieve promotion, and while I don’t think anyone is expecting Gillingham to replicate what we managed to achieve during 1999 / 2000, I think we can look forward to a very solid season this season, and we just need to make one or two more additions to the squad.

And speaking of squads, Southend United have got players with genuine quality in there side, Anton Ferdinand, Michael Turner, Jason Demetriou, Anthony Wordsworth, Michael Kightly, Michael Timlin, Stephen McLaughlin, Marc-Antoine Fortuné, Simon Cox, and of course Jermaine McGlashan, who was constantly causing Gillingham problems with his pace and Phil Brown has assembled a very good side at Southend United, because Marc-Antoine Fortuné, Simon Cox, Anton Ferdinand, Michael Turner and Michael Kightly have all played in The Premier League, they just look like they are going to be in contention for A Playoff Spot Again This Season.

But looking at results elsewhere, and Northampton Town losing 4-1 against Peterborough United in the important derby game is a result that does Northampton Town no favours what so ever, well, both teams are close enough for this fixture to be considered a derby, and it looks increasingly likely that Justin Edinburgh will get sacked very soon, Gary mentioned that what will likely happen is that Justin Edinburgh will get sacked one game before Northampton Town Play Gillingham and A Caretaker Manager takes over and Northampton Town will likely win in that scenario.

But if Justin Edinburgh was to lose his job, then he won’t get another job from A Club Currently In League One, he has worked with two clubs in Gillingham and Northampton Town who will have given him decent playing budgets and Justin Edinburgh will need to do exceptionally well in his next job and try and get a club promoted to re-build his managerial reputation, Obviously it is early days, But Justin Edinburgh will need to win and win quickly to turn things around.

We also spoke about the young players out on loan, Tom Hadler (Gloucester City) Finn O’Mara (Folkestone Invicta) Bradley Stevenson (Cray Wanderers) and Noel Mbo (Hampton & Richmond) It’s great to see many of our young players sent out on loan to play competitive first team football, But with so many sent out on loan so quickly, it does raise the question that we might be loaning these players out to perhaps look to bring someone else in on loan.

Greg Cundle is another young player who was sent out on loan last season, but he is getting game-time in Gillingham’s First Team Now, Starting Against Reading and coming on as substitute against Southend United and almost scoring, Adrian Pennock appears to rate Greg Cundle very highly, and the Young Striker made two substitute appearances for Gillingham Last Season, and he is getting game-time for Gillingham’s First Team This Season, There are a lot of young players in and around Gillingham’s First Team, Because Darren Oldaker was an unused substitute and he is also another young promising player who is highly rated at the football club as well.

Gary headed off, pointing out that he will see us on Tuesday Night, While Me and Diane tried to find out how long Aaron Morris is going to be out for, and Aaron Morris needs to see a specialist, Gabriel Zakuani mentioned that he picked up a slight knock, but he should be OK to play, however, Gabriel Zakuani is likely to not to play against Southend United In The Football League Trophy On Tuesday Night, and that is because Gabriel Zakuani has been called up for International Duty By DR Congo.

I Re-Tweeted A Few Tweets From Adrian Pennock’s Post Match Press Conference along with the tweets from Tom Eaves Post Match Press Conference As Well, But one of the talking points that Me and Diane talked about was The Attendance, Gillingham V Southend United saw an attendance of 5,339 with 1,027 supporters turning up from Southend, this is very worrying and something to be concerned about, because Gillingham V Southend United On A Saturday Afternoon should be hitting around 6,500+ - If this is going to be the norm and Gillingham see home attendances drop, then the one thing I am concerned about is that there will be further cuts to the playing budget, which means less quality players, and it is the players with quality who make the difference on the pitch.

And Gillingham V Southend United On Tuesday Night is going to see a much smaller attendance, as Supporters are boycotting The Football League Trophy, or, they never bothered going to these matches in the first place, It isn’t like the attendances for the opening rounds of The Football League Trophy were that huge prior to the inclusion of Premier League B Teams, even though we were all against Premier League B Teams entering this competition in the first place, I would much rather see Sixteen Teams From The Conference National Enter This Competition, because Gillingham could well be playing against one of Maidstone United, Ebbsfleet United, Dover Athletic Or Bromley in the group stage.

I knew that Stephen wasn’t going to the game on Tuesday Night and I mentioned to Diane that I have got My Ticket In My Usual Seat, but because it is looking increasingly likely that there won’t be a decent turnout at Priestfield Stadium for this match, then there is a good chance that we could move around the ground and find two seats together, I also think we will see a rotated side for this match, but because I was unsure on the rules on how many changes we can make, I don’t think Gillingham will make eleven changes to The Starting Line Up, although I do think that teams’s should be allowed to do that if they choose to do so.

All in all, we were pleased with the point against Southend United, but it is going to be a season where Gillingham have got to battle and scrap for every single point we have to pick up throughout the entire 2017 / 2018 campaign, Me and Diane both knew this was going to be the case, but I don’t think either of us thought that Gillingham would still be without a win in five matches in all competitions.

I Said C Ya To Diane, before going inside Sainsbury’s To Buy One 500ML Bottle, and once I paid £1.30 for My Drink, I made My Way To Gillingham Train Station and once I arrive at Gillingham Train Station, I arrived with just a few minutes to spare before getting on The 17.57PM Train back to Rainham, I saw Eddie at the train station, and I asked Eddie “Was It A Penalty???” In-Regards To Mark Byrne being challenged inside the penalty area, and Eddie mentioned that it was A Penalty, even though the challenge was more clumsy rather then being reckless, Me, Eddie and Two others were pleased with the point, we didn’t want to see Gillingham lose three league games in a row and this draw does at least stop the rot.

I Said C Ya before getting on The 17.57PM Train, and I checked My Messages On Facebook And Twitter and responded back to any feed-back I got on Social Media, I tried ringing him a few times, and when I got through, Mum mentioned that she would want A Fish-Cake And Chips, as I was going to the chippy to get My Dinner, Once The Train Arrived Back In Rainham at 18.03PM, I went to George’s Plaice to buy A Small Portion Of Chips and Two Jumbo Plain Sausages, and A Small Portion Of Chips and One Fish-Cake for £8.50, I spoke to the owner about the result and how Gillingham had gone from not scoring to hardly conceding, to now scoring three goals in one match, but also conceding three, I also mentioned that Gillingham play against Southend United again in The Football League Trophy On Tuesday Night, and both teams are likely to make a few changes for that match.

Once My Order was ready, I collected my order and then said c ya, before getting a lift back home from Dad, who didn’t know the score for The Gillingham V Southend United Game, and Tom Eaves scoring a hat-trick and Gillingham avoiding defeat were the positives to take out of the match, but it is wins that Gillingham need, but Gillingham haven’t been thumped by anyone this season, we have been every game, but every match is going to be an uphill battle for The Gills.

We were back home at 18.20PM, A Hard Fought Point For The Gills against A Southend United Side who will be in contention for a playoff place at the end of the season, Phil Brown has built a very good side at Southend United and I think Southend United are going to be in and amongst the teams challenging for a top six finish this year, as for Gillingham, we play against the same opposition again in The Football League Trophy and follow that match up with a home game against Shrewsbury Town in the league, back to back home wins against Southend United and Shrewsbury Town would mean four points out of six in the league and a win in The Football League Trophy for The Gills - Hopefully, that is precisely what happens, and Gillingham can build on the draw against Southend United by picking up back to back wins in the next two games - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#Gillingham #SouthendUnited #Football #TomEaves

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fan-of-mulligan · 8 years ago

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FOM BLOG: GILLINGHAM 2 - 1 SOUTHEND UNITED

I left My House at 12.50PM in the afternoon and I made sure I had the following things on me,,,,,,,, (Money, Keys, My Gillingham Season Ticket, My Samsung Galaxy S2, Spare Battery, My Fleece-Jacket, Spare Lids, My Gillingham Scarf, My Gillingham Bag, A Packet Of Polo’s, Pad and Pens, and a 500ML Bottle Of Pepsi) - and I made sure I had everything on me before Stewart gave me a lift down to Rainham Train Station, I mentioned to Stewart that Gillingham have only lost one match in the last seven league fixtures, and while the other six matches have been draws, it is wins that Gillingham need if we’re to pull further away from The League One Relegation Zone.

I thanked Stewart for the lift, before heading towards The Ticket Booth to buy My Return Ticket To Gillingham for £3.90, and before leaving my house, I had updated My Statuses On Facebook and Twitter, and I had posted the following,,,, On My Way to Priestfield Stadium as Gillingham take on Southend United, hopefully, Gillingham can pick up all three points today - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!,,, and three points against Southend United is going to be a big ask, as Southend United are flying high in Fifth Position In League One, but these are the sort of matches that Gillingham tend to turn up to and manage to find a way of getting an unexpected result, well that is what we were hoping for anyway.

I arrived in Gillingham at 13.20PM, and made my way towards Priestfield Stadium from there, it was much more busier around the ground then it has been for the two previous home matches against AFC Wimbledon and Chesterfield, granted, those two fixtures were played on A Tuesday Night, but Southend United were expected to bring roughly 2,000 supporters to Priestfield Stadium, so the atmosphere is going to build up nicely for what is being described as A Kent / Essex Derby Game, I saw quite A Few Southend United Supporters on Gillingham Road, and we can expect a decent atmosphere and a very good attendance at Priestfield Stadium this afternoon as well.

I arrived at Priestfield Stadium at 1.30PM, and I went inside The Club Shop to buy One Gillingham Match-Day Programme for £3, and Southend United have got quite a few Former Gillingham Players In There Squad, Adam Barrett, Ryan Inniss, Jermaine McGlashan and Frank Nouble, and Diane thought that Gillingham should of kept hold of Frank Nouble, but with Justin Edinburgh leaving, Gillingham looking for A New Manager and Frank Nouble’s Contract Expiring, perhaps Frank Nouble thought that he wasn’t going to be getting a new deal at Gillingham and he decided to leave, and Southend United moved quickly to offer Frank Nouble A Short Term Contract until the end of the season.

I mentioned to Dave, Brian, Robin and Diane that there were quite a few Southend United Supporters around Gillingham already, and there should be a large away following, which should see our attendance much closer to 6,500 - 7,000, having seen below 5,000 attendances for The AFC Wimbledon and Chesterfield League Games, I decided to go to the ticket office to buy My Ticket For Bury Away, which only cost me £18, Rochdale Away Tickets are not on sale just yet, but I did mention to Diane that Nicholas and Stephen will be on The Kings Ferry Coach For Bury Away.

Diane was seriously considering driving to Swindon Town, as it only took just over two hours, I tried checking the distance on my phone, but why Gillingham In Dorset Came Up and not Gillingham In Kent I have no idea, but Diane was thinking about driving and we can then park in The College Car Park, as it is all residential parking around The County Ground, I am not sure what it is like for food and drink outlets around Swindon Town, and if we go via car, it might be a case of stopping off at the final service station before we turn off for Swindon Town.

As I brought My Ticket For Bury, I went back out-side to speak with Peter, Charlie, Carole and Sharon, and Malcolm Steadman was there to speak with us about all things Gills, Sharon and Peter mentioned that they were not happy with the response that some supporters gave Rory Donnelly when he was substituted on Tuesday Night, and I agreed, I thought the reaction over-stepped the mark and went too far, your supposed to support every player who plays, granted, we all have opinions on who should play, and how well and how badly a player has played, but during the game is when the players need our support, I also disagree with directly tweeting a player on Twitter to voice criticism, because continuously choosing to criticise a player directly, could well see players deactivate there Twitter Accounts, and there would be less inter-action between players and supporters.

Peter, Sharon, Charlie and Carole headed off inside the ground, and Gary caught up with Me and Diane, and I mentioned that Southend United were bringing 2,000 supporters so there should be 6,500 - 7,000 supporters inside Priestfield Stadium this afternoon, while Gary mentioned that with A Kent / Essex Derby Game, there should be more press in The Press Area, and we spoke about The Former Gillingham Players in The Southend United Side, Jermaine McGlashan and Frank Nouble are both going to cause Gillingham problems with there pace, assuming that both players will start, while Ryan Inniss and Adam Barrett should shore things up at the back for Southend, you could probably make three or four starting line up’s of players who have played for both Gillingham and Southend United over the past ten year’s, given how close both clubs are geographically.

Eventually, We Saw Gillingham’s Team News On Twitter, and Gillingham Lined Up As Follows,,,,,,,,,,,, Stuart Nelson, Ryan Jackson, Zesh Rehman, Max Ehmer, Scott Wagstaff, Emmanuel Osadebe, Josh Wright, Lee Martin, Rory Donnelly, Cody McDonald, Joe Quigley SUBS: Tomas Holy (GK), Mitchell Dickenson, Ollie Muldoon, Jake Hessenthaler, Elliott List, Josh Parker and Noel Mbo - OK, so there was a lot to talk about when we saw that line up, how were Gillingham lining up, 4.4.2 diamond, 4.2.3.1 or 4.4.1.1, I just assumed that with Lee Martin being left footed, that he would drop back into Left Back, While Chris Herd, Mark Byrne and Bradley Dack are all out injured, Chris Herd just cannot seem to play three / four league games in a row, and Bradley Dack was rumoured to be injured the day before, but it appears that these rumours are 100% true.

But even without Adedeji Oshilaja, Bradley Garmston, Mark Byrne, Chris Herd and Bradley Dack, Paul Konchesky still doesn’t make the squad, and Gary mentioned that even if Paul Konchesky makes the starting line up, he wouldn't have played for Gillingham in ages and would be lacking match sharpness, and a lack of match sharpness is very concerning when you look at The Starting Line Up, as Zesh Rehman, Emmanuel Osadebe, Lee Martin, Rory Donnelly and Joe Quigley do not have a lot of minutes between them, so Adrian Pennock may well be looking to use all three substitutes to protect those who have had limited game-time this season.

Gary then spoke about his thoughts regarding the criticism of Rory Donnelly, and Gary pointed out that Rory Donnelly has hardly started for Gillingham This Season, and most recently, Rory Donnelly has been utilised as A Left Winger, and he was then put up-front alongside Josh Parker On Tuesday Night, and yes, it is a guilt edge goal-scoring opportunity, and yes, we could have done with that effort hitting the back of the net, but the jeering and the reaction towards Rory Donnelly was over the top and crossed a line, a line I don’t think that should be crossed as far as supporters should be concerned, maybe that is just me though.

But are we confidant that Gillingham can get a result against Southend United ??? - No is the simple answer, with Southend United flying high in League One and with the personal that Gillingham are missing, this is going to be a very difficult match, but there is some good news, Zesh Rehman’s International Clearance came through very quickly compared to how long it took for Josh Parker to get his International Clearance, and Gary finds it very interesting that Gillingham have signed Tomas Holy from The Czech Republic, Josh Parker, who has played in Serbia and Slovenia, and now, Zesh Rehman who has played in Asia, I did jokingly say that have we got Michael Palin as Chief Scout, as we’re signing players from all over the place at the moment.

We then spoke about the ridiculous Football League Trophy Scenario This Season where The Competition messed up The Regionalisation, as Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton and Liverpool all pulled out of the competition, and someone in-charge needs to look at The Map Of England again, because West Brom isn’t in The South Of England, and I was so glad that match was away from home as well, made it easier not to travel to the game, but it appears that the same dates are on the fixtures list again.

But The Football League Trophy is a complete mess, because Luton Town get fined £5,000 for making eleven changes, even though this is a great benefit for youth development, and The Football League Trophy Is A First Team Competition For Football League Sides, but For Premier League B Teams, this is A Reserve Competition and they don’t have to play six players from there last league game, and also, when Peter Crouch and Charlie Adam both play for Stoke City, does that appearance for The Premier League B Team count towards Stoke City’s Appearance List, or is there a sub section which say’s B Team ???

If we’re trying to relieve some of the pressure off The Football Calendar, then make sure that The Football League Trophy Is A Straight Knock Out Competition, but also, get rid of some of The International Fixtures, it is time for Europe to bring in A Pre-Qualification System so that the likes of Andorra, San Marino, Luxembourg, Moldova, Malta, and Liechtenstein can play against teams at there own level, because these nations aren’t going to learn much playing against Germany, England, France Or Italy, and A Pre-Qualification should be seen similar to how The First And Second Round Of The FA Cup Works for League One, League Two, Conference National and Non League Teams, and when you reach The Third Round, Premier League and Championship Sides join the competition, Jersey also want to join what they would call division two, so they would have A International Side who can play against the likes of Andorra and San Marino.

But back to the match against Southend United, I put A Draw For This Match, Diane has A Win, and I am obviously hoping that Diane gets the score-line correct, I mentioned to Gary that you have fallen off the pace a bit as Stephen is desperate for that promotion back into The Premier League, basically, looking to do A Newcastle United and bounce back at the first attempt, I am well positioned for promotion myself, but it will take a long time before I am in a position where I am competing in the top division.

Gary headed off to The Press Area, while I got My Season Ticket Out and I entered The Family Enclosure Entrance of The Medway Stand, and After My Gillingham Bag was searched, I went through the turnstiles, brought one fifty / fifty match day lottery ticket and headed towards where Peter, Sharon, Charlie and Carole were sitting, we had seen the team sheet and there were plenty of changes, and the absence of Bradley Dack was a devastating blow, because Bradley Dack was out-standing on Tuesday Night against AFC Wimbledon, and none of us were confidant that Gillingham were going to win, but then, if there is ever a match that Gillingham usually turn up, then it is matches like this, where there are low expectations, we’re at home to a high flying opponent, it is a local derby and we pull off an unexpected result, Peter had his chips and curry sauce before kick off, while I normally buy my dinner after the game.

I then sent a few tweets on Twitter, Osadebe, Quigley, Rehman and Martin haven't had a lot of minutes between them, that is my main concern today, and Could be three at the back today, Herd just cannot get a run of games for Gillingham, as Nicholas mentioned that it was three at the back, and he was correct about the warm up, as Ryan Jackson was training with Zesh Rehman and Max Ehmer, the change in formation is risky, as is the number of players with very little game-time between them, but it may well have to be the case that Gillingham get to Sixty Minutes and start looking to make substitutions, Noel Mbo being named among the substitutes bench is very interesting.

Looking across to the away end and Southend United have filled two thirds of The Brian Moore Stand, and it is great to see the away end so full, the atmosphere for what is essentially a derby match will take care of The Team Talk for both teams, Phil Brown and Adrian Pennock will point to there respective supporters and say win this match for them, however, this is a match you will need to play with your head and not your heart, because if players get too caught up in the atmosphere and passion, they could get themselves sent off, and Dean Whitestone is Referee for this match as well.

I then headed back to my seat, and I saw Martin and Colin and I spoke with them before the game, we mentioned that Chris Herd just cannot play for three to four matches without a spell on the sidelines, we weren’t sure on Mark Byrne’s absence from the squad, and the rumours about Bradley Dack pulling his hamstring turned out to be true, I just hope that Bradley Dack’s Injury Is Tear One and Not Tear Four, if the injury is Tear Four, then we can expect to see Bradley Dack on the sidelines for the rest of this season, another concern I have, is the number of players playing with very few minutes between them, Zesh Rehman, Emmanuel Osadebe, Lee Martin, Rory Donnelly and Joe Quigley, but the good news about Joe Quigley starting, is the fact that he will give Gillingham the height and physical presence that Gillingham have been lacking up-front all season, and with Scott Wagstaff and Lee Martin starting, it is essentially about getting as many attacking players on the pitch as possible, because Southend United are going to score, so we will need to go with the approach of trying to out-score the opposition.

Me and Martin predicted A Hard Fought 2-1 win, Colin went for A Southend United Win and one or two others said a draw, while a draw is better then losing, Gillingham need to find a way to win, and just get a win, even if it means a rubbish performance, get the win and give the supporters a confidence boost going into the next two matches, Colin isn’t going to Swindon Town On Tuesday, but he is going to Bury On Saturday, after the next two matches, The Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday Fixtures will start to ease up a bit, and we can give the players more recovery time.

Martin and Colin went to there seats, I went to My Seat Next To Andrew and Charlotte, and I had Re-Tweeted A Few Tweets, one of which, posted A Gillingham Line Up With Three Centre Backs, It Appears that this is how Gillingham are going to line up, but we’re still not 100% sure on who is playing where at the moment, I then sent the following tweet before kick off,,, Looks like it could be three at the back today, pleased that Rehman's International Clearance came through so quickly - and I do wonder if Zesh Rehman can play The Full Ninety Minutes, because he has been thrown in at the deep end for his Gillingham Debut, going to be a big ask to play the entire match for him this afternoon, but with Emmanuel Osadebe, Lee Martin, Rory Donnelly and Joe Quigley all starting, Rehman may well have to play the entire match against Southend United.

Both Teams Came Out Of The Tunnel Ready For Kick Off, and the atmosphere in and around Priestfield Stadium raised in volume as both teams lined up in-front of The Medway Stand, thankfully, Referee Dean Whitestone didn’t switch ends, meaning that both teams will be kicking towards the ends that there supporters are situated, Southend United will be kicking towards The Brian Moore Stand In The Second Half, and likewise, Gillingham will be kicking towards The Rainham End, Hopefully, Gillingham can pick up three unexpected points against Southend United this afternoon - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!

FIRST HALF:

And The First Half starts in a typical derby game fashion as Zesh Rehman is penalised for his challenge on Anthony Wordsworth, and Stuart Nelson does really well to catch Ben Coker’s dangerous in-swinging cross, I am sure that Stuart Nelson would want that first on the ball so that he can gain a bit of confidence, I think Stuart Nelson can expect to have a very busy afternoon in Gillingham’s Goal, and we’re going to need Stuart Nelson to make a succession of saves if Gillingham are going to get anything out of this match, because Southend United are in fantastic form and flying high in League One.

The biggest talking point was the incident that happened in The Fifth Minute Of The Match, Southend United have possession of the ball down the right side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Left - And Michael Timlin takes a few touches in possession of the ball before whipping in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards Anthony Wordsworth, but Ryan Jackson does extremely well to header the ball clear, but Ben Coker manages to chest the ball out-wide to Jermaine McGlashan, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Jermaine McGlashan tries to take on Scott Wagstaff, who manages to intercept the ball, and Ryan Jackson stops the ball from going out of play for A Southend United Corner Kick, and Ryan Jackson’s clearance down-field see’s Ryan Inniss win the aerial challenge up against Cody McDonald, and Ryan Inniss manages to header the ball forward and the ball bounces towards Marc Antoine-Fortune, who is being marked closely by Zesh Rahmen, and Marc Antoine-Fortune flicks the ball on into Jermaine McGlashan’s Path, and Jermaine McGlashan’s theatrical dive did make me think for a moment that Referee Dean Whitestone was going to be awarded A Penalty, But Dean Whitestone waved away those penalty appeals.

Having seen that incident again, it is a dive from Jermaine McGlashan, and from then onwards, Jermaine McGlashan was booed by Gillingham Supporters, and that is a real shame, because I did like Jermaine McGlashan during his time at Gillingham, but the one thing I was wary about in-regards to the boo’s is that, if fans continued to boo Jermaine McGlashan, then he will stick one effort into the top corner of the net, now that has happened before with Former Gillingham Players.

And in The Sixth Minute, Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring, Gillingham Have A Throw On Down The Right Side Of The Pitch in our own half, and Ryan Jackson throws the ball down the line towards Joe Quigley, and it appears that Ryan Inniss pushes Joe Quigley in the back and play on continue’s as Adam Thompson wins the aerial challenge up against Cody McDonald, and Joe Quigley looks to chest the ball down and Ryan Inniss makes the block, but the ball breaks kindly into Scott Wagstaff’s path, as Ben Coker slips at the crucial moment, and Scott Wagstaff gets to the byline and digs out a cross towards the back-stick and Rory Donnelly see’s header towards goal headed clear by Adam Thompson and Simon Cox manages to hook the ball clear and away from danger - that was the first goal-scoring opportunity for The Gills, in what has been a feisty opening encounter between both teams so far.

Eight Minutes Into The Match, and Michael Timlin is looking to thread the ball through for Jermaine McGlashan to run on to and Zesh Rehman has come across to shield the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, Zesh Rehman has had a very solid opening Eight Minutes For Gillingham So Far, and Playing At Centre Back with Max Ehmer At Left Centre Back, and Ryan Jackson at Right Centre Back means that Zesh Rehman can just concentrate on his defensive duties and doesn’t have to vacate the width of The Eighteen Yard Box.

Ten Minutes Into The Match, and I thought that Emmanuel Osadebe was very lucky to have A Free Kick Decision go in his favour, as I did think that the challenge from Simon Cox was a combative challenge, but a challenge that normally is given the benefit of the doubt in local derby matches, However, In The Eleventh Minute, and Southend United had the chance to create a decent goal-scoring opportunity, Ben Coker has possession of the ball for Southend United, and Ben Coker passes a very loose ball square inside, and Michael Timlin only just about does enough to pass the ball out-wide to Jason Demetriou, who takes a few touches to bring the ball under his complete control before passing the ball square to Ryan Leonard, who plays a first time ball forward to Simon Cox, who manages to retain possession of the ball despite a strong challenge from Max Ehmer, and Simon Cox drops the ball back to Michael Timlin, who threads the ball through to Jason Demetriou, and The Southend United Right Back runs forward in possession of the ball, and Gillingham are just back-tracking and back-tracking, and Jason Demetriou plays the ball through to Marc Antoine-Fortune down The Right Side Of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and even though Marc Antoine-Fortune see’s his shot on target saved by Stuart Nelson, The Linesman Down The Gordon Road Stand Side of The Pitch had his flag raised for offside.

And Gillingham got lucky there, you can understand the nervousness in our defence because we just haven’t kept enough clean sheets all season and Southend United are flying, they are confidant, they have got some very good players in there squad, and they look to be shading the opening ten plus minutes of this match so far, and Southend United are looking to make there superior league position show in The Twelfth Minute, as Michael Timlin looks to thread the ball through for Marc Antoine-Fortune to run on to, thankfully, Michael Timlin’s Pass was over-hit and runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, but this is another warning sign for The Gills.

Thirteen Minutes Into The Match, and I wasn’t sure that Ryan Inniss should have been penalised for his challenge on Josh Wright, and In The Fifteenth Minute, Gillingham had the chance to pile the pressure on Southend United’s Goal, as Ryan Jackson hurls in an dangerous long throw into the heart of Southend United’s Penalty Area, and Ryan Inniss manages to header the ball clear, and Max Ehmer is penalised for his challenge on Marc Antoine-Fortune, and from the resulting free kick, Gillingham manage to turn defence into attack, as Ted Smith kicks the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer wins the initial aerial challenge, but the second ball falls into Simon Cox’s Path, and Simon Cox brings the ball under complete control before getting the lucky ricochet off Josh Wright to run into a more central position on the pitch, and Lee Martin does enough to intercept the ball, and even though Simon Cox has gone to ground, play continue’s as Zesh Rahman plays the ball forward to Lee Martin, who lays the ball off to Josh Wright, and Josh Wright plays a fantastic ball over the top for Cody McDonald to run on to, and Cody McDonald pulls Ryan Inniss back and smashes the ball into the back of the net, but Referee Dean Whitestone had already blown his whistle for a foul and Southend United have been awarded a free kick, decent finish from Cody McDonald, and something for Gillingham to build on.

In The aftermath of the foul given in Southend United’s Favour - and it was a foul - Southend United Striker Simon Cox is getting some treatment and after a minute or two, Simon Cox is back on his feet again, Nineteen Minutes Into The Match, and Michael Timlin has been penalised for his challenge on Josh Wright, and well done Josh Wright for earning that free kick for Gillingham, and Gillingham have the chance to create a meaningful goal-scoring opportunity down the right side of the pitch, as Lee Martin whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross into the heart of Southend United’s Penalty Area, and even though Joe Quigley has managed to flick the ball on, Ted Smith could watch the ball very carefully before claiming the ball with both hands, The Young Southend United Goalkeeper is getting a regular run in The First Team, as Mark Oxley must be injured, Danial Bentley was Southend United’s Number One Goalkeeper Last Season, and he was highly regarded as The Best Goalkeeper In League One.

Twenty Minutes Into The Match, and Jermaine McGlashan is flagged for offside - every-time Jermaine McGlashan has touched the ball he has been booed - but In The Twenty First Minute, Cody McDonald goes on a brilliant run forward in possession of the ball and this run from Cody McDonald forces Ryan Leonard to time his challenge to perfection, And The Southend United Midfielder had to time his challenge to perfection as well, from the resulting corner kick, Lee Martin’s dangerous in-swinging cross is partially headed clear by Ryan Inniss, but only as far as Zesh Rehman, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Zesh Rahman’s driven effort towards goal is blocked by Ryan Leonard, and Gillingham can try again as Ryan Leonard’s block diverts the ball out of play for another Gillingham Corner Kick, and this time, Lee Martin whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post, and Zesh Rahman’s head on target is blocked by Ryan Inniss, and despite one or two handball shouts from Gillingham Supporters, Gillingham are awarded there third corner kick in a row - I couldn’t say for sure or not if it was or wasn’t a penalty.

Lee Martin can try again from the resulting corner kick, and Lee Martin’s dangerous in-swinging cross is headed clear by Adam Thompson, and defence is almost turned into attack very quickly, as Michael Timlin looks to find Marc Antoine-Fortune with an dangerous cross-field pass, thankfully, Michael Timlin’s pass is over-hit and runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, and Marc Antoine-Fortune is getting into the right positions, but he either hasn’t got the pace to get to these passes, or, Southend United aren’t quite finding there range just yet, because it is a windy day at Priestfield Stadium, and the wind is going to be a contributing factor.

From The Resulting Goal-Kick, and Stuart Nelson kicks the ball long down-field and I have got to say that the challenge from Ryan Inniss was very late and reckless on Rory Donnelly and Referee Dean Whitestone had no choice but to show Ryan Inniss A Yellow Card, I think that is Ryan Inniss’s third foul in this match already, and The Young Centre Back is certainly throwing himself about on the pitch, but that challenge on Rory Donnelly was very late, and the correct punishment was handed out with The Yellow Card.

There was a stoppage in play in the aftermath of this challenge as Rory Donnelly required treatment, but with Josh Parker ready and waiting to come on, then this match is regretfully over for Rory Donnelly, who has only played for Twenty Eight Minutes before needing to come off through injury, Josh Parker will get to play for just over a hour, and I am pleased to say that the reception that Rory Donnelly got when he was substituted this time round was more pleasant then when he was substituted against AFC Wimbledon On Tuesday Night.

Twenty Nine Minutes Into The Match, and I actually thought that Josh Parker had timed his challenge to perfection on Adam Thompson, but Southend United had the chance to boot the ball long down-field from the resulting free kick, and Jason Demetriou has kicked the ball long down-field from Right To Left, and the ball has bounced over Ryan Inniss and Ryan Jackson’s Head, but Marc Antoine-Fortune has headed the ball towards Ryan Inniss inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Zesh Rehman stands his ground, stands his ground, and Zesh Rehman has blocked Ryan Inniss’s shot on the turn, and the ball ricochets and could have gone anywhere after that, but Stuart Nelson does in-fact manage to gather the ball, but that could have quite easily seen Southend United open the scoring in fortuitous circumstances.

Thirty One and Thirty Two Minutes Into The Match Respectively, this match starts to go from one end of the pitch to the other, as Ryan Leonard is penalised for his challenge on Joe Quigley, but instead of creating an goal-scoring opportunity from the resulting free kick, Southend United have come close to creating a goal-scoring opportunity on the counter attack, as Michael Timlin plays a brilliant pass down the line for Jermaine McGlashan to run on to and Ryan Jackson does brilliantly to make a recovery challenge, and Southend United have the chance to open the scoring with the resulting corner kick - credit is duo where it is duo, Ryan Jackson is doing brilliantly at Right Centre Back, especially when he is up against Jermaine McGlashan.

And From the Resulting Corner Kick, Southend United look to go for a variation set play as Ryan Leonard plays the ball short to Ben Coker, and Emmanuel Osadebe does manage to clear the ball, but that clearance is only a temporary reprieve, as Jason Demetriou passes the ball down the line towards Ben Coker, but Ben Coker’s in-swinging cross towards the far post is over-hit and goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, We’re just over half an hour into this match, and neither goalkeeper has been severely tested, there have been chances created by either side, but Ted Smith and Stuart Nelson have both had an comfortable afternoon so far.

Thirty Three Minutes Into The Match, and Simon Cox is penalised for his challenge on Scott Wagstaff, and In The Thirty Fifth Minute, Ryan Jackson does shove Jermaine McGlashan into the advertisement board and tempers are beginning to flair up inside Priestfield Stadium, Ryan Jackson was shielding the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On and Jermaine McGlashan is getting booed here, especially since that theatrical dive in attempting to win a penalty kick.

Thirty Seven Minutes Into The Match, and Southend United are looking to threaten Gillingham’s Goal, and again, Southend United look to threaten down The Right Side Of The Pitch, as Ben Coker plays the ball through to Jermaine McGlashan on the over-lap, and Jermaine McGlashan has checked the ball back to Ben Coker, who plays the ball back to Jermaine McGlashan, who can cut inside on his preferred right foot, and Jermaine McGlashan has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross which was comfortable for Stuart Nelson to gather.

And In The Thirty Eighth Minute, Ryan Jackson makes a decent recovery run to shield the ball out of play so that Gillingham can win a goal-kick to relieve the pressure on Gillingham’s Goal, where has this Ryan Jackson come from, he is shoving Jermaine McGlashan into the advertisement board, showing great strength up against Marc Antoine-Fortune, looking very comfortable at Right Centre Back and putting in a very aggressive performance, I have been very pleased with Ryan Jackson’s performance at Right Centre Back so far.

Then, In The Fortieth Minute, Gillingham managed to win themselves a penalty as we’re approaching the final five minutes at the end of The First Half, Ted Smith kicks the ball long down-field for Southend United, and Emmanuel Osadebe manages to header the ball clear and Josh Parker manages to get ahead of Ryan Inniss to flick the ball on into Joe Quigley’s Path, and Joe Quigley flicks the ball back into Josh Parker’s path, and Josh Parker threads the ball through for Cody McDonald to run on to, and Cody McDonald manages to get goal-side and get to the ball first ahead of Jason Demetriou, and Referee Dean Whitestone points to The Penalty Spot Straight Away, Southend United Players protested there appeals regarding The Penalty Kick, and there could have been more severe punishment for Jason Demetriou, however, only The Penalty Kick was given, which I do believe was the correct decision, and having seen The Penalty Kick Decision Again, Cody McDonald gets to the ball first, only just, but Cody McDonald is there first and Jason Demetriou brings Cody McDonald Down.

Surprisingly, Up Stepped Josh Wright - COME ON JOSH, COME ON, Was My Response, and Josh Wright calmly places the ball into The Bottom Left Corner, with Southend United Goalkeeper Ted Smith diving to the opposite side of the net, and scoring just before half time has given Gillingham an invaluable lead, we can celebrate the opening goal of the match, and yes, there is still plenty of work to do for Gillingham to go on and secure all three points, but the first goal was always going to be the most important goal, and to score with just a few minutes remaining before half time is the perfect time to score as well.

That goal just seemed to kick start an explosive ending to The First Half, Joe Quigley is penalised for his challenge on Ben Coker, and Southend United can box it with the resulting free kick, and Ryan Leonard has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross into the heart of Gillingham’s Penalty Area From The Resulting Free Kick, and Stuart Nelson was well positioned to save and then gather the ball at the second attempt.

Then In The Forty Fourth Minute, Southend United had a golden opportunity to equalise, Jason Demetriou passes the ball down the line towards Simon Cox, who drops the ball back to Jason Demetriou, who lays the ball off to Michael Timlin, and Michael Timlin aims a cross towards Marc Antoine-Fortune, and Marc Antoine-Fortune manages to bring the ball down and flick the ball through to Jermaine McGlashan, and from an acute angle, Jermaine McGlashan has blazed a driven effort over Stuart Nelson’s Crossbar, that was the chance for Southend United to find the equaliser, The Visitor’s are going to get chances, and they are going to get clear cut goal-scoring opportunities to score, there is no doubt about that.

In The Forty Fifth Minute, Lee Martin is currently down injured now, thankfully, Lee Martin is able to get back on to his feat, but there has been a fair amount of stoppages with Lee Martin down, Josh Wright scoring for Gillingham, and Rory Donnelly needing treatment and then being substituted for Josh Parker, that The Fourth Official has shown Five Additional Minutes Of Stoppage Time at the end of the first half, And in The First Of Those Five Additional Minutes Of Stoppage Time, Southend United had the chance to equalise, as Jason Demetriou has whipped in an sensational cross right into the heart of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Anthony Wordsworth was unmarked and somehow managed to header the ball over Gillingham’s Crossbar from Eight Yards Out, Thankfully, The Linesman Down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch had his flagged raised for offside, but even so, that was a glorious goal-scoring opportunity for Southend United.

And failing to take that chance proved to be costly, as Gillingham made it 2-0 in The Second Minute Of Stoppage Time At The End Of The First Half, Emmanuel Osadebe wins the aerial challenge on the halfway line and Emmanuel Osadebe headers the ball forward towards Cody McDonald, who hooks the ball over his shoulder first time, and not only does Joe Quigley get to the loose ball first time, but he shakes off several attempted challenges from Jason Demetriou to run into an more central position on the pitch, and Joe Quigley see’s his low cross deflect off Ryan Leonard, and Joe Quigley plays the ball back to Josh Wright on the edge of Southend United’s Penalty Area, and Josh Wright just about manages to retain possession of the ball, and Josh Wright drops the ball back to Cody McDonald, who runs towards The Left Side Of Southend United’s Penalty Area, gets a lucky bounce off Ryan Leonard and Cody McDonald manages to get to the byline and pull the ball back across the face of goal, and there was Josh Wright with a real poachers finish to score that all important second goal for Gillingham just before half time.

Josh Wright now has a brace, but the real credit must go to Joe Quigley and Cody McDonald, as Joe Quigley had the strength to retain possession of the ball, and through persistence, Joe Quigley played the ball back to Josh Wright, but also, what an incredible run from Cody McDonald, OK, He gets the lucky ricochet, but Cody McDonald pulls the ball back to Josh Wright, who just cannot stop scoring for Gillingham at the moment, and Southend United will be kicking themselves, especially as Anthony Wordsworth had the chance to equalise for The Visitor’s prior to Gillingham doubling the lead.

And it does from bad, to worse, to even worse for Southend United, because in The Fifth Minute Of Additional Time, Zesh Rehman has kicked the ball long down-field, and Josh Parker manages to bring the ball down and Ryan Inniss is pulling Josh Parker back, and Ryan Inniss has fallen to the floor underneath Josh Parker’s challenge so which is it ??? The Linesman Down The Medway Stand Side Of The Pitch had raised his flag instantly for A Gillingham Free Kick, and is there going to be additional punishment for Centre Back Ryan Inniss ???, Well, Referee Dean Whitestone took two minutes to make a decision, speaking to his Assistant Referee On Two Occasions, and he came to the decision that Ryan Inniss should be sent off for two bookable offences, and Southend United are not only losing 2-0, but there now down to ten men, and if there is ever a match where Gillingham are finally going to win, then surely this is going to be that match now.

Can Gillingham score that killer third goal before half time ??? Lee Martin’s dangerous in-swinging cross is headed clear by Adam Thompson and Southend United manage to clear there lines, and you can tell that Southend United are rattled at the moment, because having seen Ryan Inniss sent off, Adam Thompson then goes into the back of Joe Quigley in what must be The Eighth Minute Of Additional Time At The End Of The First Half, And The Final Noteworthy Moment Of The First Half was from the resulting free kick, as Max Ehmer has hit a high and hanging ball from the left side from the halfway line to the right side of Southend United’s Penalty Area, And Southend United managed to clear there lines, and after what must have been ten additional minutes of added time, Referee Dean Whitestone blew his whistle for Half Time, Southend United Players And Supporters were not happy with The Referee, and Phil Brown had a few words to say as well.

HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 2 - 1 SOUTHEND UNITED.

Well, that end to The First Half just exploded, especially when you compare what happened in The First Forty Minutes prior to what was a feisty and furious ending to The First Half, there is no doubts in My Mind about The Penalty, Cody McDonald nips in there first and he has got goal-side of Jason Demetriou, who brings Cody McDonald down, Penalty Kick, and up steps Josh Wright to give Gillingham The Lead.

Then it gets even better, with Josh Wright scoring a real poachers goal in The Second Minute Of Additional Time, but you have got to give credit for that goal to Joe Quigley and Cody McDonald, as Joe Quigley has shown great strength to retain possession of the ball, and his held up play carries Gillingham five to ten yards further forward up the pitch, then Cody McDonald takes over, and OK, there is a lucky ricochet in there, but it is a great run to get to the byline and pull the ball back across the face of goal, and there was Josh Wright to double Gillingham’s Lead, and Josh Wright just cannot stop scoring for Gillingham Football Club at the moment.

I am not so sure about The Sending Off for Ryan Inniss, but it did take ages for Dean Whitestone and The Linesman to come to the decision to send Ryan Inniss off, Ryan Inniss did pull Josh Parker back, who likewise, pulled Ryan Inniss back as well, but the one thing I will say is that Ryan Inniss had been penalised for a lot of fouls in The First Half, And there was one challenge which was very late and reckless, and a challenge that resulted in Rory Donnelly being substituted, and Ryan Inniss was booked for that challenge, some-times for Local Matches / Derby Games, Players can get too pumped up, and that was defiantly the case for Ryan Inniss, because he did give away a lot of fouls, maybe a final warning would of been reasonable, that was the one decision I can look at with both sides of the argument, but there is no doubt in my mind that Jason Demetriou had fouled Cody McDonald for the penalty.

This is now an unbelievable opportunity for Gillingham to go on and pick up three points in a match where most Gillingham Supporters were pessimistic about our chances of winning, but with a two goal lead, and Southend United now down to ten men, then our chances of getting all three points are very high, But all the while the score-line is 2-0, there is still hope that Southend United can get something out of this match, if Gillingham can grab a third goal quickly, then it would be game over, and it would be nice for Gillingham to get that type of result, where we can boost the goal tally, but a clean sheet would also be sensational as well.

I then sent Three Tweets On Twitter, 1. Well, The end of The First Half was interesting, Josh wright scoring and Ryan Inniss sent off, that second goal from Wright was badly needed, 2. Ryan Jackson has played really well at Right Centre Back Today, and 3, I sent Rob the following tweet, The one thing we must not do, is even this game up ten v ten, there are also a few players who cannot last the full 90, Quigley.

They are my main worries, that this game could be evened up ten verses ten, and also, there are a lot of players on the pitch with very few minutes under there belts, Zesh Rehman, Lee Martin, Emmanuel Osadebe, Josh Parker and Joe Quigley, now Josh Parker has already come on for a player with limited starting appearances this season, Rory Donnelly, but I can see Ollie Muldoon coming on for Emmanuel Osadebe around the hour mark, but having made one substitute already, I wouldn’t be looking to make a second change at half time.

As for our new recruits, Zesh Rehman has been solid alongside Ryan Jackson and Max Ehmer in our three man central defence, while Joe Quigley has been precisely what Gillingham have been missing all season, A Centre Forward who can hold the ball up, flick the ball on, bring others into play, and be a nuisance for opposition defenders to deal with, now can Joe Quigley last The Full Ninety Plus Minutes, I am not so sure ??? that’s why I am hoping that Gillingham can get that all important third goal, then Adrian Pennock can look to throw Noel Mbo on and give The Young Striker a runout in The First Team.

SECOND HALF:

At The Start Of The Second Half, Phil Brown makes a double substitution at Half Time, as John White and Nile Ranger come on for Jermaine McGlashan and Marc Antoine-Fortune, and ever since that theatrical dive in The Fifth Minute Of The Match, Jermaine McGlashan has been getting booed by Gillingham Supporters, so maybe Phil Brown thought it was best to take Jermaine McGlashan out of the firing line, Frank Nouble and Theo Robinson were both on the bench, so Southend United have plenty of attacking talent to call upon if they need to make one more attacking change.

The Second Half started with plenty of goal-mouth action in the same-way that The First Half ended, and In The Forty Sixth Minute, Lee Martin goes on an excellent run down The Left Wing, and Lee Martin over-runs the ball out of play for A Southend United Goal-Kick, Considering his lack of game-time this season, Lee Martin is doing very well playing as A Wing Back for Gillingham against Southend United, Because Playing As A Wing Back uses so much energy, Lee Martin might have to make way for Elliott List at some point in The Second Half, but we also have players like Emmanuel Osadebe, Joe Quigley and Zesh Rehman with limited game-time on the pitch as well.

In The Forty Seventh Minute, Ryan Leonard attempts a driven effort from distance and Stuart Nelson makes a routine save, However, In The Forty Ninth Minute Of The Match, and Southend United are awarded A Free Kick as Scott Wagstaff is penalised for his challenge on Ben Coker, and Southend United have got a free kick in a very promising position on the pitch, queue the sarcastic cheers from Southend United Supporters in The Brian Moore Stand, and from the resulting free kick, Anthony Wordsworth has whipped in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post, and Nile Ranger cannot direct his header on target and the ball goes harmlessly wide and Gillingham have got A Goal-Kick - Set Plays are how Southend United are going to get back into this match.

And In The Fifty First Minute Of The Match, Gillingham could have scored that all important third goal which would have sealed all three points for The Gills, John White plays the ball out-wide to Ben Coker, who only just about manages to keep the ball in play, and despite a few challenges from Joe Quigley, Ben Coker plays the ball down-field towards Simon Cox on The Halfway Line, and Simon Cox plays a one touch layoff back into Ryan Leonard’s path, and Ryan Leonard looks to switch play to the opposite flank, but Ryan Leonard’s pass is mis-placed and Lee Martin manages to get to the loose ball before playing the ball down the line towards Josh Parker, and a fantastic piece of skill from Josh Parker leaves Adam Thompson and Jason Demetriou both out of position on the left wing, as Josh Parker is now baring down on Southend United’s Goal, and Josh Parker has hit a driven effort that only just goes wide of Ted Smith’s Left Hand Post - great piece of skill, and a great strike from Josh Parker, if only that effort on goal had hit the back of the net though.

A Minute Later, and I thought the free kick given against Josh Wright for a foul on Adam Thompson was very soft, and Southend United are looking to threaten as Adam Thompson kicks the ball long down-field towards The Left Side Of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Simon Cox manages to header the ball on, but Ryan Jackson has headed the ball back to Stuart Nelson to tidy things up for Gillingham at the back, with Simon Cox and Nile Ranger up-front, Southend United have got two strikers up-front who are very good in the air, so Southend United will be looking to get the ball wide, and look to whip in crosses for Simon Cox and Nile Ranger to get on the end of.

And In The Fifty Fifth Minute, Southend United look to create another goal-scoring opportunity by kicking the ball long down-field as Ted Smith launches the ball forward for Southend United, and Max Ehmer has to hook the ball over his shoulder to clear the ball away from danger, but Max Ehmer’s clearance falls kindly to Ryan Leonard, who takes a few touches to bring the ball under his complete control, and Ryan Leonard clips the ball forward into Nile Ranger’s path, and Zesh Rehman manages to intercept the ball before Nile Ranger can bring the ball down, Southend United Supporters wanted a free kick for a foul, but as the ball drops to Max Ehmer, play continued - not play on - and Max Ehmer plays a long ball over the top for Josh Parker to run on to, and Josh Parker is now one on one with Adam Thompson as Josh Parker runs towards the byline, and Josh Parker manages to get inside Southend United’s Penalty Area down the left side of the pitch and Josh Parker runs into an more central position to get a better shooting angle, and Josh Parker’s driven effort towards the near post is saved by Ted Smith, who diverts the ball up into the air with an out-stretched leg, and John White headers the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

This Match is starting to intensify now, as we’re starting to go from one end to the pitch to the other, it was a good interception from Zesh Rehman which lead to that goal-scoring opportunity being created in the first place, even if it is a bit of a high foot from Zesh Rehman, but this match is living up to everything you would expect from A Local Match / Derby Game, the atmosphere inside Priestfield Stadium has raised in volume, there have been plenty of challenges, both teams are being very combative, and this match has been very end to end.

And Gillingham have the chance to seal all three points from the resulting corner kick, as Gillingham try out a short corner kick variation, and this does surprise Southend United, as Lee Martin plays the ball short to Emmanuel Osadebe down the left side of Southend United’s Penalty Area, and the first touch from Emmanuel Osadebe wasn’t the greatest, and Emmanuel Osadebe eventually brings the ball under his control, and Emmanuel Osadebe’s accurate low effort on goal had to be headed behind at the expense of Another Gillingham Corner Kick by Adam Thompson, so Gillingham can try again, to see if The Gills can score that all important third goal, Unfortunately, Lee Martin’s in-swinging cross towards the far post is over-hit and goes out of play for A Southend United Goal-Kick, but Gillingham have created goal-scoring opportunities through Josh Parker and Emmanuel Osadebe, and Gillingham are looking to grab that all important third goal, to pick up all three points.

However, Fifty Seven Minutes into The Match, And Southend United came close to halving the deficit, Ben Coker has possession of the ball for Southend United in Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, and Ben Coker squares the ball to Ryan Leonard, who threads the ball through to Anthony Wordsworth, who plays the ball back to Michael Timlin, and Michael Timlin plays the ball out-wide to Jason Demetriou, who takes a few touches to bring the ball under his complete control before standing the ball up towards the far post, and Ryan Jackson does brilliantly to header the ball away from goal, but the chance is still there for Southend United as Nile Ranger plays the ball back to Ben Coker, and Ben Coker takes a few touches before whipping in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Josh Wright manages to header the ball clear, but only as far as Ryan Leonard, who brings the ball down and strikes a driven effort on the half volley, and the deflection off Zesh Rehman only just goes wide of Stuart Nelson’s Left Hand Post, Corner To Southend United, and the visitor’s have the chance to pull themselves back into this match.

Thankfully, Josh Wright was in the right place at the right time to clear Anthony Wordsworth’s dangerous in-swinging cross from the resulting corner kick clear and away from danger, Simon Cox and John White are both penalised for there challenges on Max Ehmer and Cody McDonald, as fouls and free kicks are starting to break up the pace and tempo of the game, something that might suit Gillingham at this present moment in time, but we’re approaching The Hour Mark, and there are plenty of players starting with very few minutes between them out there on the pitch, one change I can see happening is Ollie Muldoon on for Emmanuel Osadebe, as Ollie Muldoon will get to make his debut for Gillingham, and Emmanuel Osadebe hasn’t played a lot of minutes for Gillingham recently.

Sixty Minutes Into The Match, And Lee Martin is forced to concede A Corner Kick when defending one on one against Jason Demetriou, and from The Resulting Corner Kick, Anthony Wordsworth’s dangerous in-swinging cross is brilliantly claimed by Stuart Nelson, and that catch relieves the pressure building on to Gillingham’s Goal, and Josh Wright winning a free kick after being challenged by Nile Ranger in The Sixty Second Minute also relieves the pressure building on to our goal.

However, Sixty Three Minutes Into The Match, and Southend United create a brilliant goal-scoring opportunity which could have seen Southend United back into this match at 1-2, Jason Demetriou, has possession of the ball for Southend United down The Right Side Of the Pitch On The Halfway Line, and Jason Demetriou plays a short pass inside to Simon Cox, who manages to retain possession of the ball before playing the ball back to Anthony Wordsworth, who plays the ball out-wide to Simon Cox, and Simon Cox plays the ball through to Jason Demetriou, and Josh Wright times his challenge to perfection on The Southend United Right Back, but the ball falls kindly into Simon Cox’s Path, and Simon Cox plays the ball through to Nile Ranger, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Nile Ranger back-heals the ball back into Simon Cox’s Path, and Simon Cox’s First Time Effort towards goal is turned around the post by Stuart Nelson, great save by Stuart Nelson, but Southend United have the chance to pile on the pressure from the resulting corner kick.

Southend United don’t create a goal-scoring opportunity from The Resulting Corner Kick, but the visitor’s are dominating despite there numerical disadvantage, because Southend United create a goal-scoring opportunity in The Sixty Seventh Minute, Ben Coker has possession of the ball for Southend United on the halfway line, and Ben Coker evades Cody McDonald’s challenge before running forward in possession of the ball, and Ben Coker continue’s his run forward before squaring the ball to Michael Timlin, who plays the ball out-wide to Jason Demetriou, and Jason Demetriou cuts inside into a more central position on the pitch, and Jason Demetriou plays the ball back to Michael Timlin, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Michael Timlin threads the ball through to Anthony Wordsworth, who plays a one touch layoff to Ryan Leonard, who takes a touch to control the ball before going for goal on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, but Ryan Leonard doesn’t generate the power behind the strike, and that effort on goal is easier for Stuart Nelson to save then it could have been.

Sixty Eight Minutes into the match, and Cody McDonald has hit an effort from distance which has cleared Southend United’s Crossbar by some considerable distance, now there were passing options available to Cody McDonald, like Scott Wagstaff for one, but Cody McDonald went for goal, and he hasn’t forced Southend United Goalkeeper Ted Smith to make a save, I also agree with some fan comments that had someone else, like Rory Donnelly gone for goal and failed to hit the target in the same fashion, then I am sure that the response wouldn’t be as favourable towards Rory Donnelly, and the response to how he was substituted against AFC Wimbledon is still out of order, even now, as I still believe, that response crossed a line.

Seventy Minutes Into The Match, and Ben Coker has whipped in an sensational cross into the heart of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Stuart Nelson does brilliantly to catch the ball as Nile Ranger was free at the far post looking to header in a consolation goal which will bring Southend United back into this match, and in The Seventy Second Minute Of The Match, Theo Robinson replaces Anthony Wordsworth in what is another attacking substitution, as Phil Brown now has Theo Robinson, Nile Ranger and Simon Cox all on the pitch to try and get Southend United back into this match.

So Frank Nouble doesn’t get the chance to play against his Former Club, but looking at Gillingham’s Potential Substitutes, I think Emmanuel Osadebe is starting to fade, and I can see either Jake Hessenthaler or Ollie Muldoon coming on in there place, perhaps Elliott List can come on and stretch Southend United’s Defence with his pace, my main concern are the number of players still out there on the pitch with very little game-time between them, Zesh Rehman, Lee Martin, Emmanuel Osadebe and Joe Quigley, and Adrian Pennock must be considering making a change, as we have got The Swindon Town Game to prepare for on Tuesday Night.

The Pressure hasn’t subsided on Gillingham’s Goal, as Lee Martin is forced to concede A Corner Kick in The Seventy Fourth Minute, and Southend United take this corner kick very quickly as Michael Timlin plays the ball short to Jason Demetriou, and Jason Demetriou takes a touch to control the ball, and Jason Demetriou whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross and Nile Ranger does win the aerial challenge up against Zesh Rehman, and although Nile Ranger cannot direct his header on target, Adam Thompson does manage to keep the ball in play, and Adam Thompson retains possession of the ball despite Lee Martin’s Challenge, and Adam Thompson plays the ball out-wide to Jason Demetriou, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Jason Demetriou is twisting and turning and eventually, Jason Demetriou has whipped in another dangerous cross, this time a out-swinger, and Nile Ranger goes for the acrobatic over-head kick, but Nile Ranger doesn’t quite make a firm connection on the ball, and the ball drops to Emmanuel Osadebe, who plays the ball forward to Scott Wagstaff, and as Scott Wagstaff plays the ball out-wide to Joe Quigley, Scott Wagstaff is clattered into by Michael Timlin, and A Foul relieves the pressure building on to Gillingham’s Goal, while The Southend United Midfielder is also shown a yellow card.

Lee Martin is penalised for his challenge on Jason Demetriou, and Southend United have the chance to bring themselves back into the match with this free kick after Seventy Seven Minutes, Michael Timlin whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross from the resulting free kick and Adam Thompson’s header was straight at Stuart Nelson, either side of Stuart Nelson, and Southend United might have well of scored.

After that effort on goal from Adam Thompson, this match goes from end to end, as Southend United still look the most likely side to score at the moment, and Simon Cox is in two minds whether to go for goal himself or thread through a pass, and Simon Cox drags his effort on goal wide of Stuart Nelson’s Right Hand Post from Twenty Yards Out, another goal-scoring opportunity for Southend United, and I am still looking at Gillingham’s Substitutes Bench, wondering who can come on so that Gillingham can see out the rest of this match ???

And In The Same Minute, Gillingham had the chance to make absolutely sure of all three points, as Scott Wagstaff tries his luck from an very acute angle, and Ted Smith gets low down to his left to make the save at the near post to keep Southend United in this match, and Southend United do manage to clear there lines, but only at the expense of A Throw On For Gillingham.

Seventy Nine Minutes Into The Match, and Stuart Nelson is quick off his line to gather Adam Thompson’s Long Kick Down-Field, Stuart Nelson has been taking his time with every throw and clearance, and this is infuriating every Southend United Supporter, as much as I would like to see Gillingham grab a third goal, I would also like to see Gillingham keep a rare clean sheet in the league, perhaps this explains why The Second Half Performance hasn’t been the going for goals approach from Gillingham, as we’re trying to protect that two goal lead.

But In The Eighty First Minute, Gillingham could have made the three points safe with our third goal of the game, Jason Demetriou runs forward in possession of the ball from Southend United’s Final Third up to the halfway line, and Jason Demetriou squares the ball to Simon Cox, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Simon Cox tries to pick out Nile Ranger with a cross-field pass, but Lee Martin is well positioned to cut that pass out, and the second ball drops kindly to Cody McDonald, who plays the ball over the top for Josh Parker to run on to, and Josh Parker brings the ball down and runs at Southend United’s Defence, and Josh Parker runs with possession of the ball into the heart of Southend United’s Penalty Area, before evading Adam Thompson’s Challenge, and Josh Parker’s shot on the turn is saved by Southend United Goalkeeper Ted Smith, that was the chance for Gillingham to make absolutely sure of the three points.

And not taking that chance could be something we as Gillingham Supporters talk about come The Full Time Whistle, because Southend United do pull themselves back into this match, but I have got to say that the foul by Cody McDonald on Michael Timlin which was given as a free kick which eventually led to the consolation goal was very questionable, but Southend United take the free kick very quickly, and Jason Demetriou has possession of the ball, and Jason Demetriou plays the ball down the line towards Theo Robinson, and Zesh Rehman comes out-wide to mark The Southend United Striker, and Theo Robinson holds possession of the ball up before standing the ball up towards the far post, and there was Nile Ranger to head in a consolation goal for Southend United, and Southend United are now back in this match.

Whoever scored the next goal was going to decide how this match was going to go, 3-0 for Gillingham and the three points were there for The Gills, 2-1, and the game is back on again, and Southend United now have seven minutes plus injury time remaining to try and find that equaliser, please hang for all three points Gills.

Josh Parker manages to win Gillingham A Free Kick which relieved the pressure building on our own goal, as Ben Coker is penalised for his challenge on Josh Parker, but it is now just one way relentless traffic now, Gillingham look completely dead on there feat, and I am surprised that Adrian Pennock hasn’t looked to re-energise Gillingham with a double substitution, Eighty Six Minutes Into The Match, and Theo Robinson manages to get to the byline and whip in an dangerous in-swinging cross, which, thankfully, From A Gillingham Prospective, goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

But if that was a half chance in The Eighty Sixth Minute, then the chance created by Southend United in The Eighty Seventh Minute was a guilt edge goal-scoring opportunity, Michael Timlin has possession of the ball for Southend United roughly thirty yards from our own goal, and Michael Timlin plays the ball forward to Simon Cox on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Ryan Jackson, Josh Wright and Max Ehmer had narrowed the shooting angle, so Simon Cox squares the ball to Jason Demetriou, who evades Zesh Rehmen’s attempted challenge before passing the ball back to Simon Cox, and Simon Cox tries to thread the ball through to Nile Ranger, but Josh Wright makes the block, but the second ball bounces towards Michael Timlin, and Michael Timlin whips in an dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and Ryan Leonard manages to header the ball back across the face of goal towards Nile Ranger, but Stuart Nelson was alert to punch the ball clear and away from danger, and Scott Wagstaff manages to header the ball clear and away from Gillingham’s Goal - Great Punch From Stuart Nelson, Can Gillingham Hold On ???

Eighty Eight Minutes Into The Match, and Ben Coker is penalised for his challenge on Max Ehmer, and The Gillingham Sponsor’s Named Josh Wright As Gillingham’s Man Of The Match, but I thought Ryan Jackson was out-standing at Right Centre Back, Zesh Rehman was sensational in the heart of our defence, and Joe Quigley’s held up play is precisely what Gillingham have been missing all season, a battering ram of a centre forward who is physical and difficult to play against, well done Josh Wright on the goals, and he has played well against Southend United, but there were other contributions which deserved The Man Of The Match Award more in my opinion.

Ninety Minutes Into The Match, and Stuart Nelson has cleared the ball long down-field and Scott Wagstaff has managed to bring the ball down and pass the ball down the line towards Cody McDonald, who cannot quite manage to force Southend United Goalkeeper to make a save, and Cody McDonald’s sliced effort on goal is off target, and goes out of play for A Southend United Goal-Kick, but at this stage of the match, keeping the ball in Southend United’s Half is precisely where we want the ball to be.

Southend United are still pressing and there is three minutes of additional time remaining, and when Stuart Nelson saved Jason Demetriou’s dangerous in-swinging cross and dived on to the ball, there was a huge cheer around Priestfield Stadium, but Southend United were still pushing for that equaliser, and Southend United Supporters wanted A Penalty when Ryan Jackson shielded the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, as Nile Ranger went to ground inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, but Referee Dean Whitestone pointed for A Goal-Kick, much to the frustrations of The Southend United Supporters behind the goal, not a penalty for me, just very good defending from Ryan Jackson, who is taking no prisoners and seems to be relishing in his new role as Right Centre Back.

The Final Noteworthy Moment Of The Second Half was Josh Wright blocking Michael Timlin’s long pass forward, and as the ball span up into the air, Referee Dean Whitestone blew his whistle for full time, and those three minutes of stoppage time felt like ten additional minutes of stoppage time, and after eleven games without a win, Gillingham have managed to pick up three massive points against Southend United - YES, GET IN THERE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 2 - 1 SOUTHEND UNITED

Now we can breath a massive sigh of relief, boy, don’t Gillingham put us through a emotional roller-coaster for ninety plus minutes, we cannot go 3-0 up and get a convincing 3-0 win, oh no, we have to concede a late consolation goal and make things interesting and nerve wrecking for our supporters for the remaining minutes of the match, but despite hanging on at the very end of the game, unlike The Chesterfield Match, this time, Gillingham did held on for all three points and we can finally celebrate A Gillingham Win.

And you can clearly see by the players reactions at full time just how much it meant to them to get the win and all three points, and Adrian Pennock had clinched fists towards The Rainham End and he signalled three points up towards Chairman Paul Scally, you can clearly see how much that win meant to Adrian Pennock, having drawn the last four home games against Shrewsbury Town, Port Vale, Chesterfield and AFC Wimbledon, so it is nice to finally get a home win, and The Gills are five home matches unbeaten, and hopefully, Gillingham can keep that unbeaten record going at Priestfield Stadium between now and the end of the season.

I made sure that I had everything on me before heading towards the exit - makes a pleasant change to hear fantastic day being belted out over The PA System at Priestfield Stadium - I spoke with James’s Dad, and it was great to celebrate the win and three completely unexpected points against A Very Good Southend United Side who were fifth in League One at 3PM, And although Josh Wright scored both of Gillingham’s Goals, the point being made by James’s Dad was the out-standing performances from Joe Quigley and Zesh Rehman, especially Joe Quigley, who provided Gillingham with something we have been missing all season, a towering centre forward who can play with his back towards goal, a player who can hold the ball up, lay the ball off and bring others into play, and his play that eventually led to Josh Wright’s Second Goal was superb, and Zesh Rehman had an out-standing debut as well.

Perhaps there is a level of disappointment that Gillingham didn’t wrap the game up and get a morale boosting three or four goal win, but I suppose when you haven’t won in so long and your still cautious about what Southend United can do, even with ten men, you can understand why we tried to protect The Two Goal Lead, and Gillingham had chances to wrap the game up, and then Nile Ranger Scored, which set up a very nervous final seven minutes plus stoppage time, thankfully, Gillingham held on for the win, I then said C Ya to James’s Dad, before meeting up with Gary by The Players Entrance.

While I was waiting for Gary, I sent The Following Tweet On Twitter,,,,,,,, Don’t Gills make hard work of it, but I am delighted that we have finally picked up three points, Quigley, Wright & Rehman were out-standing, then Gary met up with Me and Diane after the game, and none of us were expecting that, I optimistically predicted A Gillingham Win, but that was more in hope then expectation, but even so, what an remarkable win, and so many players put in exceptional performances in what was not only a change in system, but also, a lot of players played with limited game-time as well.

Two Players with limited game-time who Every Gillingham Supporter was talking about is Joe Quigley and Zesh Rehman, both players put in out-standing performances and both players have that height and physical presence that Gillingham need in both boxes to attack and defend set plays, but of the two players, Gary picked out Zesh Rehman, who Gary mentioned was the one player willing to come out and narrow the shooting angle, close players down and constantly communicate with his team-mates, there was understandably a level of concern of where Zesh Rehman has played, but he brought a level of experience and know how to a defence that was dropping deeper and deeper in recent weeks, the block that Zesh Rehman made in The Second Half, a week a go, no-one is there to make the block, and that shot goes through a crowded penalty area, and Stuart Nelson cannot react in time to make the save.

Another Player to have played well was Ryan Jackson at Right Centre Back, who looked well up for the game against Southend United, and Jermaine McGlashan had to be substituted at half time because Jermaine McGlashan was getting booed, but also, Ryan Jackson was just there, and McGlashan didn’t get past him and he couldn’t get past him, I mentioned that I am sure that Stephen would have been very nervous listening to the remaining minutes of The Southend United Match, but we really do win the hard way, because Josh Parker had a couple of chances to put the match to bed by scoring the all important third goal of the match.

Now to speak about the explosive ending to the match, because not a lot happened in The First Forty Minutes, and then 1-0, 2-0 and Ryan Inniss Sent Off all happened at the end of The First Half, in-fact, Gary had timed the ending of The First Half at Fifty Four Minutes and Fifty Four Seconds, there was supposed to be Five Additional Minutes, but The Sending Off added another four minutes on top of the additional five minutes, so there was nine additional minutes of added time.

For The Penalty, Gary thought that Cody was goal-side so there are no doubts about the decision, penalty, and Referee Dean Whitestone pointed for A Penalty Kick and it looked a penalty kick at the time, and having seen the highlights, Cody McDonald does get to the ball first and it is a penalty, as for Ryan Inniss’s Sending Off, Gary did think that Ryan Inniss was going to get sent off, if not for that challenge then for another challenge late on during the game, as Gary added that there was one challenge from Ryan Inniss which went unchallenged which was a bookable offence, and there was also that challenge from Ryan Inniss on Rory Donnelly, which was very late and very reckless, and the challenge that went unpunished was a bookable offence as well, even watching the highlights, the decision isn’t completely clear cut, but The Linesman does make a decisive decision to award Gillingham A Free Kick.

And Looking at Ryan Inniss and Noe Mbo, you wonder what they have been eating, because Gary doesn’t remember either player being as tall as they are now, 15 - 5’5’, 16 - 5’6, 17 - 5’8 and then 18 - 6’4, Ryan Inniss is built like a tank, mind you, Tomas Holy was probably still 6’1 2’ at 17, I am sure that Gary is looking forward to updating his spread-sheet for Noel Mbo’s Squad Number Now, great to see Noel Mbo in The First Team Squad, as he impressed both Me and Diane In The Kent Senior Cup Win against Hythe Town.

I had put this match down as A Draw In NoirCat and Diane had A Win, so Diane was very happy, it’s nice to celebrate A Gillingham Win, been ages since Gillingham have won A League Game and this is what makes the weekend a great weekend, when you have seen the team you have support pick up three valuable points, I appreciate that football isn’t for everyone - plus it would be boring if everyone liked the same hobby - but Saturday for me, without A Football Match to go to just isn’t A Saturday.

Me and Diane spoke about our plans and preparations for Swindon Town Away, and Diane was seriously considering driving to Swindon Town, we have to make sure that we put in The Sat Nav for The College so that we could park, and we traveled yo Swindon Town via car the previous season, Diane mentioned that it is a two hour / three hour trip to Swindon Town and we can go via car, but having booked on The Kings Ferry Coach already, and with one or two potential lane closures, we decided to remain booked on the coach, but Diane was considering traveling via car.

We spoke with Bradley Dack about the seriousness of his injury and Bradley Dack just needs to get a scan, while Chris Herd and Mark Byrne were both walking which is good news, Scott Wagstaff was delighted with the win and he thought that Ryan Jackson played very well out of position at Right Centre Back, we also asked Cody McDonald about what happened with the free kick before Southend United had scored ??? - Cody McDonald admitted that he did pull one of The Southend United Players back, but he was delighted with the win against Southend United.

I got A Call From Dad, and Mum wanted A Small Portion Of Chips and A FishCake, I mentioned I ring again when I was on the train as I was still at the ground, I stayed for a few more minutes before making a move at 17.45PM, Diane was still collecting player autographs, and I said C Ya To Diane before making my way back towards Gillingham Train Station, and I stopped off at Sainsbury’s to buy one 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola for £1.30, and once I got My Change Back, I made my way to Gillingham Train Station, arriving just in time for The 18.02 train on Platform Three, and after a quick dash down the stairs, I just made it on the train in time before the doors had closed, I rang home to mention that I was on the train back to Rainham and I will be heading towards George’s Plaice to buy My and Mum’s Dinner.

While I was on The Train, I Re-Tweeted A Few Tweets, I agreed with Ian that having A Target-Man made a huge difference, because Joe Quigley was out-standing, he held the ball up and pulled Gillingham 5-10 yards further forward, as The Train Stopped at Rainham Train Station at 18.10PM, I got off the train and made my way to George’s Plaice to buy A Small Portion Of Chips and One FishCake, And A Small Portion Of Chips and Two Jumbo Plain Sausages for £8.50, once I got My Change Back, I got A Lift Back Home, I mentioned what had happened during the game, but it was nice for Gillingham to get a win, I had no idea how the other scores went, Chelsea winning against Swansea City was the only other score I had heard, but even if the results went for or against Gillingham, the main thing was picking up all three points against Southend United.

We arrived home at 18.30PM, Finally after eleven league games without a win, Gillingham won the match we least expected to get anything out of, because Southend United were flying high in League One, and to get the win and three points was out-standing, our attentions now turn to the next two away matches, Swindon Town in Twenty Second and Bury in Eighteenth, hopefully, Gillingham can build on The Southend United Win by picking up points against Swindon Town and Bury, preferably all six points, but I think we would settle for four points from these two matches as well - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#Gillingham #SouthendUnited #Football #footballleague

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