[ 19 Apr 16 ] Rochdale v GILLS Match Thread

[fan_of_mulligan]

CHANCES FOR GILLINGHAM…………….

FOUR MINUTES - Gillingham’s first goal-scoring opportunity after four minutes was created after an dreadful defensive error from Rochdale, Gillingham have an throw on deep in our half of the pitch, and Max Ehmer throws the ball down the line and Luke Norris flicks the ball on and Bradley Dack gets to the loose ball first and Ashley Eastman fouls Bradley Dack right on the halfway line as Ashley Eastham’s challenge was deemed reckless enough from Referee Kevin Wright, I thought that Bradley Dack had played the ball off Ashley Eastham to win a throw on for Gillingham, so I was surprised to see the free kick given in Gillingham’s Favour.

Max Ehmer went over to take the resulting free kick and Max Ehmer’s high ball into Rochdale’s Penalty Area goes all the way through to Josh Lillis, as Ashley Eastham ducked to allow the ball to run all the way through to The Rochdale Goalkeeper, Josh Lillis rolls the ball out-wide to Joe Rafferty, who plays the ball back to Josh Lillis, and The Rochdale Goalkeeper kicks the ball long down-field and John Egan wins the aerial challenge on the halfway line and the ball runs through to Joe Lafferty, whom plays an dreadful back-pass back to Josh Lillis as Bradley Dack gets on to the loose back-pass, and Bradley Dack is one on one with The Rochdale Goalkeeper and Bradley Dack’s first time effort is brilliantly saved by the out-rushing Josh Lillis and Gillingham won’t get an better goal-scoring opportunity then that all game – maybe Bradley Dack could of lifted the ball over The Rochdale Goalkeeper, but I thought Bradley Dack did everything right by going for goal with an first time effort and you have to give Josh Lillis credit for making an sensational save.

TWENTY EIGHT MINUTES - Josh Wright times his challenge on Nathaniel Mendez-Laing to perfection and the momentum of the challenge meant that Nathaniel Mendez-Laing kneed Josh Wright and Josh Wright needed treatment from the physio, Rochdale Supporters started chanting “CHEAT, CHEAT, CHEAT” But a lot of professional journalism have speaking about the seriousness of concussion in football and head injuries, and the days of Terry Butcher playing on with an blood-wound are firmly in the past - Josh Wright had to leave the field of play, but I also would like to see a rule introduced that the player who conceded the foul for the player to go off injured should also be made to stand on the sidelines, until that player returns to the pitch after recovering from injury, or is substituted, because Gillingham now had an numerical disadvantage.

FORTY ONE MINUTES - A rare attacking opportunity as Gillingham have a corner kick just before half time - what a time to score if Gillingham were to put the ball in the back of the net right now - Bradley Dack’s in-swinging cross from the resulting corner kick bounces on the six yard line as Ashley Eastham and John Egan both compete for the ball, and John Egan reacts to the second ball first, as John Egan’s over-head kick gets the ball over Joe Rafferty’s head and Luke Norris’s looping header can only clear the crossbar - great chance for The Gills and we could of done with that goal-scoring opportunity hitting the back of the net.

[fan_of_mulligan]

SECOND HALF

FIFTY FOUR MINUTES - After that goal-scoring opportunity from Donal McDermott, Gillingham responded with an goal-scoring opportunity of our own, Stuart Nelson kicks the ball long down-field and Luke Norris wins the aerial challenge up against Ashley Eastham and the ball drops into Aaron Morris’s path, who runs forward in possession of the ball and plays the ball forward to Bradley Dack, who plays the ball back to Luke Norris, and Luke Norris skips past Jamie Allen’s challenge and fires an low shot on target which is routinely saved by Josh Lillis - an good effort from Luke Norris but that shot lacked the power to match the accuracy of the strike.

SIXTY MINUTES - PENALTY APPEAL - Right on the hour mark and Gillingham had an huge penalty shout turned down, Ryan Jackson’s long throw into Rochdale’s Penalty Area causes Rochdale a lot of problems and Joe Rafferty headers the ball clear, and Aaron Morris headers the ball back into Rochdale’s Penalty Area and Oliver Lancashire headers the ball clear and Jim McNulty wins the ball in the middle of the park, flicks the ball over John Egan’s header and kicks the ball down the line leaving a foot race between Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and Max Ehmer, and Max Ehmer tried shielding the ball out of play for a throw on but Nathaniel Mendez-Laing keeps the ball in play, but Max Ehmer shows great strength to prevent The Rochdale Winger from getting on to the loose ball and Max Ehmer kicks the ball long down-field.

Joe Rafferty is forced to do the same as Bradley Dack closes The Rochdale Right Back Down, but Joe Rafferty’s Clearance goes right in the centre of the pitch and puts Rochdale under a lot of pressure as Aaron Morris headers the ball forward to Bradley Dack, and Bradley Dack plays the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson, who see’s his low cross deflect off Michael Rose and Oliver Lancashire has to scoop to header the ball clear, but the chance is still there for The Gills, as Jim McNulty’s clearance was poor and Josh Wright plays the ball back out-wide to Ryan Jackson, and Ryan Jackson was clearly impeded by Donal McDermott inside Rochdale’s Penalty Area and that looked a clear penalty to me - another controversial talking point that us Gillingham Supporters had to talk about because it is an decision that will affect the out-come of this match one way or another.

SEVENTY EIGHT MINUTES – GOAL – After surviving sustained pressure from the hosts, Gillingham equalise in The Seventy Eighth Minute, after that reckless challenge from Michael Rose, Bradley Dack goes across to take the resulting free kick and Bradley Dack’s high and hanging cross from the resulting free kick is flicked on by Luke Norris, and Oliver Lancashire headers the ball clear and away from danger, but Max Ehmer gets to the loose ball first and flicks the ball back into Luke Norris’s path, and Luke Norris plays the ball out-wide to Jermaine McGlashan, who stands the ball up to the far post and John Egan wins the aerial challenge up against Ashley Eastham and John Egan headers the ball into the back of the net and Josh Lillis was unable to prevent John Egan from scoring the equaliser – The Gillingham Supporters in The Willbutts Lane Stand made a lot of noise when John Egan scored that equaliser, and could Gillingham push on from here and grab an unlikely winner ???

EIGHTY SIX MINUTES – Having scored the equaliser, John Egan almost scored what could have been the winner for Gillingham, Adedeji Oshilaja throws the ball down the line and Jermaine McGlashan is fouled by Peter Vincenti, no booking for The Rochdale Midfielder, but Gillingham do have a free kick in a promising position on the pitch, Bradley Dack stands over the resulting free kick and pulls the ball back to the edge of Rochdale’s Penalty Area and Josh Wright’s first time effort on goal is blocked by Jim McNulty, Josh Wright gets to the loose ball first and plays the ball out-wide to Jermaine McGlashan and Jermaine McGlashan plays the ball back inside to Josh Wright, who takes a touch, and hits a high and hanging ball into Rochdale’s Penalty Area and John Egan’s looping header is tipped over the crossbar by Josh Lillis – unfortunately Gillingham didn’t test Josh Lillis from the resulting corner kick, but that was the chance from John Egan to score the winner.

[fan_of_mulligan]

SUBSTITUTIONS - Neither team made any substitutions at the start of The Second Half, which surprised me as I would of thought that Justin Edinburgh would of made an more attack minded substitution at half time to try and get Gillingham on the front-foot, Rochdale Manager Keith Hill can just send his players out at the start of The Second Half and say “more of the same” as that goal from Callum Camps has given Rochdale the lead precisely when they needed it.

SIXTY ONE MINUTES - After that Ryan Jackson Penalty being turned down by Referee Kevin Wright, Gillingham make an double substitution as Jermaine McGlashan and Cody McDonald come on for Ryan Jackson and Aaron Morris - it’s an double substitution with attacking intentions as Gillingham have to score to get back on to level terms, Ryan Jackson also is struggling for fitness and Jermaine McGlashan gives Gillingham another quick option despite the fact that Jermaine McGlashan isn’t comfortable as an Right Wing Back.

SIXTY NINE MINUTES – Peter Vincenti comes on for Donal McDermott to add additional fire-power to Rochdale’s attack, as Keith Hill is looking for that crucial second goal, all the while the score-line remains at 1-0, there is a chance that Gillingham can still get something from the game, I am surprised to see Peter Vincenti’s name not among the starting line up, because The Twenty Nine Year Old Midfielder is an quality footballer and has scored crucial goals against Gillingham in previous season’s, both for Rochdale and Aldershot Town.

SEVENTY NINE MINUTES AND EIGHTY MINUTES – Grant Holt and Calvin Andrews come on for Joe Bunney and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and clearly Rochdale are looking to knock the ball long and use the physicality of there two experienced strikers to cause John Egan, Adedeji Oshilaja and Max Ehmer problems with any long ball into Gillingham’s Penalty Area, looking at Calvin Andrew and Grant Holt, you can tell that there the type of striker Gillingham are missing, an experienced physical striker who can play as A Target-Man – Luke Norris tries his best to play as A Target-Man and he does provide Gillingham with a focal point in attack, but Luke Norris isn’t a traditional number nine.

NINETY ONE MINUTES – Jake Hessenthaler was substituted and Emmanuel Osadebe came on to make a late substitute appearance for The Gills, good thing Justin Edinburgh kept that final substitution spare so that Gillingham could replace Jake Hessenthaler and not go down to ten men.

TRAFFIC

I got on The Kings Ferry Coach just before 12.30PM and I completely forgot that I had already booked myself on The Kings Ferry Coach, but it really was touch and go if I was going to make it on to the coach in time for the trip to Rochdale because of an potential clash with an Interview, The Kings Ferry Coach didn’t get moving until 1PM as Peter Lloyd and an few others were late getting on to the coach for very understandable reason’s.

Because The Kings Ferry Coach we were on was brand new, this meant that we had USB Plug Chargers in-between the seats - which is an absolute god-send - as that meant I can send tweets and message’s on my phone on the way up to Rochdale and charge my phone so that I don’t have zero battery life when we get to the ground (I had A Spare Battery on me), but The USB Plug Charger meant that I could use my phone for the trip to Spotlands.

Traffic in and around Manchester was busy with rush-hour traffic, fifty mile an hour speed limit’s and road works which meant that lanes were often closed and this added time on to our journey, we did stop off at the service station for over half an hour to use the facilities and buy food and drink, and considering that we left from Priestfield Stadium at 1PM - Getting to Rochdale at 6,30PM is really good going.

TRAVELING BACK

I was disappointed with Rochdale for making Gillingham Supporters walk to The Kings Ferry Coach and cross the four way crossing at the end of the game, Now Me and Diane could walk to The Kings Ferry Coach in just over five minutes, but what about the elderly and disabled supporters who either need walking aid’s or wheelchair’s to move around – an five minute walk for Me and Diane could be an twenty minute walk for someone who needs an walking stick.

Travelling back was a lot easier than travelling to Rochdale (understandable as we would be getting home in the early hour’s in the morning), we stopped off at Peterborough Services at gone 1AM and with McDonalds being refurbished, there was nothing open in the service stations for anyone to get food or drink, thankfully I had a bottle of drink on me on the coach and I wasn’t hungry after that Chip Shop Dinner, but for anyone who did want to get something to eat and drink, they had to go to The ESSO Petrol Station.

On the way back from Peterborough Services, we made good time getting back and we stopped off at The Coach and Horses, Rochester Star Hill, Priestfield Stadium and The Cricketers – which was my stop – I jokingly mentioned to Paul how many people are in Wimpy after we stopped off at The Coach And Horses – no-one was in there of course – but it was gone 3.10AM when I got off The Kings Ferry Coach and Me and Gary were both pleased with the point considering that Gillingham were 1-0 down, and when your losing 1-0 away from home, then you can never be disappointed with a point on your travels – I got back home at 3.30AM and good thing Gillingham got a point As well.

[fan_of_mulligan]

FURTHER THOUGHTS

Chip Shop - The Chip Shop right next to the entrance for away supporters at Spotlands is really nice, A Small Portion Of Chips, Two Jumbo Plain Sausages and A Can of Coke for under a fiver is very good going, compare that to a small cup of Coca Cola served inside the ground which cost me £2, and that’s why you want to buy food and drink outside the ground, some fans like to go to the pub for a pre-match pint or two.

Rochdale Supporters - While we were there, Me and Diane got speaking to a few Rochdale Supporters who thought that these fixtures should be played on A Saturday and Gillingham V Rochdale and Rochdale V Gillingham should be played on A Saturday Afternoon and not A Tuesday Evening - someone at The Football League needs to have a good look at the map of England, and why isn’t The Football League Season extended by an additional two weeks - I often get nods of agreement from opposition Football Supporters who agree that The Football League Season should be extended by a few weeks.

There is an huge cluster of football clubs in The North West, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton, Burnley, Preston North End, Blackpool, Fleetwood Town, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic, Stockport County, Accrington Stanley, Macclesfield Town, Bury and Oldham Athletic - the latter two and Rochdale are separated by just two miles and I was curious to know what the attendances were like this season for these matches, apparently Bury didn’t bring as many to Spotlands as they did previously, but anyone who supported The Lower League Clubs deserved a lot of credit - because there are a lot of clubs on Rochdale’s doorstep.

I mentioned that we have a similar problem with West Ham renting The New Olympic Stadium and The High Speed Link makes it so easy for supporters to get to Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, West Ham United, Crystal Palace, QPR, Fulham and Charlton Athletic on our door-step, but in-terms of the cluster of clubs on our door-step it really is night and day, as Gillingham have the entire county of Kent as we’re the only Professional Football League Club - that might change if Dover Athletic get promoted - and a lot of people support Gillingham as an second team.

There are big similarities between Rochdale and Gillingham - we both have had Manager’s and Players who have come back to the club for second and maybe third spells, Peter Taylor has come back to Gillingham to manage The Gills and the Rochdale Supporters we were speaking to mention that Keith Hill has a job for life at Rochdale if he wants it, and Grant Holt has gone back to Rochdale as well, currently in the squad Adedeji Oshilaja, Max Ehmer, Bradley Garmston, Josh Wright, Andrew Crofts, and Cody McDonald have had more then one spell at the club - I know Bradley Garmston and Max Ehmer made there loan moves permanent in the summer but I have included them on this list, it is amazing how Manager’s and Players just suit certain clubs, it didn’t work for Keith Hill at Barnsley, but both spells at Rochdale have been an success for a manager who deserves his success - as we also got speaking about The 2008 / 2009 season where Gillingham played Rochdale four times, and they were the best footballing team in League Two that season - and trying to pass your way rather then kick you way out of League Two deserves to be applauded.

UNUSUAL MOMENTS

Play is stopped twice within three minutes, the first time play is stopped is so that Nathaniel Mendez-Laing can receive some treatment - although it has to be said that The Rochdale Winger went to the floor theatrically underneath Ryan Jackson’s challenge, that isn’t unusual, but the second stoppage in play see’s The Fourth Official Replace The Linesman as The Linesman picks up an injury and needed to be substituted.

[gillsfan1066]

Very nice (phew) but here is a simple question ( other than the one that says how Mrs Fanny Mulligan do you have so much time on your hands, ) will someone, anyone, tell me why have we been playing like crap since the Barnsley game in the middle of Feb ??