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fan-of-mulligan · 3 years

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FOM BLOG: GILLINGHAM 0-0 ACCRINGTON STANLEY - 2021 / 2022 SEASON

Before leaving the house at 12.50PM, I made sure that I had the following things on me,,,,, Money, Keys, My Season Ticket Card, My Sony Xperia XA1, My Gillingham Jacket, Match-Day Programmes, Lids, Bag, Polo’s, Pad and Pens - It had been chucking it down with rain earlier on in the morning, but by the time I had left the house, the weather was a lot clearer, and I double checked that I had everything on me before making the fifteen to twenty minute walk from my house to Rainham Train Station, And once I had arrived at Rainham Train Station, I paid £4.40 for my return ticket to Gillingham via the ticket machine, And I was waiting on Platform One for The 13.16PM Train.

Whilst I was waiting for the train at Rainham Train Station, I did notice on social media that one Accrington Stanley Supporter who lived locally complained about Gillingham not giving supporters the option to pay on the day and I responded with the following,,,,, Hopefully you are able to get a ticket for the game today, It is important to note that Priestfield Stadium is cashless as well, so you need to take your card with you. Having a cashless stadium and no pay on the day is going to see some supporters taking there money elsewhere. - However, what was really interesting is the fact that Accrington Stanley Chairman Andy Holt also responded to this tweet, And Andy Holt mentioned the following,,,,, Football can’t afford to be turning paying fans down when there’s spare capacity. - I think Andy Holt responding and essentially criticising Gillingham Football Club for not giving supporters the option to pay on the day is going to carry more gravitas, and although plenty of Gillingham Supporters have had there say regarding what is happening at Gillingham Football Club This Season, But when Andy Holt mentions this, then it carries more weight and Andy Holt’s Comments might be picked up in local media.

This Was My Predicted Gillingham Starting Line Up And Substitutes Bench For Gillingham V Accrington Stanley……….. Cumming, Jackson, Ehmer, Bennett, McKenzie, Tucker, O’Keefe, Lloyd, Dempsey, Oliver, Akinde - Subs: Chapman (GK), Adshead, Reeves, Lee, Sithole, Kelman, Carayol - I thought Steve Evans would stick with the same eleven that put in a excellent performance against Bolton Wanderers The Previous Saturday, But having Mustapha Carayol on the bench after his substitute appearance against West Ham United’s U21’s is going to be a massive boost, Because when he is fully fit, Mustapha Carayol is a player who can cause defenders plenty of problems with his pace and skill.

I got on The 13.16PM Train at Rainham, and whilst I was on the train, I had posted the following on to Social Media,,,,,, On My Way To Priestfield Stadium As Gillingham Take On Accrington Stanley In League One This Afternoon, Today's Match is very much three points first and performance second, And let's hope that Gillingham can pick up all three points against Accrington Stanley - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!! - And once the train arrived in Gillingham at 13.21PM, I Got off the train, walked up the stairs, put my ticket through the ticket barrier, and made my way towards Priestfield Stadium, And Louis, Tom and a few others caught up with me and asked me for my score prediction for Gillingham V Accrington Stanley, And I predicted a hard fought 1-0 win, it doesn’t matter if the performance is poor, as long as Gillingham pick up all three points, Because Gillingham need to start winning matches and winning quickly as well.

I then stopped off in Sainsbury’s to buy A Can Of Coca Cola, A 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola and a snack for £4.80, and once I got my change back from the cashier, I made my way towards Priestfield Stadium from Sainsbury’s, And I arrived outside the ground at 13.35PM, Before I queued up inside Gillingham’s Ticket Office to pay £10 for My Gillingham V Cheltenham Town FA Cup First Round Ticket, I did ask about Crewe Alexandra Away, But tickets were not on sale yet, and with Sheffield Wednesday V Gillingham at the risk of being postponed because of International Call Ups, I didn’t enquire about those tickets, Season Ticket Holders had until Monday to secure there regular seats, however, I think the attendance for Gillingham V Cheltenham Town is going to be a low attendance and supporters will probably be able to buy there regular seat, even if they do not buy there usual seats by Monday.

I then met up with Diane outside the ground, and we spoke about The Crewe Alexandra V Gillingham Game that is coming up in a few weeks time, Because Ann is looking to go to that game, And Diane is thinking about going to that match, Sheffield Wednesday Away has a high probability of getting postponed, And there is two ways to look at that possible postponement, one, It is disappointing if Sheffield Wednesday V Gillingham is postponed because you want to go to that match on A Saturday and there will be a decent turnout of Gillingham Supporters in the away end because Hillsborough Stadium will be a stadium for many supporters to tick off, I haven’t been to Hillsborough Stadium before so Sheffield Wednesday Away is going to be a new stadium for me to go to, and two, The match getting postponed will give the players some much needed recovery time and the spare Saturday will allow players to recover from any knocks, and also, some supporters who like to go and ground-hop, can look to tick off a new stadium, or, go and watch a local non league match instead.

I also mentioned about My Free Gillingham Shirt, and how I cannot get into The Club Shop In The Gordon Road Stand, Because I have A Season Ticket In The Medway Stand, and surely there has to be a way to get into The Club Shop, besides going through the turnstiles, Me and Diane also spoke about our disappointment regarding Gillingham losing against West Ham United’s U21’s On Tuesday Night, both of us thought that was an opportunity missed for Gillingham to bring in some much needed revenue, and a cup run in The Football League Trophy is still a important cup run, And Gillingham getting eliminated in mid-week essentially means that Gillingham are relying on A FA Cup Run and getting drawn away from home against one of the big hitters in the third round of the competition.

Because Gillingham still have to pay back £300,000 to The Football League, which is why Gillingham are under a transfer embargo in the first place, And A FA Cup Run and Gillingham getting a money spinning tie in The Third, Fourth or Fifth Round’s of The FA Cup can see Gillingham pay back that loan very quickly, Bristol Rovers also paying Gillingham The £150,000 compensation fee combined with the sell on fee that Bristol Rovers got from selling Brandon Hanlan to Wycombe Wanderers will also go a long way to helping Gillingham pay back that loan to The Football League as well.

Lisa, Gary and James caught up with us outside Priestfield Stadium, And I mentioned that some Accrington Stanley Supporters are stuck on The M11 Because of a fire and they may not make it in time for kick off this afternoon, That’s a long trip from Accrington Stanley to Gillingham and it’s a trip that all of us have done on quite a few occasions as well, Plymouth Argyle V Gillingham earlier on in the season saw The Kings Ferry Coach arrive at 2.50PM, And Gillingham Supporters just about arrive in time for kick off on that day, All of us agreed that this match needed to be three points for The Gills regardless of the performance, this needs to be a win, But where as Gillingham are struggling to win football matches at the moment, Lisa, Gary, James and Diane are delighted with Liverpool winning 5-0 against Manchester United and Mohamed Salah is the first player to score a hat-trick for any opposition team at Old Trafford In The Premier League, And I say In The Premier League, Because Dennis Bailey (Who used to play for Gillingham) scored a hat-trick for QPR Against Manchester United back when The First Division used to be the top flight of English Football.

Eventually, Gillingham’s Team News Appeared On Twitter, And Gillingham Lined Up As Follows……. Jamie Cumming, Ryan Jackson, Rhys Bennett, Max Ehmer, Robbie McKenzie, Jack Tucker, Stuart O’Keefe, Danny Lloyd, Kyle Dempsey, Vadaine Oliver, John Akinde Substitutes: Aaron Chapman (GK), Harvey Lintott, Bailey Akehurst, Daniel Adshead, Ben Reeves, Gerald Sithole and Mustapha Carayol - I don’t think there is any surprise to see Steve Evans stick with the same starting eleven that put in a superb performance against Bolton Wanderers for a good seventy minutes last Saturday, and also, the players that did start against West Ham United’s U21’s in mid-week, didn’t do enough to try and force there way into the starting line up either.

But Olly Lee and Charlie Kelman were two noticeable absentee’s from the match-day squad, And I think Charlie Kelman has probably played his final game for Gillingham Football Club, And I don’t think Charlie Kelman is a bad player and he is the type of striker who plays on the shoulder of the last defender, But Charlie Kelman has not been given a regular run of starting appearances and question marks have to be aimed in Steve Evans direction regarding signing Charlie Kelman, Steve Evans then speaks very highly about The QPR Striker, And Gillingham don’t give Charlie Kelman enough game-time, OK, Vadaine Oliver and John Akinde are Gillingham’s main two strikers right about now, But at the very least, there have been games this season where Gillingham Supporters have asked why hasn’t Charlie Kelman come on for Gillingham, I am sure we will hear more information post match when Steve Evans is interviewed about Charlie Kelman after The Gillingham V Accrington Stanley Game.

Diane and Sam then queue up to buy there match tickets for Gillingham V Cheltenham Town for The FA Cup First Round, And I headed towards The Turnstiles For The Family Enclosure, And Once My Gillingham Bag Was Searched, I was allowed to go through the entrance for the turnstiles and I got My Season Ticket Card out to be scanned, And after getting through the turnstiles for the concourse, I headed towards The Back Of The Medway Stand to buy three match-day programmes for £6, one for myself, one for Gills Debate, and one for Niall, And once I gave the match-day programme to Niall, I headed towards my seat in The Medway Stand.

I checked on Social Media to see that David Tutonda, Daniel Phillips, Alex MacDonald and Olly Lee are all unavailable because of injury, and it only takes those four injuries and Charlie Kelman not to be available for selection to see Gillingham having to name three young players in Harvey Lintott, Bailey Akehurst and Gerald Sithole amongst the substitutes bench, And with David Tutonda, Daniel Phillips and Alex MacDonald all likely to be out injured until mid-December, then Gillingham are going to have to rely on a limited squad until The January Transfer Window Opens, and even then, Gillingham have to let players go to be allowed to sign players in January, Because Gillingham can only have a first team squad of twenty three players because of this transfer embargo.

I then got speaking with The Fellow Gillingham Supporter standing next to me in The Medway Stand, who, like me, also went to Bolton Wanderers V Gillingham the week before, and Gillingham should have put that match well and truly beyond all doubt, Vadaine Oliver had four chances to add to the two goals scored by John Akinde and Kyle Dempsey, Jack Tucker’s Header hit the crossbar and for a good seventy minutes, Gillingham were superb, but then tiredness crept in and Steve Evans had to make a change, either John Akinde came off and Charlie Kelman or Gerald Sithole came on to add fresh legs in attack, or, Gillingham could have switched to five in midfield, Vadaine Oliver is also one booking away from suspension, and he could have been substituted, But what shouldn’t have been allowed to happen is what Steve Evans allowed to happen, Bolton Wanderers scored for 1-2, and Daniel Adshead came on for John Akinde, And Gerald Sithole on for Danny Lloyd was a substitution that happened far to late, And the substitutions were poor from Steve Evans, Gillingham needed fresh legs on the pitch, especially in midfield, and especially when you take into consideration that Jack Tucker, Stuart O’Keefe and Kyle Dempsey were all on yellow cards in that match as well.

And not only was we both criticising the substitutions against Bolton Wanderers, But I was disappointed with Gillingham’s substitutions against West Ham United’s U21’s In The Football League Trophy, Because If Ryan Jackson and Danny Lloyd cannot play the full ninety minutes, then maybe both players should have been given the night off and Harvey Lintott and Gerald Sithole should have started instead, Charlie Kelman only playing for forty five minutes isn’t going to see Charlie Kelman push for a spot in the starting line up, and apparently, there was a bit of a altercation between Charlie Kelman and Assistant Manager Paul Raynor as well, Also, The Football League Trophy was an opportunity for Gillingham to bring in some much needed financial revenue and a win and progression into The Knock-Out Stages Of The Football League Trophy would have been a morale boosting win for players and supporters alike.

Gillingham would have made £10,000 for a win in mid-week, plus a guaranteed £20,000 for participating in the next round of the competition, And winning The Football League Trophy would have seen Gillingham made over £1,000,000, plus a percentage of the gate revenue at Wembley Stadium as well, money which would have helped Gillingham to pay off that £300,000 loan back to The Football League, and there will be additional money available to ensure that Gillingham balance the books, Because I am sure that every club has been hit hard financially because of the pandemic.

But our opponents Accrington Stanley are well run, Chairman Andy Holt communicates on a regular basis on Social Media, Accrington Stanley have built a new all seater stand at The Wham Stadium, Accrington Stanley are also building a new club-house facility behind the main stand, And In John Coleman and Jimmy Bell, Accrington Stanley have got a manager and assistant manager who have been at the football club for a long time, and that long term stability has seen Accrington Stanley somehow manage to compete in League One, and fair play to them as well, The two players I spoke about pre-match to the supporter standing next to me were Sean McConville and Colby Bishop, they are the players playing for Accrington Stanley that Gillingham need to watch out for.

But this match needs to be a win for Gillingham, Because if Gillingham can win against Accrington Stanley, then Gillingham would have picked up seven points out of nine against Doncaster Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and Accrington Stanley, and Gillingham are heading into a crucial period of the season, Because Gillingham play Sheffield Wednesday, Crewe Alexandra, Portsmouth and Cheltenham Town In League One, And Gillingham ideally can do with eight points from those four fixtures, Because Gillingham need to pick up points, And Gillingham can do with winning a few matches and quickly as well, and winning against Cheltenham Town In The First Round Of The FA Cup is also very important for Gillingham, especially when it comes to signing players in The January Transfer Window.

I then uploaded a photo of The Rainham End with the caption, Ten Minutes Until Kick Off - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!! - Unfortunately, Looking around Priestfield Stadium, and it looks like Gillingham V Accrington Stanley is going to be a very low attendance, I don’t know why Gillingham didn’t consider doing a ticket deal for Gillingham V Accrington Stanley, But with what has happened this season, It is undeniable to suggest that supporters are walking away from Gillingham Football Club and whether it has been the poor communication throughout lockdown, the new ticketing system putting supporters off from going to matches, maybe the protests during Gillingham V Sunderland has seen some supporters walkaway from the poor match-day experience, and maybe, some supporters who would have never missed a home league game “ever” prior to lock-down, have now found something else to do on A Saturday, regardless of the reasons as to why attendances are declining, it is clear for everyone to see that attendances inside Priestfield Stadium are decreasing and decreasing rapidly.

The Players of both teams walked out on to the pitch and lined up in-front of The Medway Stand, And the atmosphere raised in volume inside Priestfield Stadium, And Gillingham will be kicking towards The Brian Moore Stand In The First Half, And Accrington Stanley will be kicking towards The Rainham End, meaning that Gillingham will be kicking towards The Rainham End In The Second Half, Accrington Stanley Supporters were in the end block of The Gordon Road Stand, It was also Steve Evans Fifty Ninth Birthday On Saturday, And let’s hope that Steve Evans can celebrate his birthday with Gillingham picking up all three points against Accrington Stanley inside Priestfield Stadium - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!

FIRST HALF:

And from the kick off, Stuart O’Keefe passes the ball back towards Max Ehmer, And Max Ehmer kicks the ball long down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Vadaine Oliver wins the initial aerial challenge to header the ball down the line and Ross Sykes headers the ball further away from Accrington Stanley’s Goal and Jack Tucker headers the ball forwards back towards the edge of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area and Michael Nottingham headers the ball out-wide to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville passes the ball down the line towards Colby Bishop, And Colby Bishop tries to flick the ball back towards Ethan Hamilton, But Stuart O’Keefe was in the right place at the right time to pass the ball back towards Goalkeeper Jamie Cumming, And Jamie Cumming kicks the ball high and long down towards the halfway line, and David Morgan wins the aerial challenge to header the ball forwards towards Colby Bishop, And Colby Bishop is being closely marked by Max Ehmer, And Colby Bishop lays the ball off towards Ethan Hamilton, who kicks the ball up and under into the air, and Sean McConville keeps the ball in play by heading the ball down the line, and Jack Tucker is in the right place at the right time to clear the ball into Accrington Stanley’s Half Of The Pitch, And Jack Tucker’s clearance turns into a decent pass towards John Akinde, Because John Akinde was putting Ross Sykes under a lot of pressure, and Ross Sykes managed to header the ball away from John Akinde, however, John Akinde manages to regain possession of the ball for Gillingham, And John Akinde holds play up, passes the ball back to Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forwards towards Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey plays a short pass out-wide to Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker turns and passes the ball back towards Max Ehmer in Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Max Ehmer takes a touch to control the ball before kicking a high cross-field diagonal cross into the heart of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, and the ball bounces through to Goalkeeper Toby Savin, who manages to gather the ball before Danny Lloyd can get on to that long ball from Max Ehmer.

And From Here, Goalkeeper Toby Savin kicks the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer wins the initial aerial challenge and headers the ball back into Accrington Stanley’s Half Of The Pitch, And Yeboah Amankwah gets the ball under control before passing the ball back towards Toby Savin, And Toby Savin takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Colby Bishop is penalised for a foul on Max Ehmer, And Gillingham have been awarded defensive free kick, that aerial battle between Max Ehmer and Colby Bishop looks like it is going to be a very important battle throughout this entire match.

And Three Minutes Into The Match, Toby Savin passes the ball short to Michael Nottingham, And Michael Nottingham runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball forwards towards Colby Bishop, who lays the ball off to Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton’s squared pass is intercepted by Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson passes the ball back to Rhys Bennett, And Rhys Bennett takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field, and Vadaine Oliver wins the initial aerial challenge and Stuart O’Keefe gets to the second ball ahead of Sean McConville, And Stuart O’Keefe manages to retain possession of the ball and pass the ball back to Jack Tucker in-front of the dugouts, And Jack Tucker kicks the ball long down-field and David Morgan manages to header the ball away from goal, and John O’Sullivan manages to get to the ball first ahead of Robbie McKenzie and kick the ball long down-field and Max Ehmer had down just about enough to header the ball wide and away from goal and Colby Bishop manages to shield the ball out of play for A Accrington Stanley Throw On In Gillingham’s Defensive Final Third.

And From The Resulting Throw On, Accrington Stanley had the chance to open the scoring, Sean McConville throws the ball down the line towards Harry Pell, And Harry Pell manages to retain possession of the ball in the far corner of The Medway Stand / Rainham End Side Of The Pitch, And Harry Pell still manages to retain possession of the ball and pass the ball back to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross and John O’Sullivan’s looping header fails to hit the target by some considerable distance, and the ball has gone out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, But In The Fourth Minute Of The Match, Robbie McKenzie is penalised for a foul on John O’Sullivan on the halfway line down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Accrington Stanley had the chance to open the scoring, Ross Sykes kicks the ball long down-field and neither Colby Bishop or Max Ehmer can win the aerial battle, but the ball does bounce through to Sean McConville right by the byline, And Sean McConville manages to take on Ryan Jackson and whip in a low dangerous cross inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and the ball somehow runs all the way through to John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan see’s his shot towards goal blocked by a combination of Harry Pell and Rhys Bennett, And Rhys Bennett just about does enough to prevent Harry Pell from getting on to the ricochet by clearing the ball down towards The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Ross Sykes gets to the ball first and goes on a driving run down towards the byline, And Ross Sykes see’s his cross charged down by Vadaine Oliver at the expense of conceding a throw on.

And from the resulting throw on, Ross Sykes hurls in a long dangerous throw and Jack Tucker headers the ball clear and out of play for A Accrington Stanley throw on, and from the resulting throw, Ross Sykes throws the ball short to Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely gets the ball under control before passing the ball inside centrally to Harry Pell, And Harry Pell passes the ball back out-wide to John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball down the line towards Ross Sykes, And Ross Sykes fires in a low dangerous cross first time and Jack Tucker manages to get the ball partially clear towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Danny Lloyd gets the ball under control before threading a through pass through to John Akinde, And Michael Nottingham manages to pass the ball back towards Yeboah Amankwah, And Yeboah Amankwah under pressure from John Akinde passes the ball back to Toby Savin, And Toby Savin rushes his clearance centrally towards the halfway line and David Morgan kicks the ball clear and out of play for A Gillingham Throw On - But Accrington Stanley are just starting to cause Gillingham plenty of problems defensively, and the visitor’s have had a few half chances to open the scoring.

Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham Have A Throw On Down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw On, Robbie McKenzie hurls in a long dangerous throw and Ross Sykes wins the first aerial challenge and David Morgan wins the second aerial challenge to header the ball outside of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Kyle Dempsey gets to the loose ball first, and even though David Morgan times his challenge to perfection, Kyle Dempsey gets to the loose ball and passes the ball back to Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe see’s his first time cross charged down by Ethan Hamilton at the expense of conceding a throw on, And from the resulting throw on, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Toby Savin parries the ball down into the deck and gathers the ball at the second attempt - And against Doncaster Rovers in our previous home league game, Gillingham wasted so many throw on’s and corner kick’s by allowing Pontus Dahlberg to gather long throw’s and corner kick’s that were whipped in to close to him - and this was another long throw from Gillingham that Gillingham have not created a decent goal-scoring opportunity, especially when you take into consideration that Vadaine Oliver and John Akinde are lining up in attack for The Gills.

And From Here, Toby Savin quickly throws the ball out-wide to John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan goes on a driving run forwards for Accrington Stanley Into Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And John O’Sullivan tries to take on Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker positions himself in-between the ball and John O’Sullivan and draws the foul and wins Gillingham a defensive free kick, and obviously that is fantastic defending from Jack Tucker, but one simple throw from Toby Savin see’s Accrington Stanley turn defence into attack very quickly, And pre-match, I have spoken about this match being a must win game for Gillingham, But Accrington Stanley is not a home banker, If Gillingham are to win against Accrington Stanley, then this match is going to be a gritty, hard fought, battling display, It’s not going to be cruise control that is for sure.

And from the resulting free kick, Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring, Jamie Cumming kicks the ball long down-field and Vadaine Oliver wins the aerial challenge to header the ball down towards John Akinde, And John Akinde cannot get the ball under control because Ross Sykes manages to partially clear the ball away from the towering centre forward, however, Kyle Dempsey is on to the second ball for Gillingham, And Kyle Dempsey gets the ball under control and passes the ball square to Danny Lloyd just inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Danny Lloyd takes one touch to tee himself up and another touch to fire a fiercely driven effort towards goal which is saved and gathered at the second attempt by Goalkeeper Toby Savin, Now did the ball go out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick There ??? - Because Danny Lloyd was appealing for A Gillingham Corner.

And from here, Gillingham went from almost opening the scoring to almost conceding, As Toby Savin rolls the ball short to Michael Nottingham, who passes the ball forwards towards Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely passes the ball out-wide to Ross Sykes down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Ross Sykes boots the ball long down-field and Harry Pell manages to keep the ball in play, And Harry Pell retains possession of the ball before playing a short pass back to John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan passes the ball back to Ross Sykes, who takes a touch to control the ball, And Ross Sykes whips in a high and hanging deep cross into the heart of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Colby Bishop cannot get on to the end of that deep cross from Ross Sykes, however, Jamie Cumming was caught in no man’s land, And Jamie Cumming can consider himself very lucky that Ross Sykes cross was curling away from goal and the ball went out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, Because If Ross Sykes cross happened to be on target, then Accrington Stanley would have taken the lead, There have been games this season where Jamie Cumming has been superb in goal, but there have been moments like that one there, and at times, Jamie Cumming perhaps needs to be more vocal, but that comes with more experience and more game-time.

And from the resulting goal-kick, Jamie Cumming kicks the ball long down-field and Ross Sykes wins the aerial challenge up against John Akinde, And Ross Sykes headers the ball forwards towards Harry Pell, And Harry Pell kicks the ball high into Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Colby Bishop somehow manages to win the aerial challenge up against Rhys Bennett to header the ball on towards Harry Pell, And Harry Pell goes to ground very easily underneath the attempted challenge from Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker kicks the ball long down towards the halfway line and Ross Sykes boots the ball back into Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Ryan Jackson headers the ball away from goal towards The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And John O’Sullivan wins the aerial challenge up against Danny Lloyd, And Jack Tucker’s Header out-wide catches Stuart O’Keefe on his heels, and Sean McConville is on to the loose ball for Accrington Stanley, And Sean McConville takes a few touches in possession of the ball before trying to pick out Colby Bishop with a diagonal cross inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Jamie Cumming was able to gather the ball with ease - Much better goalkeeping from Jamie Cumming there.

Twelve Minutes Into The Match, And Ethan Hamilton is penalised for a foul on Stuart O’Keefe, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in Accrington Stanley’s Half Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Danny Lloyd and Kyle Dempsey are both standing over the ball, And Danny Lloyd moves away to allow Kyle Dempsey to take the free kick, And Kyle Dempsey whips in a high and hanging cross and neither Rhys Bennett or Ross Sykes can make a telling connection on to the ball, And Toby Savin gathers the ball with ease, and this just feels like another free kick opportunity wasted for The Gills, we’re not testing Toby Savin in goal for Accrington Stanley, And the out-field players are not forced to clear the ball either out for a corner kick, or, for A Gillingham throw on in Accrington Stanley’s Defensive Final Third.

And with Toby Savin having possession of the ball for Accrington Stanley, Toby Savin throws the ball out-wide to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball down the line towards Colby Bishop, And Colby Bishop takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball back towards Yeboah Amankwah, And Yeboah Amankwah plays a short pass square to Michael Nottingham, And Michael Nottingham takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Michael Nottingham’s long ball down-field is over-hit and runs all the way through to Jamie Cumming, And Jamie Cumming takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Vadaine Oliver wins the aerial challenge to try and pick out Danny Lloyd, But Seamus Conneely was in the right place at the right time to clear the ball away from danger and Jack Tucker manages to get to the loose ball ahead of Ethan Hamilton, And Jack Tucker takes a few touches in possession of the ball before threading a through-ball through to Ryan Jackson down the line, And Ryan Jackson whips in a dangerous low in-swinging cross, and although David Morgan makes an important interception, the ball ricochets towards John Akinde, And John Akinde is being closely marked by Ross Sykes, And John Akinde goes to ground underneath a attempted challenge from one of Ross Sykes or David Morgan, And Referee Christopher Pollard doesn’t point to the penalty spot - There have been penalties that should have been awarded to Gillingham This Season, But this is not one of them, I didn’t think this was a penalty at the time, and watching the incident back again, not awarding Gillingham a penalty for a possible foul on John Akinde was the correct decision.

Fifteen Minutes Into The Match, And Accrington Stanley have a throw on down The Medway Stand / Rainham End far corner of the pitch, and from the resulting throw on, Sean McConville throws the ball down the line towards Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton retain possession of the ball and passes the ball back out-wide towards Sean McConville, And Sean McConville takes a touch to control the ball before seeing his attempted cross blocked by Ryan Jackson at the expense of conceding a corner kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Sean McConville whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Ethan Hamilton just gets to the ball ahead of Robbie McKenzie, and the ball loops up into the air inside the six yard box, And John Akinde wins the next aerial challenge before clearing the ball wide and away from goal, and Sean McConville gets to the loose ball down The Medway Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Sean McConville passes the ball back towards Yeboah Amankwah, And Yeboah Amankwah tries to pick out Ross Sykes with a long ball down-field which is over-hit, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick -Set Plays do look the most likely way for Accrington Stanley to open the scoring, Because Colby Bishop and Harry Pell are not attacking players with blistering pace, So If Accrington Stanley are going to score against Gillingham, It is going to come from a set play.

But from the resulting goal-kick, Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring, Jamie Cumming kicks the ball long down-field and Ross Sykes wins the initial aerial challenge and Jack Tucker headers the ball forwards roughly twenty five yards from Accrington Stanley’s Goal, and Ethan Hamilton wins the aerial challenge up against Danny Lloyd and Kyle Dempsey wins the next aerial challenge and John O’Sullivan boots the ball clear into Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Max Ehmer headers the ball forwards for Gillingham and Yeboah Amankwah wins the next aerial challenge for Accrington Stanley and Colby Bishop gets to the loose ball first and lays the ball off towards Sean McConville, And Sean McConville passes the ball forwards towards Colby Bishop, who passes the ball back towards Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton passes the ball back towards David Morgan, And David Morgan tries to pick out John O’Sullivan with a cross-field cross, But Robbie McKenzie wins the initial aerial challenge and Vadaine Oliver wins the aerial challenge up against Ross Sykes to header the ball on towards Danny Lloyd, And Danny Lloyd goes on a driving run down the left side of the pitch, and Danny Lloyd fires in a dangerous low cross across the six yard box and John Akinde’s first time effort towards goal clears Accrington Stanley’s Crossbar by some considerable distance - BUT THAT WAS THE CHANCE FOR GILLINGHAM TO OPEN THE SCORING!!!!!!

Harry Pell was then flagged for offside and Gillingham were awarded a defensive free kick, and it is from this free kick where Gillingham had a half chance to open the scoring, Jamie Cumming kicks the ball long down-field and Vadaine Oliver wins the aerial challenge to header the ball down towards John Akinde inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, But Ross Sykes and Yeboah Amankwah had done enough between the two of them to shield the ball back to Goalkeeper Toby Savin, and from here, there was another goal-scoring opportunity for The Gills, Toby Savin rolls the ball short to Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely gets the ball under control before kicking the ball long down-field, and although Colby Bishop won the initial aerial challenge, Stuart O’Keefe is on to the loose ball and passes the ball out-wide to Robbie McKenzie, And Robbie McKenzie gets the ball under control before kicking the ball long down-field, And Yeboah Amankwah tries to header the ball back towards Toby Savin, But Vadaine Oliver flicks the ball over the advancing Toby Savin, but the ball drops wide of the far post, and had Vadaine Oliver’s Effort been on target, then Gillingham would have opened the scoring - HUGE CHANCE FOR GILLINGHAM TO TAKE THE LEAD THERE!!!!!!!!

Twenty Minutes Into The Match, And Kyle Dempsey puts Yeboah Amankwah under pressure to kick the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on right in the far corner of The Medway Stand / Brian Moore Stand Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw On, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Max Ehmer wins the first aerial challenge to flick the ball on and Michael Nottingham headers the ball clear towards the edge of the penalty area and Robbie McKenzie mis-kicks his volleyed effort towards goal and John O’Sullivan wins the next aerial challenge and Harry Pell gets to the loose ball and passes the ball back towards John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan plays a one / two with Harry Pell before trying to pick out Sean McConville with a cross-field cross pass that Ryan Jackson was able to intercept, However, Sean McConville intercepts the ball and Harry Pell plays a return pass down the line towards Sean McConville, who manages to keep the ball in play, And Sean McConville passes the ball back to Harry Pell, And Harry Pell gets the ball under control and passes the ball centrally towards Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton plays a one / two with Colby Bishop before passing the ball out-wide to John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan is one on one with Robbie McKenzie, And John O’Sullivan passes the ball back to Seamus Conneely, who passes the ball out-wide to Ross Sykes, And Ross Sykes takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a dreadful cross which thankfully hits the back of The Rainham End, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

Twenty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Ryan Jackson manages to win Gillingham A Corner Kick When Ryan Jackson was trying to take on Sean McConville, And Ryan Jackson see’s his cross charged down by Sean McConville at the expense of conceding a corner kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Danny Lloyd passes the ball short to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey passes the ball back towards Danny Lloyd who is flagged for offside instantly, And Gillingham have completely wasted any possible advantage gained from winning that corner kick, Rhys Bennett, Max Ehmer, Vadaine Oliver and John Akinde are all there inside the penalty area waiting for a delivery and Gillingham are flagged for offside from a corner kick - We saw how important set plays were when Gillingham won 1-0 against Doncaster Rovers with Vadaine Oliver’s goal being the difference between the two sides, well, a decent cross there could have seen Gillingham open the scoring.

Twenty Five Minutes Into The Match, And Ross Sykes is penalised for pushing John Akinde down to the deck, and from the resulting free kick, Gillingham almost opened the scoring, Danny Lloyd whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Max Ehmer’s glancing header towards goal was brilliantly saved by Toby Savin and Ross Sykes takes no chances and headers the re-bound out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - BUT THAT HEADER FROM MAX EHMER WAS GILLINGHAM’S BEST CHANCE TO OPEN THE SCORING!!!!!!! - And from the resulting corner kick, Kyle Dempsey whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post and Vadaine Oliver’s looping header towards goal clears Accrington Stanley’s Crossbar, and the ball goes out of play for a goal-kick - Vadaine Oliver also had a free header on goal from that cross from Kyle Dempsey as well.

Twenty Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Stuart O’Keefe kicks the ball long down-field, and pressure from John Akinde forces Michael Nottingham to kick the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on in the far corner of The Brian Moore Stand / Gordon Road Stand, and from the resulting throw on, Robbie McKenzie hurls in a long dangerous throw and Rhys Bennett manages to chest the ball down inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Rhys Bennett passes the ball square to Jack Tucker, who had to take the shot quickly first time, And Jack Tucker’s shot towards goal goes comfortably wide of the far right post and the ball goes out of play for A Accrington Stanley Goal-Kick - With Colby Bishop quickly closing Jack Tucker down, I don’t think this was a clear cut goal-scoring opportunity, But Gillingham are knocking on the door to try and open the scoring.

But from the resulting goal-kick, And despite Gillingham creating several decent goal-scoring opportunities, Accrington Stanley then had a chance themselves to break the deadlock, Toby Savin passes the ball short to Michael Nottingham, And Michael Nottingham kicks the ball long down-field towards Colby Bishop and Max Ehmer wins the initial aerial challenge and Harry Pell passes the ball out-wide to John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan goes on a driving run forwards down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And John O’Sullivan tries to pick out Colby Bishop with a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post and Jamie Cumming punches the ball wide and away from goal and Danny Lloyd’s clearance goes straight towards Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely gets the ball under control before passing the ball square to David Morgan, And David Morgan passes the ball square to Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton plays a short pass out-wide to John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan passes the ball short back to Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Ross Sykes, And Ross Sykes plays a short pass centrally towards Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton unleashes a fiercely driven effort towards the bottom right corner of the net and Jamie Cumming gets down quickly to parry the ball wide and away from goal and Seamus Conneely is on to the loose ball for Accrington Stanley, And Seamus Conneely clips in a dangerous in-swinging cross which is headed behind by Kyle Dempsey at the expense of conceding a corner kick.

And from the resulting corner kick, Sean McConville whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and the ball ricochets off Harry Pell and John Akinde can only get the ball half clear and away from goal and John O’Sullivan’s shot towards goal is blocked by Kyle Dempsey and John O’Sullivan gets to the loose ball first and passes the ball across the pitch towards Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely turns and passes the ball back towards Yeboah Amankwah, And Yeboah Amankwah passes the ball back out-wide to Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely has no choice but to pass the ball back towards Goalkeeper Toby Savin, And Toby Savin kicks the ball long down-field and Colby Bishop wins the aerial battle to flick the ball on towards Sean McConville, And Sean McConville is on one one with Jamie Cumming before seeing his driven effort towards goal brilliantly saved by Jamie Cumming - However, The Linesman Down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch had his flag raised for offside - But Sean McConville was a player I had picked out pre-match as a player for Gillingham to watch out for, And Sean McConville has caused Gillingham some concerning moments throughout this first half so far.

Thirty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Ethan Hamilton is penalised for handball when Ethan Hamilton has gone down to the deck underneath Ryan Jackson’s attempted challenge, With The Accrington Stanley Number Four trying to win a defensive free kick for the visitor’s, But It Is Gillingham who have been awarded a free kick in a very promising position on the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring, Danny Lloyd’s low effort towards goal goes into the side netting, And with so many players from both teams inside the six yard box, I did wonder if Danny Lloyd was going for a low effort towards goal and maybe a lucky ricochet would have seen Gillingham open the scoring ???

Thirty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham win a throw on down The Medway Stand Side Of The Pitch deep into Accrington Stanley’s Half, As John Akinde tries to pick out Kyle Dempsey with a threaded pass down the line and Yeboah Amankwah takes no chances and kicks the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on, And From The Resulting Throw On, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Ross Sykes headers the ball clear and away from goal at the expense of clearing the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Ethan Hamilton gets the ball partially clear and away from danger and Kyle Dempsey gets the ball under control, And Kyle Dempsey plays a short pass out-wide to Ryan Jackson, who is challenged by Sean McConville, And Kyle Dempsey gets to the loose ball, nutmegs David Morgan, And Kyle Dempsey fires in a low cross / shot towards the near post and Toby Savin manages to gather the ball, all be it, with some difficulty.

Thirty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And John Akinde is penalised for a foul on David Morgan, And Accrington Stanley have been awarded a free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Michael Nottingham passes the ball short to Ross Sykes, And Ross Sykes clips the ball forwards towards Harry Pell on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Harry Pell turned back on himself and passes the ball square to David Morgan, who cannot get the ball under control, however, Sean McConville is first to the loose ball, And Sean McConville whips in a dangerous cross first time and neither Harry Pell or Ethan Hamilton can get on the end of that cross from Sean McConville and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - But if David Morgan had got the ball under control, then he would have got a shot off on goal for sure.

And this end to end approach to the match continued from the resulting goal-kick, As Jamie Cumming kicks the ball long down-field and Ross Sykes wins the initial aerial challenge and Jack Tucker headers the ball forwards towards Vadaine Oliver, And Vadaine Oliver manages to thread a pass through to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey passes the ball through to Danny Lloyd down the left side of the pitch in Accrington Stanley’s Final Third, And Danny Lloyd works his way towards the byline before seeing his cross charged down by Seamus Conneely, at the expense of conceding a corner kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Danny Lloyd whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Harry Pell headers the ball wide and away from goal and Robbie McKenzie shields the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and David Morgan headers the ball clear towards the edge of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area and Kyle Dempsey tee’s himself up to strike a dipping volley which comfortable clear’s Accrington Stanley’s Goal by some considerable distance and the ball goes out of play for A Accrington Stanley Goal-Kick - The Technical Ability required to hit a dipping up and under volleyed effort not just on target but to open the scoring for Gillingham with that effort on goal from Kyle Dempsey is Premier League quality, And had Kyle Dempsey scored with that effort on goal, your taking about a contender for The Gillingham Goal Of The Season Award.

And from the resulting goal-kick, Accrington Stanley had a chance to open the scoring themselves, Toby Savin kicks the ball long down-field and Colby Bishop wins the aerial challenge to flick the ball on towards Harry Pell, And Harry Pell’s first time volleyed effort towards goal goes narrowly wide of the far left post, and from a simple goal-kick, Accrington Stanley really should have opened the scoring with that effort on goal from Harry Pell.

Forty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Toby Savin kicks the ball long down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Robbie McKenzie has headed the ball into The TV Gantry above The Gordon Road Stand at the expense of conceding a throw on - great defensive header from Robbie McKenzie There - And The Cameraman drops the ball into the net just below The TV Gantry, So a new ball is needed for play to resume.

And In The Forty Fourth Minute Of The Match, Seamus Conneely is penalised for a foul on Danny Lloyd, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in there own half of the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring, Jamie Cumming kicks the ball long down-field and Yeboah Amankwah wins the aerial challenge up against Vadaine Oliver, And Ryan Jackson keeps the ball in play, And Ryan Jackson looks to take on Sean McConville before passing the ball down the line towards Danny Lloyd, And Danny Lloyd works his way towards the byline, looks to take on Seamus Conneely, And Danny Lloyd passes the ball back towards Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross and John Akinde’s Header towards goal was brilliantly saved by Toby Savin, and the follow up effort from Vadaine Oliver somehow places the ball wide of the far left post, AND THAT WAS A HORRENDOUS MISS FROM VADAINE OLIVER!!!! - At the time, I thought the angle was much more acute and maybe Vadaine Oliver just needed to get something on the ball to try and score from a wide angle, But looking at the goal-scoring opportunity again by watching the highlights, that is a dreadful miss, and right now, Vadaine Oliver is in poor form and he should have scored against Bolton Wanderers the week before, and he should have scored for Gillingham against Accrington Stanley.

And the final noteworthy moment of the first half see’s Colby Bishop mis-control the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And after one minute of additional time, Referee Christopher Pollard blows his whistle for half time, And Gillingham really should have taken the lead based on the chances created in the first half, Accrington Stanley have had there chances to open the scoring as well, But Gills really should be 1-0 up going into the half time interval.

HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 0-0 ACCRINGTON STANLEY

And despite there being a message sent from 02 That The Phone Mask In Gillingham is up and running again, the internet reception inside Priestfield Stadium was very poor, and you couldn’t get online to check the scores, check social media or do anything really, The poor internet connection has been poor for every home game throughout The 2021 / 2022 Season, And I am sure that other Gillingham Supporters have noticed just how poor the internet reception has been inside Priestfield Stadium This Season.

And as for the first half, Max Ehmer and John Akinde have had headed efforts on target saved by Toby Savin, Kyle Dempsey’s dipping volley failed to hit the target, Vadaine Oliver’s chipped effort towards goal fails to hit the target after a dreadful back-header from Yeboah Amankwah, And Danny Lloyd’s shot towards goal was saved by Toby Savin, and as for chances created by Accrington Stanley, Harry Pell should have opened the scoring after getting on to the end of Colby Bishop’s flick on, And Harry Pell’s volleyed effort towards goal went just wide of the far post, Jamie Cumming had to save a fiercely driven effort towards goal from Seamus Conneely, And Ross Sykes cross caught Jamie Cumming in no man’s land, and thankfully, the ball went out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

But Gillingham have been the better side in the first half, and we should be winning as well, But we all know that failure to take the goal-scoring opportunities that come your way can see the opposition sucker punch you with a late goal of there own, Bolton Wanderers did that the week before with two late goals as Gillingham drew 2-2, when really, Gillingham should have extended there lead to 3-0 or 4-0 in that match against Bolton Wanderers.

I just hope that my score prediction with Louis before kick off is correct, Because 1-0 to Gillingham would mean seven points from our last three league games, and this match does have the feeling of a match where one goal could well be the winning goal, And if Gillingham continue to put Accrington Stanley under pressure in the second half, and with Gillingham kicking towards The Rainham End, then you like to think that goal will come at some point, and in-terms of any substitutions, I think Steve Evans will stick with the same eleven for the second half because Gillingham have put in a very good performance against Accrington Stanley, But if Gillingham need to make a change then Mustapha Carayol is on the bench waiting to come on, And Mustapha Carayol could well come on if the score-line is still 0-0 after sixty minutes.

Hopefully, Gillingham can kick on in the second half, and find the winning goal and Gillingham pick up three massive points in a match that Gillingham need to win to move ourselves further away from The League One Relegation Zone - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!

SECOND HALF:

And as both teams walked out on to the pitch for the start of the season half, neither Steve Evans nor John Coleman made any substitutions at half time with both manager’s sticking with the same starting line up’s named at the beginning of the match, I can see Mustapha Carayol coming on for Gillingham at some point in the second half, But the first goal in this match is going to be crucial, If Gillingham score first, then Accrington Stanley will need to open themselves up more to try and find the equaliser, If Accrington Stanley score first, then the visitor’s will look to lockdown the rest of this match and protect a 1-0 lead, hopefully, It is Gillingham who can make the breakthrough and open the scoring.

And the first noteworthy moment of the second half see’s Gillingham win a throw on down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, As Ryan Jackson tries to pick out Kyle Dempsey with a clipped pass down the line and Seamus Conneely headers the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw, Ryan Jackson throws the ball long into the heart of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And John Akinde wins the aerial challenge up against Ross Sykes, And Michael Nottingham’s air-shot clearance completely misses the ball, But Michael Nottingham does prevent Vadaine Oliver from getting the second ball under control and Sean McConville boots the ball long down-field and Rhys Bennett passes the ball back to Jamie Cumming, who kicks the ball long down-field and Seamus Conneely headers the ball forwards for Accrington Stanley, And Rhys Bennett wins the fifty / fifty challenge up against Harry Pell, And Stuart O’Keefe is on to the loose ball, And Stuart O’Keefe manages to clip a long pass forwards towards Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey is twisting and turning before passing the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson passes the ball square centrally to Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe passes the ball short back to Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker passes the ball square to Rhys Bennett, And Rhys Bennett plays a short pass out-wide to Robbie McKenzie, And Robbie McKenzie tries to play the ball forwards through to Danny Lloyd first time, But Ross Sykes manages to intercept the ball, And Ross Sykes takes a few touches in possession of the ball before playing s short pass back to Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely passes the ball out-wide to John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Ross Sykes, And Ross Sykes’s pass out-wide to John O’Sullivan is over-hit, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On.

And from this throw, Robbie McKenzie throws the ball long down the line and Ross Sykes headers the ball out of play for another Gillingham Throw On, And From This Throw, Robbie McKenzie throws the ball long down the line and Ross Sykes wins the initial aerial challenge and Harry Pell initially gets the ball under control before Kyle Dempsey regains possession of the ball for Gillingham, And Kyle Dempsey passes the ball out-wide to Robbie McKenzie, And Robbie McKenzie passes the ball back to Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker threads a pass forwards towards Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson takes a few touches in possession of the ball before whipping in a high and hanging cross towards the far post where John Akinde is situated and Toby Savin makes a comfortable save in goal for Accrington Stanley.

And From Here, Toby Savin quickly throws the ball out-wide as Accrington Stanley try to hit Gillingham on the counter attack and Robbie McKenzie makes a vital interception and Robbie McKenzie also stops Harry Pell from getting to the loose ball by passing the ball forwards towards Danny Lloyd, And Danny Lloyd takes on Seamus Conneely before whipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross which Michael Nottingham headers away from goal and Jack Tucker is on to the loose ball and passes the ball back to Rhys Bennett, And Rhys Bennett takes a few touches in possession of the ball, But Rhys Bennett’s forward pass is intercepted by Ross Sykes, And Ross Sykes runs forwards in possession of the ball before threading a pass out-wide to Colby Bishop, And Colby Bishop runs inside more centrally before passing the ball through to Harry Pell inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Harry Pell is closely marked by Max Ehmer, And Harry Pell has to run wide and away from goal to retain possession of the ball, And Harry Pell passes the ball short back to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville plays a short pass forwards towards Ethan Hamilton, who takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville passes the ball back to Harry Pell, And Harry Pell plays a short pass inside to Yeboah Amankwah, And Yeboah Amankwah plays a one / two with Harry Pell before switching the ball to the opposite flank where Seamus Conneely is situated, And Seamus Conneely just about manages to keep the ball in play before passing the ball back to David Morgan, And David Morgan plays a first time pass forwards towards John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan tried to thread a return pass through to David Morgan on the over-lap, But John Akinde forces David Morgan to over-run the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

Vadaine Oliver and Robbie McKenzie are both penalised for fouls on Michael Nottingham and Ross Sykes respectively, and although a foul wasn’t given against Robbie McKenzie, As Referee Christopher Pollard thought Robbie McKenzie got the ball, play was stopped as Ross Sykes had gone to ground, and Accrington Stanley can take a breather and re-organise at this moment in time.

But In The Fifty First Minute Of The Match, Ross Sykes is penalised for a clumsy foul on Kyle Dempsey, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick right on the edge of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Kyle Dempsey’s shot towards goal ricochets off the top of Accrington Stanley’s Defensive Wall and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring, Robbie McKenzie hurls in a long dangerous throw and Ross Sykes manages to header the ball partially clear and away from goal and Jack Tucker is first to the loose ball on the edge of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Jack Tucker takes one touch to control the ball, and another touch to back-heal the ball to Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe has unleashed a fiercely driven effort towards goal which flashes just wide of the far left post - And that was the chance for Gillingham to take the lead.

Fifty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Michael Nottingham’s Forward Pass Towards Ethan Hamilton was intercepted by Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker takes a few touches in possession of the ball before threading a pass through to Vadaine Oliver, And Vadaine Oliver manages to retain possession of the ball and run away from goal, And although Vadaine Oliver’s pass out-wide to Robbie McKenzie was poor, John O’Sullivan had to make a important interception to knock the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On In Accrington Stanley’s Defensive Final Third, And from the resulting throw on, Robbie McKenzie throws the ball short to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey is twisting and turning and working his way towards the byline, And Kyle Dempsey’s cross towards the near post is headed partially clear by Ross Sykes and that was a superb cross from Kyle Dempsey as well, and Colby Bishop lays the ball off to Ethan Hamilton, who just boots the ball clear and away from danger and Ethan Hamilton’s clearance goes out of play for another Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw, Robbie McKenzie throws the ball down the line and Ross Sykes wins the initial aerial challenge and Kyle Dempsey is penalised for a foul on Ethan Hamilton, and that free kick just gives Accrington Stanley some much needed breathing space.

However, from the resulting free kick, Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring, Michael Nottingham passes the ball square to Yeboah Amankwah, And Yeboah Amankwah passes the ball out-wide to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville takes a touch to control the ball before seeing his pass inside centrally deflect off Stuart O’Keefe towards Ethan Hamilton on the halfway line, and Jack Tucker times his challenge to perfection on Ethan Hamilton and Vadaine Oliver is on to the loose ball and Vadaine Oliver passes the ball back to Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker clips the ball forwards towards John Akinde, who manages to retain possession of the ball, And John Akinde lays the ball off to Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball, And Stuart O’Keefe runs more centrally to evade the challenge from David Morgan, And Stuart O’Keefe see’s his low effort towards goal saved by Toby Savin, And Stuart O’Keefe didn’t really generate enough power behind that shot towards goal.

And it is all Gillingham at the moment as Danny Lloyd’s cross is headed clear by Michael Nottingham at the expense of conceding a throw on, and from the resulting throw, Robbie McKenzie hurls in a long dangerous throw and Ross Sykes wins the initial aerial challenge to header the ball partially clear and away from goal and Stuart O’Keefe’s first time volleyed effort towards goal goes comfortably wide of the far left post - and the past few minutes has very much been The Stuart O’Keefe Show For Gillingham.

Fifty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Accrington Stanley have a throw on down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw On, Yeboah Amankwah throws the ball short to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville plays a short pass back towards Yeboah Amankwah, And Yeboah Amankwah plays a one / two with David Morgan before passing the ball back to Michael Nottingham, And Michael Nottingham takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Colby Bishop wins the initial aerial challenge up against Max Ehmer and Stuart O’Keefe and Max Ehmer do enough between the two of them to prevent Ethan Hamilton from getting on to the second ball and Colby Bishop manages to retain possession of the ball before Ryan Jackson can get to the loose ball, And Colby Bishop lays the ball off to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville plays a short pass out-wide to Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton is twisting and turning before passing the ball back to Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely passes the ball back to Yeboah Amankwah, And Yeboah Amankwah tries to thread a through-ball through to Colby Bishop, And Max Ehmer manages to intercept the ball, And Jack Tucker is on to the second ball, And Jack Tucker tries to pick out John Akinde with a long ball down-field, But Michael Nottingham manages to knock the ball out-wide to Yeboah Amankwah, And Yeboah Amankwah kicks the ball high up into the air towards the halfway line and Jack Tucker wins the aerial challenge to header the ball forwards towards Vadaine Oliver, And Vadaine Oliver chests the ball into the path of Danny Lloyd, And Danny Lloyd goes on a driving run in possession of the ball, And Danny Lloyd continue’s his run forwards towards the edge of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Danny Lloyd’s fiercely driven effort towards goal is saved by Toby Savin, and the follow up effort from Stuart O’Keefe is blocked by Ross Sykes, and the second follow up effort from Stuart O’Keefe see’s Stuart O’Keefe’s effort towards goal blocked by Michael Nottingham and the ball takes a double deflection off Michael Nottingham and Toby Savin before Toby Savin eventually gathers the ball.

BUT HOW ON EARTH HAVE GILLINGHAM NOT OPENED THE SCORING THERE!!!!! - Danny Lloyd’s effort on goal had to be sensational for Lloyd to open the scoring, but the two efforts on goal from Stuart O’Keefe somehow were kept out due to excellent defending from Ross Sykes and Michael Nottingham, superb goalkeeping from Toby Savin, and a bit of luck with how the ball ricocheted back towards Toby Savin as well.

Fifty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Colby Bishop is penalised for a foul on Max Ehmer, and from the resulting free kick, Jamie Cumming kicks the ball long down-field and Michael Nottingham wins the initial aerial challenge and Stuart O’Keefe tries to header the ball back towards Ryan Jackson, But Colby Bishop manages to nip in there and pass the ball out-wide to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville takes a few touches in possession of the ball before whipping a diagonal cross-field cross towards Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton manages to get the ball under control before turning into a more central area on the pitch, And Ethan Hamilton still has possession of the ball, And Ethan Hamilton passes the ball back towards Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely passes the ball out-wide to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville takes a touch to control the ball before running forwards towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Sean McConville plays a short pass out-wide to Yeboah Amankwah, And Yeboah Amankwah is twisting and turning before playing the ball back towards Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely gets the ball under control before clipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Harry Pell wins the initial aerial challenge and Harry Pell not only wins the aerial challenge, But Harry Pell’s shot on the turn was brilliantly saved by Jamie Cumming and Kyle Dempsey manages to clear the ball further away from danger - And that was a huge chance for Accrington Stanley to take the lead as well - Accrington Stanley Should Have Taken The Lead!!!!!!!!!!

And Jamie Cumming saving that effort on goal from Harry Pell is a reminder that despite all the goal-scoring opportunities created by Gillingham, the score-line is still goal-less and if Accrington Stanley score then the visitor’s would have taken the lead, We also have to give credit to Jamie Cumming for making an out-standing save to preserve the clean sheet, because this match is there for the taking, And my 1-0 score prediction is still on the cards for Gillingham as well.

Sixty Minutes Into The Match, And Stuart O’Keefe is down on the deck requiring treatment, and after spending a minute of the match requiring treatment, Stuart O’Keefe is unable to continue playing and he has to be substituted with Mustapha Carayol coming on to take Stuart O’Keefe’s spot in the team, and that substitution will likely see Jack Tucker and Kyle Dempsey in central midfield, Danny Lloyd on the right, Mustapha Carayol on the left, and Vadaine Oliver and John Akinde lining up alongside each other in attack, such a shame Stuart O’Keefe had to be substituted because Stuart O’Keefe was back to his best and was very unlucky not to have opened the scoring for Gillingham against Accrington Stanley.

And when play resumed, Toby Savin kicks the ball long down-field and Colby Bishop wins the initial aerial challenge and Jack Tucker gets to the loose ball by smashing the ball long down-field and John Akinde and Ross Sykes are both chasing to see who gets to the loose ball first, and although Ross Sykes does in-fact get to the loose ball first, Ross Sykes has his hand raised to handball the ball to prevent John Akinde from going through on goal, now, the contentious decision is whether Ross Sykes has handed the ball to deny a clear and obvious goal-scoring opportunity and if Ross Sykes is going to get booked or sent off, Referee Christopher Pollard shows Ross Sykes A Yellow Card, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in a promising position on the pitch.

And from the resulting free kick, Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring, Danny Lloyd, Kyle Dempsey and Mustapha Carayol were all standing over the ball, and Kyle Dempsey tee’s up Mustapha Carayol to fire a low fiercely driven effort towards goal which is parried by Toby Savin back into the danger zone and Michael Nottingham sliding on the stretch prevents Rhys Bennett from getting on to the re-bound, And Michael Nottingham has cleared the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick - You have to say that Toby Savin has done really well to prevent Mustapha Carayol from scoring, But the luck was with Accrington Stanley as Michael Nottingham was able to clear the ball out of play when Rhys Bennett should have got on to the re-bound - BUT THAT WAS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR GILLINGHAM TO OPEN THE SCORING!!!!!!!!!!

And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Danny Lloyd whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Sean McConville headers the ball clear towards the edge of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Kyle Dempsey wins the next aerial challenge to header the ball back inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Colby Bishop smashes the ball clear into Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Ryan Jackson just about gets to the ball first, And Ryan Jackson hoofs the ball long down-field and although Kyle Dempsey wins the initial aerial challenge, Ethan Hamilton was able to header the ball on towards Harry Pell, and Harry Pell headers the ball back towards David Morgan, And David Morgan is intercepted by Kyle Dempsey, who runs forwards in possession of the ball, And Kyle Dempsey continue’s his run forwards into Accrington Stanley’s Final Third, And Kyle Dempsey passes the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson takes a touch to control the ball before seeing his cross charged down by Yeboah Amankwah at the expense of conceding another corner kick for The Gills, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Kyle Dempsey whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post, And Jack Tucker is penalised for a foul, And Accrington Stanley were awarded a defensive free kick.

Sixty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Max Ehmer is penalised for a foul on Colby Bishop, And Accrington Stanley have a free kick, And Gillingham have some defending to do, and from the resulting free kick, Sean McConville’s high and hanging cross towards the back-stick is over-hit and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, And Gillingham can consider themselves fortunate that Accrington Stanley did not create a better goal-scoring opportunity from that free kick, And In The Sixty Eighth Minute Of The Match, Colby Bishop tries to win a corner kick for Accrington Stanley, And Colby Bishop kicks the ball against Rhys Bennett, and the ball ricochets back off Colby Bishop and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, Certainly looked like A Accrington Stanley Corner at the time though.

Seventy Minutes Into The Match, And Vadaine Oliver is penalised for jumping into the back of Seamus Conneely, And Accrington Stanley have been awarded a free kick, And Vadaine Oliver is walking on thin ice regarding getting a fifth booking which would lead to a one match suspension, And Vadaine Oliver is going to pick up that fifth booking at some point, But Gillingham’s Next Match Is Our FA Cup First Round Tie Against Cheltenham Town, And Gillingham need Vadaine Oliver to be available for selection for that match, and from the resulting free kick, Sean McConville’s high and hanging cross towards the back-stick is aimed towards Colby Bishop, And Jamie Cumming is off his goal-line to make a very important catch, and from here, Jamie Cumming rolls the ball forwards towards Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball, And Ryan Jackson threads a through-ball through too Danny Lloyd by the byline, And Danny Lloyd is challenged by Seamus Conneely who diverts the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick - But The Linesman Down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch inexplicably awards Accrington Stanley A Goal-Kick.

And when play resumes, Goalkeeper Toby Savin kicks the ball out-wide to Sean McConville down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Sean McConville plays a first time pass inside centrally towards Harry Pell, who lays the ball off to Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton gets the ball under control before passing the ball out-wide to John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan gets the ball under control before taking on Robbie McKenzie, And John O’Sullivan tries to pick out Harry Pell with a fired in cross / shot which Jamie Cumming was able to save with some difficulty.

Seventy Two Minutes Into The Match, And Accrington Stanley had the chance to take the lead, David Morgan’s hooked clearance turns into a decent pass towards Harry Pell on the halfway line, And Harry Pell lays the ball off towards John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan takes one touch the control the ball and another touch to thread the ball down the line towards Harry Pell, And Harry Pell takes one touch to control the ball and another touch to try and pick out Colby Bishop with a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post, And Max Ehmer was in the right place at the right time to clear the ball out of play for A Accrington Stanley Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Ross Sykes hurls in a long throw and Colby Bishop wins the initial aerial challenge and John O’Sullivan has mis-kicked the ball and Mustapha Carayol runs forwards in possession of the ball for Gillingham, And Mustapha Carayol goes on a driving run forwards up towards the halfway line, And Mustapha Carayol passes the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball short inside to Danny Lloyd, And Danny Lloyd runs centrally twenty five yards from goal, And Ethan Hamilton manages to intercept the ball, And Ethan Hamilton passes the ball out-wide to Harry Pell Down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Harry Pell goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball and Harry Pell manages to pick out David Morgan with a squared pass, And David Morgan takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball out-wide to John O’Sullivan, And John O’Sullivan takes a touch to control the ball before looking to take on Robbie McKenzie, And John O’Sullivan passes the ball back to David Morgan on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And David Morgan takes a touch to control the ball before hitting a tame shot towards goal which was routinely saved by Jamie Cumming.

And In The Seventy Fourth Minute Of The Match, Mustapha Carayol was harshly penalised for a foul against David Morgan when it looked likely that Mustapha Carayol was going to get Gillingham pushing on the front-foot, and from the resulting free kick, David Morgan plays a short pass forwards towards Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton runs towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area before playing a short pass square to Harry Pell, who takes several touches in possession of the ball before playing a short pass back to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Ross Sykes headers the ball down towards Colby Bishop, And Colby Bishop gets the ball under control before seeing his shot on the turn blocked by both Max Ehmer and John Akinde and Rhys Bennett boots the ball clear and away from danger, and Michael Nottingham headers the ball out-wide towards Sean McConville, who takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball inside to Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely plays a short pass square to Michael Nottingham, And Michael Nottingham takes a touch to control the ball before threading a pass down the line towards John O’Sullivan, But Robbie McKenzie manages to nip in there to intercept the ball, And Robbie McKenzie lays the ball off to Vadaine Oliver, But Seamus Conneely manages to intercept the ball, and Ethan Hamilton takes a touch to control the ball before looking to pick out Colby Bishop with a dangerous cross, But Jamie Cumming makes an important save.

I was speaking to The Gillingham Supporter sitting next to me, and the way the match is going now is precisely what happened away at Bolton Wanderers the week before, Gillingham have put in a decent performance, but we have not taken our chances against Accrington Stanley and Gillingham are getting to seventy / seventy five minutes into the match and we’re starting to tire and tire very quickly as well, and looking at the bench for possible changes, Maybe Bailey Akehurst on for Robbie McKenzie and Gillingham switch to a back five with Ryan Jackson and Bailey Akehurst at wing back, maybe Gerald Sithole can come on for John Akinde and Mustapha Carayol plays upfront alongside Vadaine Oliver with Gerald Sithole playing on the left or right wing, or maybe move Jack Tucker back into defence with Rhys Bennett playing in defensive midfield, But Gillingham have got to make changes and make them now, Because we are going from pushing for the winner, to now Accrington Stanley looking like they can win this match.

Seventy Six Minutes Into The Match, And Accrington Stanley have a throw on Down The Medway Stand Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw On, John O’Sullivan throws the ball short to David Morgan, And David Morgan plays a short pass inside to Ethan Hamilton, And Ethan Hamilton takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forwards towards Harry Pell, And Harry Pell takes a touch to control the ball before teeing himself up, And Harry Pell’s shot towards goal from thirty yards out goes comfortably wide of the far left post, and the ball has gone out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

Eighty Minutes Into The Match, And Mustapha Carayol was penalised for a foul on John O’Sullivan, And Accrington Stanley have been awarded a free kick in a promising position on the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Ethan Hamilton plays a short pass square to Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely takes a few touches in possession of the ball before whipping in a dangerous cross which John Akinde manages to header away from goal, and Yeboah Amankwah is on to the loose ball on the halfway line, And Yeboah Amankwah takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down-field which was over-hit, and the ball runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick, But Jamie Cumming did signal to Rhys Bennett to let the ball go out of play for a goal-kick.

And In The Eighty First Minute Of The Match, And Danny Lloyd chases a lost cause to keep the ball in play and Yeboah Amankwah knocks the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On Down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Ross Sykes headers the ball partially clear and away from danger and Kyle Dempsey is on to the second ball, And Kyle Dempsey headers the ball on to Danny Lloyd and Ross Sykes headers the ball clear and away from goal, and Robbie McKenzie headers the ball back into Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, and John Akinde chests the ball under control and lays the ball off to Max Ehmer, And Max Ehmer see’s his first time shot towards goal blocked by a lot of Accrington Stanley Players inside a crowded penalty area, and David Morgan is on to the loose ball, And David Morgan passes the ball down the line towards Colby Bishop, and Colby Bishop manages to keep the ball in play by passing the ball down the line and Jack Tucker passes the ball back to Jamie Cumming, And Jamie Cumming takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down-field, And Vadaine Oliver wins the aerial challenge up against Yeboah Amankwah to header the ball down through to Danny Lloyd inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Danny Lloyd is challenged by Seamus Conneely at the expense of knocking the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick - And the atmosphere raises in volume inside Priestfield Stadium.

And from the resulting corner kick, Danny Lloyd whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jack Tucker’s header towards goal hits Harry Pell, And Harry Pell almost scored an own goal because it took Ross Sykes to header the ball off the line to keep the score-line at 0-0, And Mustapha Carayol keeps the ball in play by the byline, And Mustapha Carayol passes the ball out-wide to Danny Lloyd, And Danny Lloyd runs towards the edge of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area twisting and turning, and Danny Lloyd whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Harry Pell headers the ball clear and David Morgan gets the ball partially clear and away from goal and John Akinde gets to the loose ball ahead of John O’Sullivan, And John Akinde retains possession of the ball before working his way towards the byline, and although John Akinde is intercepted by John O’Sullivan, Kyle Dempsey is on to the loose ball, And Kyle Dempsey takes a touch to control the ball before working his way into a crossing position, And Kyle Dempsey’s curling effort towards goal crashes against the top right far post and somehow stays out when everyone inside Priestfield Stadium thought that Kyle Dempsey had given Gillingham the lead - FANTASTIC EFFORT ON GOAL FROM KYLE DEMPSEY!!!!!!

Because against Sunderland, Kyle Dempsey tried a curling effort towards goal from a similar position on the pitch which went just wide, and this time against Accrington Stanley, Kyle Dempsey’s curling effort towards goal hits the post and stays out, maybe next time Kyle Dempsey’s curling effort towards goal will hit the back of the net, and we are obviously hoping that Gillingham can hit the back of the net soon, Because Gillingham need to turn this goal-less draw into three points for The Gills, and there is still time left for Gillingham to find a late winner.

David Morgan then trips Danny Lloyd and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in a promising position on the pitch (David Morgan was booked for that foul on Danny Lloyd), and from the resulting free kick, Danny Lloyd’s dangerous in-swinging cross is headed partially clear and away from danger by Sean McConville,, And Kyle Dempsey is first to the second ball for Gillingham, And Kyle Dempsey takes several touches in possession of the ball before trying to pick out Danny Lloyd with a cross-field cross pass, which is intercepted by Sean McConville, who takes a touch to control the ball and Sean McConville passes the ball forwards towards Colby Bishop, who retains possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville tries to clip the ball down the line towards Colby Bishop, But Ryan Jackson gets to the ball first and passes the ball back to Jamie Cumming, And Jamie Cumming kicks the ball long down-field and neither Vadaine Oliver or Yeboah Amankwah win the aerial challenge down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch, And Sean McConville boots the ball into Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, But Referee Christopher Pollard stops play - much to the irritation of The Gillingham Supporters Inside Priestfield Stadium.

And when play resumes, Toby Savin kicks the ball long down-field and Harry Pell cannot get on to the end of that long kick down-field from Toby Savin and the ball runs through to Jamie Cumming, And From Here, Jamie Cumming kicks the ball long down-field and Robbie McKenzie wins the aerial challenge to flick the ball on towards Mustapha Carayol, And Ross Sykes headers the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, But The Accrington Stanley Defender was complaining that he was fouled by Mustapha Carayol, But Referee Christopher Pollard wasn’t interested, And Gillingham had a throw on in Accrington Stanley’s Final Third Down The Medway Stand Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw On, Robbie McKenzie hurls in a long dangerous throw and Ross Sykes headers the ball partially clear and away from goal and Ryan Jackson passes the ball square to Rhys Bennett, who takes a touch to control the ball, And Rhys Bennett kicks the ball long down-field inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Yeboah Amankwah wins the aerial challenge up against Max Ehmer and Sean McConville times his sliding challenge to perfection on Kyle Dempsey to knock the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On Down The Gordon Road Stand Side Of The Pitch.

And From The Resulting Throw, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Ross Sykes headers the ball clear and away from goal for the visitor’s and Kyle Dempsey gets to the second ball and tries to pass the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson and Sean McConville slides in to clear the ball out of play for another Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Ryan Jackson hurls in another long throw and Vadaine Oliver flicks the ball on towards the far post and Harry Pell gets the ball partially clear and away from danger and David Morgan completes the clearance for Accrington Stanley and Colby Bishop wins the next aerial challenge and Robbie McKenzie gets to the loose ball and passes the ball back to Goalkeeper Jamie Cumming, And Jamie Cumming takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and John Akinde wins the aerial challenge to header the ball down towards Danny Lloyd inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, But Toby Savin was quick off his line to get to the ball first, and that was a half-chance for Gillingham to take the lead, and surely a goal this late on would be the winning goal for Gillingham as well.

And just as we approach The Eighty Ninth Minute Of The Match, There was a big talking point, Because Gillingham should have been awarded a free kick, Mustapha Carayol has possession of the ball for Gillingham In Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Mustapha Carayol turns and runs forwards in possession of the ball, And Mustapha Carayol evades the attempted challenge from Ethan Hamilton, And Mustapha Carayol carries on running forwards in possession of the ball, And Mustapha Carayol threads a pass through to Kyle Dempsey, And Seamus Conneely pulls Kyle Dempsey down to the deck, and somehow, that wasn’t a free kick for Gillingham, when it looked so obvious, and so likely that a free kick was going to be awarded to The Gills.

Ninety Minutes Into The Match, And Jamie Cumming has kicked the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on, and from the resulting throw, Accrington Stanley had the chance to score a stoppage time winner, Ross Sykes hurls a long throw inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Colby Bishop plays a one touch layoff back towards Harry Pell, And Harry Pell’s shot towards goal from the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area comfortably clear’s Gillingham’s Crossbar, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

And the final noteworthy moment of the match see’s Jack Tucker penalised and booked for a foul on Ethan Hamilton on the halfway line, yes, it was a foul, But did Jack Tucker deserved to be booked, I don’t think so, and from the resulting free kick, Accrington Stanley could have won the match late on with the final kick off the match, Michael Nottingham kicks the ball long down-field and Jamie Cumming parries the ball down inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Robbie McKenzie boots the ball long down-field, and after three additional minutes of added time, Referee Christopher Pollard blows his whistle for full time, and the final score at Priestfield Stadium Is Gillingham 0-0 Accrington Stanley.

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 0-0 ACCRINGTON STANLEY

The Gillingham Supporter I spoke to sitting next to me mentioned that this match was two points dropped, just like Gillingham’s 2-2 draw against Bolton Wanderers the previous week, and had Gillingham held on for a win against Bolton Wanderers, and had Gillingham took there chances against Accrington Stanley, then Gillingham would have picked up back to back league wins and four additional points, and those four additional points would have put Gillingham on twenty points from sixteen league games played, And Gillingham would be thirteenth In The League One Table and five points clear of the relegation zone.

I then made sure that I had everything on me before heading for the exit, And I caught up with Lisa, Gary and James, and we all spoke about the disappointment that Gillingham couldn’t take one of the many chances Gillingham created throughout the match to turn this 0-0 draw into a 1-0 home win, and Gillingham had enough chances to score three or four goals, and maybe had Gillingham scored earlier on in the match and Accrington Stanley had to open up to try and find a equaliser, then maybe Gillingham could have won 2-0 / 3-0, And when Kyle Dempsey’s curling effort hit the post and stayed out, you just knew it wasn’t going to be Gillingham’s day in-front of goal, And Lisa mentioned that Jack Tucker getting booked right at the end of the match was a appalling decision as well.

Diane and Sam caught up with us and spoke about the goal-less draw against Accrington Stanley and this was one of those matches where Gillingham could have played until mid-night and still not scored, I also thought that Gillingham played into Accrington Stanley’s Hands, Because Ross Sykes, Michael Nottingham and Yeboah Amankwah are three towering centre back’s, And Harry Pell Is 6’4’ and Harry Pell was coming back to defend long throw’s, corner kick’s, and free kick’s, And the direct approach for Gillingham wasn’t really working, And Gillingham needed some guile and clever movement to open up Accrington Stanley’s Defence more, Toby Savin also put in a exceptional performance in goal for Accrington Stanley, But I just felt that Gillingham needed to try something different to open the scoring.

And maybe that something different could have come on as a sub, Because Gerald Sithole, and Ben Reeves were on the bench, and this is the second successive match now where Steve Evans has been criticised for his lack of substitutions, or, not looking to make changes to at least freshen the team up, or look to maybe move Rhys Bennett up-front as a towering centre forward, or, maybe play Mustapha Carayol as a second striker and bring on Gerald Sithole to play on the left wing, Steve Evans is right to mention the limited resources at Gillingham, But at the same-time, his reluctance to make substitutions is starting to frustrate a few supporters, especially as the players on the bench like Ben Reeves and Daniel Adshead are players Steve Evans has signed in the summer.

The one positive for Gillingham now is the week long break before Gillingham V Cheltenham Town In The FA Cup First Round, Gillingham have had Tuesday Night Matches against West Ham United U21’s, Doncaster Rovers, Whitstable Town, Ipswich Town, Cambridge United and Charlton Athletic over the past six weeks, and not having A Tuesday Night Game will allow the players to rest and recover, unfortunately, Stuart O’Keefe was substituted because of injury and Stuart O’Keefe was playing well before he was substituted as well, And I would say that Stuart O’Keefe was one of Gillingham’s Best Players prior to his substitution.

And that FA Cup Match against Cheltenham Town is crucial, thankfully, Vadaine Oliver wasn’t booked for Gillingham against Accrington Stanley, because that would have been Vadaine Oliver’s fifth booking of the season and he would have been suspended for Gillingham V Cheltenham Town, And Gillingham need to go on a decent cup run in The FA Cup, Because reaching The Third Round and getting a money spinning tie away at someone like Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham will bring in some much needed revenue so that Gillingham can pay off that £300,000 loan to The Football League, and therefore, end The Transfer Embargo, which would allow Gillingham to bring in some much needed depth into the squad for the second half of the season.

I said c ya to Diane and Sam before walking from Priestfield Stadium to Gillingham Train Station, And I met up with two Gillingham Supporters I know, and we got speaking about the game, And one Gillingham Supporter mentioned to me that he was not impressed with Rhys Bennett’s performance for Gillingham, And I mentioned that there were a few times where Rhys Bennett headed the ball when he should have let a long ball run through to Jamie Cumming, At least Rhys Bennett isn’t playing at Right Back, which was the case away at Oxford United and Oxford United were causing Gillingham so many problems in the wide area’s away at The Kassam Stadium.

I then mentioned that I went to Gillingham V West Ham United’s U21’s, and although Gillingham losing does ease up some of the fixture congestion, I am disappointed that Gillingham have lost because Gillingham could go on a decent cup run in The Football League Trophy and going on a cup run would bring in some much needed revenue, and if you get to the final and win, I think you make over £1,000,000 in prize money plus the gate receipts for reaching The Football League Trophy Final At Wembley Stadium.

But The Premier League and Championship Development Squads should create there own cup competition and own reserve league to develop players, The Football League Trophy should revert back to A Straight Knock-Out Cup Competition involving only League One and League Two Clubs, Plus getting rid of the group stage gets rid of some of the fixture congestion, I also mentioned that Sheffield Wednesday V Gillingham could be in doubt because of International Call Ups, So supporters are being advised not to buy tickets until we know for certain that the match is going ahead.

I then got on The 17.30PM Train heading towards Rainham, rang home to mention that I was on the train and was heading towards the chip shop, and whilst I was on the train, I checked Social Media to see that Max Ehmer had made his 270th appearance for Gillingham and I re-tweeted Steve Evans post match comments as trying to get any reception inside Priestfield Stadium is impossible, And as the train stopped off at Rainham Train Station, I said c ya to Two Gillingham Supporters I know, And I had arrived in Rainham at 17.38PM, And I went to The Co-Op to buy Two Small Bottles Of Coca Cola For £2.50, before crossing the road and going to George’s Plaice to buy A Small Portion Of Chips And A Jumbo Plain Sausage for £4.10, And once I got my change back, and collected my meal, I then got a lift back home, And I was back indoors at gone 6.10PM.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS.

We found out that Olly Lee has broken his foot and he is out injured for the long term, Stuart O’Keefe has a hamstring injury, And with Charlie Kelman not in the match-day squad, I mentioned the following,,,,,,,, This is only a rumour, But it appears that Charlie Kelman's Loan at Gillingham has been terminated, Kelman hasn't really been given a run of regular starting appearances for Gillingham, and I don't think QPR will be best pleased with Kelman's limited game-time at Gillingham. - The 3.609 attendance inside Priestfield Stadium is a shocking attendance for A Saturday Home League Game, And Gillingham’s Attendances are in serious decline and there are going to be many different reason’s as to why the attendances are declining, But I think the cashless stadium, not giving supporters the option to pay on the day, The Ticket Office is working at limited capacity, and the lack of communication from the football club during lockdown are some of the reasons as to why attendances are dropping by the thousands.

Another reason is the cycle has been broken, prior to lockdown, it would have been unthinkable for supporters to miss a home game, But now, Some Supporters might want to save money but still go and watch football, and maybe Non League Football is offering affordable football prices on there doorstep, Because quite a few Gillingham Supporters do have to travel a fair way to get to a home game, and maybe the money spent on travel and Gillingham Season Tickets or Match Tickets are used to watch Kent Non League Football Instead, or, maybe, with the cycle broken, other hobbies have taken place instead of Gillingham, And Gillingham Football Club have got to do way more to win those supporters back.

I also posted the following for my post match comments on social media,,,,, FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 0-0 ACCRINGTON STANLEY - Gillingham had chances to pick up all three points against Accrington Stanley, But a combination of good goalkeeping, excellent defending, at times poor finishing, along with not enough guile saw Gills fail to win this afternoon. Dempsey's shot towards goal from a free kick is blocked by Accrington Stanley's Wall, O'Keefe's effort towards goal from the edge of the penalty area goes just wide, And O'Keefe also had another effort on goal, this time, Savin gets down to make the save in goal for Accrington. Lloyd and O'Keefe both see efforts on goal saved by Savin in quick succession, And Dempsey also saw his effort on goal saved by The Accrington Keeper, It is also such a shame that O'Keefe had to be substituted because of injury, Because O'Keefe was putting in a decent performance, Carayol's effort on goal from a free kick was saved by Savin, And the re-bound was cleared out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, Denpsey's curling effort hits the post and somehow stays out, and seconds earlier, Jack Tucker's header towards goal was cleared off the goal-line. Gillingham went for the direct approach towards Oliver and Akinde, But Accrington Stanley had Sykes, Nottingham and Amankwah as there three man defence, And Pell would come back to help Accrington Stanley defend long ball's and long throw's into there penalty area. And once again, Evans doesn't make full use of the bench, maybe Sithole could have come on for Akinde, who was tiring towards the end of the game, or, Reeves could have come on to provide fresh legs in midfield for Gills, not using our substitutions is a problem at the moment.

I had also re-tweeted Danny Lloyd’s Tweet and tweets from Radio Lancashire, Tony Proven (Gillingham Grounds-Man) And a few video clips from Matt, who always uploads video clips of Gillingham and opposition chances created online, And I had also sent the three following tweets to Gabriel On Social Media As Well ONE: Gillingham 0-0 Accrington Stanley - Gillingham had chances to score against Accrington Stanley this afternoon, but failed to take them, Tucker's header was cleared off the line, And Dempsey's curling effort hit the post late on, Ehmer and Akinde had headers saved by Savin as well TWO: Mustapha Carayol on for Stuart O'Keefe was the only sub Gillingham made today, Just like last week's 2-2 draw against Bolton Wanderers, Evans is very reluctant to use the bench, Reeves or Sithole could have come on, And O'Keefe was only substituted because of injury today as well AND THREE: The unused subs today were Chapman (Keeper), Lintott, Akehurst, Reeves, Adshead and Sithole, And Sithole is the player who fits your description as a quick nippy player, but this is Sithole's first season as a pro having come through the youth ranks. Gills needed another striker.

And finally, the last two draws against Bolton Wanderers and Accrington Stanley are two points dropped, But If Gillingham can win against Cheltenham Town In The FA Cup First Round, And Gillingham can win away against Sheffield Wednesday (providing that the match goes ahead) then we will be still disappointed with Gillingham not winning either game, but winning the next two matches would just give the players and supporters some morale boosting wins as back to back wins would see Gillingham progress into the second round of The FA Cup, and pick up three valuable points in League One, let’s hope that is precisely what happens in the next two matches - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!

#Gillingham #AccringtonStanley #LeagueOne #Football

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jediirnbru · 4 years

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Accrington Stanley - Crown Ground . I love steelwork. I love brightly coloured steelwork that is instantly recognisable to anyone who has been to the ground even more. . #stanley #accringtonstanley #crownground #england #englishfootball #groundhopping #stadiumhopping #stadium #prints #art #illustration #graphicdesign #design #giftsforher #giftsforhim #giftideas #artwork #inspire #football #stadia #stade #stadio #tshirt #mug #weareallstadiumprints #deraartworks (at The Crown Ground, Accrington Stanley FC) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEgsSLIDKvC/?igshid=8vve98jkw2lv

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stuartmoss · 7 years

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#Aerial view of #Accrington, #Lancashire, with #AccringtonStanley #CrownGround in the centre. #Photo taken on a #SonyA6000 from a #Ryanair #flight from Leeds to Dublin. #flying #aerialphotography #travel #tourism #tourist #leisure #life #IgersEngland #SonyAlpha #SonyAlphaClub #landscape #VisitAccrington #IgersLancashire #IgersAccrington (at Accrington)

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video2fone · 5 years

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Shocking!! #AccringtonStanley #AndrewAkingbaje footballer, 24, who repeatedly punched a woman outside a London club in horrifying attack caught on video is jailed for more than two years. --------------------- Former Accrington Stanley footballer Andrew Akingbaje (left), 24, was branded 'dangerous to women' at Inner London Crown Court after admitting the vicious assault (right). Akingbaje repeatedly punched 21-year-old Krystal Mission (inset) in the head outside a south London nightclub following a row between her and another group of women over 'queuejumping'. Akingbaje initially told police she attacked him but eventually pleaded guilty and was jailed for 32 months. @video2fone #video2fone https://www.instagram.com/p/B1ZA38IgZlb/?igshid=m29oo17y0bpg

#accringtonstanley #andrewakingbaje #video2fone

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enisports-blog · 8 years

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Pato seals £15.4m Tianjin Quanjian move

Alexandre Pato joins Tianjin Quanjian for £15.4m

Villarreal striker, Alexandre Pato has sealed a move in the region of £15.4m to Chinese Super League club, Tianjin Quanjian.

The Chinese Super League outfit shelled out the fee to complete the signing of the Brazilian international on Saturday afternoon.

Various reports emanating from the media have been linking Tianjin Quanjian with a number of…

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#Accringtonstanley #Aitorkaranka #Alexandrepato #Chelsea #CSL #FAcup #Jeserodriguez #LasPalmas #Ligue1 #Middlesbrough #Premierleague #Tianjinquanjian #Villarreal #LaLiga

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betarenasocial · 4 years

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Palpite e Dicas de Apostas Accrington Stanley vs Oxford United

Mais uma partida do campeonato da League One - na Inglaterra em 26-09-2020, Sábado. Accrington Stanley e Oxford United fazem grande jogo e você confere todas informações para apostas no nosso palpite Accrington Stanley vs Oxford United! A partida realiza-se no Pequeno estádio Wham Stadium, em Accrington, com capacidade para 5057 espectadores. Poderá acompanhar o jogo ao vivo no Betarena, com acesso a toda a informação para ajudar nas suas apostas esportivas, incluindo estatísticas, eventos e odds. Introdução ao palpite Accrington Stanley vs Oxford United Oxford United ocupava a 9ª posição na League One enquanto Accrington Stanley ocupava a 14ª posição, na última ocasião em que essas equipes jogaram. Oxford United foi escalado em um 4-3-3, enquanto Accrington Stanley foi a campo com um 4-4-2. Na temporada 2019/2020, as equipes se enfrentaram pela última vez. A partida terminou em 3-0 para o Oxford United, sendo disputada em 2020-02-25 pela League One. A partida terá R. Joyce como árbitro principal, sendo auxiliado por B. Gordon e C. Brown. Accrington Stanley Neste começo de campeonato, o Accrington Stanley ocupa a 8ª posição na tabela de classificação, com 3 pontos conquistados até esta 3ª rodada. Oxford United Neste começo de campeonato, o Oxford United ocupa a 24ª posição na tabela de classificação, com 0 pontos conquistados até esta 3ª rodada. #20200926 #AccringtonStanley #apostas #England #LeagueOne #OxfordUnited #palpitedeapostas #prognósticos #PT/BR Read the full article

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wolfoffield · 6 years

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24.4.2018 #NewportCounty v #AccringtonStanley match preview is here : #EnglandLeagueTwo #NEWACC

#Newport County #Accrington Stanley #NEWACC #soccer #football

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assfootfc · 8 years

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via Twitter

Soccer #Livescore: (ENG-EL2) #AccringtonStanley vs #CarlisleUtd: 1-1. Goal for Accrington Stanley #Scores #Updates

— Association Football (@AssFoot) January 21, 2017

from Twitter https://twitter.com/AssFoot January 21, 2017 at 05:22AM via IFTTT

#Twitter

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fan-of-mulligan · 4 years

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FOM BLOG: ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0-1 GILLINGHAM

My Thoughts On Accrington Stanley 0-1 Gillingham..........

After Gillingham had lost 3-1 to Northampton Town, 1-0 against Plymouth Argyle and 1-0 against Burton Albion, and especially after the 1-0 home defeat against Burton Albion, No-one was confidant that Gillingham could get a result against Accrington Stanley, and with Gillingham playing two away matches in a row against two very good sides in Accrington Stanley and Lincoln City (The Lincoln City Away Match Was Postponed Because Of A Water-Logged Pitch) If Gillingham were to lose both matches and lose five league games in a row, then serious questions were going to be asked regarding Steve Evans future as Gillingham Manager and whether if a managerial change is required to ensure that Gillingham maintained there League One Status ??? - A Draw would at least stop the rot, and pre-match, If someone offered Gillingham Supporters A 1-1 Draw, we would have taken that, and even the most optimistic of Gillingham Supporters were only predicting a draw, So to see Gillingham pick up all three points and keep a clean sheet against a very good Accrington Stanley Side is fantastic, and these three points are three points which were completely unexpected.

This Was How Gillingham Lined Up Against Accrington Stanley On Saturday,,,,,, Jack Bonham, Ryan Jackson, Jack Tucker, Connor Ogilvie, Tom O'Connor, Callum Slattery, Alex MacDonald, Jordan Graham, Olly Lee, Kyle Dempsey, Vadaine Oliver Substitutes Joe Walsh (GK), Robbie McKenzie, Matty Willock, Stuart O'Keefe, Jacob Mellis, Tyreke Johnson and John Akinde - After seeing Gillingham's Starting Line Up Confirmed On Social Media, I mentioned the following On Twitter,,,,, Hopefully Slattery and Lee both starting will see Gills try and keep the ball on the deck more rather then over-relying on the long balls to Vadaine Oliver, It's great to have the option to knock the ball long to Oliver, But we have the players in the line up to retain possession.

There were doubts that this match was going to go ahead, but when the team sheets were announced, and we saw photo's of the pitch on Accrington Stanley's Official Account, then those doubts were clarified and Accrington Stanley V Gillingham was going to go ahead, and I tend to buy My I Follow Match Pass on the day of the, but this time, I waited for the team-sheet to be announced before buying my match-pass, just to make sure that there was no postponement, If supporters were going to Accrington Stanley V Gillingham, I would be hoping for a pitch inspection at the earliest possible time, so that we knew for sure if the match was going to go ahead, or, if the match was going to be called off, also, A Away Trip To Accrington Stanley is a away trip you want to be doing for A Saturday Afternoon League Game, rather then making the long trip On A Tuesday Night - especially if your making that long trip to Accrington Stanley on A Tuesday Night In January.

And as for how well Gillingham played against Accrington Stanley, I was impressed with our performance, we wanted to see Gillingham respond to that dreadful 1-0 defeat against Burton Albion, and that is precisely what we saw on Saturday, If Gillingham drew 1-1, and we saw the same level of performance we saw from the players at the weekend, we can take the encouraging sign's from that performance into the next three league games against Lincoln City, Rochdale and Crewe Alexandra - Now Rochdale, Crewe Alexandra and Sunderland - But we saw a encouraging performance, Gillingham pick up all three points, Gillingham kept a clean sheet, and we saw a very good team performance where you could name seven or eight players as serious contenders for The Man Of The Match Award, two of those seven or eight candidates would be Olly Lee and Callum Slattery, with both players putting in encouraging displays on there debuts for The Gills.

FIRST HALF:

But things could have been so different if Accrington Stanley scored first, and that is almost what happened in the sixth minute of the match when Dion Charles had let the ball run through to Colby Bishop from A Accrington Stanley Throw On, And Colby Bishop plays a return pass through to Dion Charles, And Dion Charles takes one touch to control the ball and another touch to smash the ball goal-wards and Jack Bonham was quick off his goal-line to narrow the angle to make a very brave save, Because Jack Bonham had saved the ball with his face and deflect the ball out of play for A Accrington Stanley Corner Kick - It is important to note that Dion Charles and Colby Bishop were both on the score-sheet when Accrington Stanley won 2-0 against Gillingham At Priestfield Stadium, and both strikers had caused Gillingham a lot of problems that evening, and both strikers look likely to cause Gillingham more problems defensively in this fixture as well.

And having almost opened the scoring with that effort on goal from Dion Charles, Gillingham managed to hit Accrington Stanley on the counter attack, And Jordan Graham managed to pick out Olly Lee with a low diagonal cross towards the far post, And Olly Lee's first time shot towards goal hits the side netting from a very a acute angle, Had Jordan Graham crossed earlier, then maybe Olly Lee could have opened the scoring for The Gills, The next goal-scoring opportunity see's Alex MacDonald test Nathan Baxter in-between the sticks, Ryan Jackson's long throw is not dealt with and Connor Ogilvie's initial effort on goal is blocked, And Connor Ogilvie manages to pass the ball square to Alex MacDonald inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Alex MacDonald see’s his shot towards goal saved by Nathan Baxter and Accrington Stanley manage to clear there lines.

Eleven Minutes Into The Match, And Matt Butcher is down on the deck and requires treatment after a collision with Callum Slattery, and this head collision eventually lead to Matt Butcher having to be substituted, Accrington Stanley Chairman Andy Holt has strongly criticised The Football League for the huge financial gap between The Championship, League One and League Two, and has also been critical of The Premier League, But he thought Callum Slattery should have been sent off for the aerial challenge with Matt Butcher, which I completely disagree with, the ball was there to be won, and Matt Butcher is taller then Callum Slattery and Callum Slattery won the ball in the air.

Fifteen Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring, Callum Slattery times his sliding challenge to perfection, and Olly Lee lays the ball off to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball square to Alex MacDonald, And Alex MacDonald takes a touch to control the ball before running forwards in possession of the ball, And Alex MacDonald’s shot towards goal takes a slight deflection off Seamus Conneely, and Nathan Baxter has to dive at full stretch to turn the ball around the post at the expense of conceding a corner kick - Callum Slattery, Olly Lee, Kyle Dempsey and Alex MacDonald were all involved in the build up to that goal-scoring opportunity, and it was great to see Alex MacDonald get a shot off towards goal from outside the penalty area as well.

Thirty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Accrington Stanley are awarded a free kick after Connor Ogilvie had been penalised for a foul on Dion Charles, And Callum Slattery prevented Accrington Stanley from taking a quick free kick, But Accrington Stanley came close to taking the lead from this set play, Sean McConville whips in a high and hanging cross into the heart of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Michael Nottingham chests the ball under control but Connor Ogilvie manages to partially clear the ball towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Seamus Conneely’s first time fiercely driven shot towards goal fails to hit the target, and that was the chance for Accrington Stanley to take the lead.

Forty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham were awarded a free kick because Ross Sykes was penalised for a foul on Jordan Graham, And The Accrington Commentary Team kept making it a big deal about why Ross Sykes was booked, the fact that Ross Sykes booted the ball fifty yards away in frustration was why he was booked, and this kept being brought up in reference to every foul made throughout the rest of the match, and from the resulting free kick, Jordan Graham whips in a dangerous cross towards the edge of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, and the ball is headed partially clear towards Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson takes a touch to control the ball before trying to pick out Jordan Graham with a cross-field cross pass, and Ross Sykes manages to intercept the ball before passing the ball short towards Dion Charles, And Dion Charles passes the ball down the line towards Ross Sykes, And Ross Sykes tries to pick out Colby Bishop with a cross towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Jack Tucker wins the initial aerial challenge and Callum Slattery wins the second aerial challenge up against Jon Russell, And Alex MacDonald is on to the loose ball for The Gills, And Alex MacDonald manages to pick out Jordan Graham with a diagonal cross-field cross ball down the left side of the pitch in Accrington Stanley’s Final Third, And Jordan Graham gets the ball under control, runs inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area in possession of the ball and Jordan Graham passes the ball centrally to Alex MacDonald, And Alex MacDonald flicks the ball back towards Kyle Dempsey, who curls the ball into the far right corner of the net with a fantastic first time finish and there was nothing that Nathan Baxter could do about that to prevent Gillingham from taking the lead - ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0-1 GILLINGHAM

Fantastic goal from The Gills, and just before half time as well, and with Alex MacDonald seeing two efforts on goal saved and Olly Lee hitting the side netting, and with the way Gillingham have performed in the first half, then Gillingham deserved to go in at half time with a one goal lead, and the goal Kyle Dempsey scored was superb as well, And Kyle Dempsey is a player who has put in some noticeable performances in recent weeks and Kyle Dempsey has scored for Gillingham against Doncaster Rovers, Northampton Town and now against Accrington Stanley, Dempsey is getting himself on the score-sheet on a regular basis for The Gills.

HALF TIME: ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0-1 GILLINGHAM

I uploaded the following status update on to Social Media At Half Time,,,,, HALF TIME: ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0-1 GILLINGHAM - Kyle Dempsey open's the scoring for Gillingham right on half time, and that goal perhaps reflects on Gillingham's first half performance as a whole, Because Gillingham have put in a very encouraging performance in the first half. Alex MacDonald has seen two efforts on goal saved by Nathan Baxter, And The Accrington Stanley Goalkeeper had to save a awkward cross from Jordan Graham in the opening stages of the match, Olly Lee has seen his shot hit the side netting from a acute angle from Graham's cross. Slattery's pass to Oliver was also saved, But the goal from Dempsey capped off a very encouraging first half performance from The Gills, and I have especially liked the work from Slattery Lee Dempsey Graham & MacDonald in midfield, Lee and Slattery have added quality in midfield, Accrington Stanley have had chances to score, Charles shot on target was saved by Bonham, Conneely's effort on goal from distance has failed to hit the target, Bonham has had to clear a through-ball to Charles out for a throw on, And Accrington have looked a threat from set plays.

I also mentioned the following in another tweet,,,, Graham, Slattery, Dempsey, Lee and MacDonald have all been excellent in midfield today and Alex MacDonald is unlucky not to get himself on the score-sheet with both of his efforts on goal saved by Baxter. - The five man midfield of Jordan Graham, Alex MacDonald, Kyle Dempsey, along with new signings Olly Lee and Callum Slattery have added quality into Gillingham’s Midfield, quality which perhaps has been lacking at times in the last three matches against Northampton Town, Plymouth Argyle and Burton Albion, Now Gillingham have had chances to score in all three matches, but what makes the performance against Accrington Stanley very encouraging is the fact that Nathan Baxter has made a few saves to keep Accrington Stanley in this match and Gillingham perhaps can consider themselves unfortunate to only be winning this match 1-0 at half time.

SECOND HALF:

Forty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Ryan Jackson has to kick the ball out of play for A Accrington Stanley Corner Kick as Joe Pritchard was looking to breakthrough inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Accrington Stanley should have equalised, Sean McConville whips in a high and hanging cross towards the far post and Michael Nottingham’s Header crashes against the crossbar and Olly Lee smashes the ball clear and away from danger for The Gills, and that was the chance for Accrington Stanley to score the equaliser, And In The Fifty Second Minute Of The Match, Accrington Stanley had the chance to level the game up at 1-1 again, again, this chance was created from a set play as Sean McConville whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Cameron Burgess’s header fails to hit the target and the ball goes just wide of the far right post, And Accrington Stanley are causing Gillingham problems defensively from corner kicks.

Sixty Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham had the chance to go 2-0 up, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and although Vadaine Oliver misses the aerial challenge, the ball bounces through to Alex MacDonald down the left side of the pitch, And Alex MacDonald manages to get the ball under control before evading the attempted challenge from Michael Nottingham, And Alex MacDonald whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Defender Ross Sykes headers the ball partially clear and away from goal and Olly Lee gets to the loose ball first and runs away from goal towards the byline before passing the ball back towards Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball short to Callum Slattery, And Callum Slattery’s squared pass towards Kyle Dempsey wasn’t the best, But Kyle Dempsey manages to evade the attempted challenge and run forwards in possession of the ball towards the edge of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Kyle Dempsey’s fiercely driven effort towards goal is brilliantly saved by Nathan Baxter, And Nathan Baxter manages to parry the ball around the post and out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Tom O’Connor’s in-swinging cross towards the far post is to high for Jack Tucker to get on the end of and the ball goes out of play for A Accrington Stanley Goal-Kick.

Eighty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Ryan Jackson blocks Ryan Cassidy’s shot out of play for A Accrington Stanley Corner Kick, As The Accrington Stanley Substitute tries to level the match up at 1-1, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Accrington Stanley should have equalised, Sean McConville whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Michael Nottingham’s glancing header fails to hit the target and goes wide of the far right post, and another corner kick from the home side has not been capitalised on and Gillingham are trying to hang on to that slender 1-0 advantage.

Eighty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham make there first substitution as John Akinde comes on to replace Vadaine Oliver, Vadaine Oliver may have not got himself on the score-sheet, but his overall contribution to how well Gillingham have performed against Accrington Stanley cannot be under-estimated, Gillingham are sticking with the five man midfield of Jordan Graham, Olly Lee, Callum Slattery, Kyle Dempsey and Alex MacDonald, Had Gillingham been defending a two goal lead, then maybe Matty Willock and Robbie McKenzie could have come on to replace Olly Lee and Callum Slattery, with both debutants likely to be feeling the effects of there first competitive League One Fixture For The Gills.

And In The Ninetieth Minute Of The Match, Accrington Stanley should have equalised, Olly Lee passes the ball down the line towards Jordan Graham down the right side of the pitch in Accrington Stanley’s Half Of The Pitch, And Jordan Graham gets the ball under control before seeing his attempted back-heal run through to Cameron Burgess, And Cameron Burgess passes the ball square to Seamus Conneely, and Seamus Conneely manages to pick out Dion Charles with a cross-field pass down the right side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Dion Charles runs forwards in possession of the ball before running into a more central position on the pitch, And Dion Charles whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Colby Bishop gets the faintest of touches to header the ball goal-wards and Jack Bonham makes a fantastic point blank save and Jack Tucker passes the ball square to Tom O’Connor, And Tom O’Connor boots the ball long down-field towards John Akinde, and although Gillingham do not get the ball into Accrington Stanley’s Final Third, anywhere will do as far as Gillingham are concerned - THAT WAS A SENSATIONAL SAVE FROM JACK BONHAM TO PRESERVE GILLINGHAM’S ONE GOAL LEAD!!!!!!!!!

But there was a huge talking point in second half stoppage time with Accrington Stanley appealing for a penalty kick with the hosts pushing for that equaliser, Nathan Baxter kicks the ball long down-field for Accrington Stanley, And Cameron Burgess flicks the ball on towards Colby Bishop, who gets the ball under control, and Colby Bishop clips the ball across Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And I have got to say that I thought Tom O’Connor had bundled Mark Hughes down to the deck and I was just expecting Referee Darren Drysdale to point to the penalty spot, and when the penalty kick wasn’t awarded, I have to say that was a massive let off for The Gills, Because Accrington Stanley looked like they had a case for a penalty kick there.

Stuart O’Keefe then makes his first appearance for Gillingham since the penalty shoot-out win against Coventry City In The Second Round Of The League Cup back in August, And Stuart O’Keefe has come on in place of Jordan Graham, and the final noteworthy moment of the match see’s Accrington Stanley awarded a free kick with Connor Ogilvie penalised for hand-ball on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Accrington Stanley have the chance to equalise with what surely is the final goal-scoring opportunity of the match, and from the resulting free kick, Sean McConville has curled the ball over the wall, and over Gillingham’s Crossbar, and with Sean McConville’s free kick failing to hit the target, Gillingham manage to held on to three valuable points away against Accrington Stanley.

FULL TIME: ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0-1 GILLINGHAM

POST MATCH THOUGHTS

I uploaded the following status updates on to social media after the full time whistle,,,,, FULL TIME: ACCRINGTON STANLEY 0-1 GILLINGHAM - Kyle Dempsey's goal for Gillingham right on half time was the difference between both sides at full time as Gillingham pick up three valuable points against a very good Accrington Stanley Side. Accrington Stanley had there chances to score in the second half, Nottingham's Header crashed against the crossbar, Burgess failed to header the ball on target as Accrington looked threatening from corner kicks, Baxter saved Dempsey's effort on goal to deny Gills a second goal. Burgess curled his effort wide as Accrington were pushing for the equaliser, Jack Tucker did brilliantly to block Pritchard's low effort towards goal, and Nottingham failed to hit the target with his header on goal at the far post, and Jack Tucker clears the ball off the line. Jack Bonham also made a fantastic save to deny Bishop from heading in the equaliser for Accrington Stanley, and the hosts had a huge penalty appeal waved away in second half stoppage time. But this is a fantastic win for The Gills, and a clean sheet against a good side as well.

It was great to see Stuart O’Keefe make his first appearance for Gillingham since breaking his leg against Coventry City In The Second Round Of The League Cup, It may well only be a short cameo appearance from the substitutes bench in stoppage time, but even if Stuart O’Keefe can only make ten to fifteen minute substitute appearances for The Gills in the next few weeks, then having Stuart O’Keefe back on the pitch is going to be so important as he adds that experience and know how that Gillingham have perhaps lacked in midfield in quite a few matches this season, also, with five substitutes allowed in every league game, there is more flexibility to give Stuart O’Keefe those substitute appearances for The Gills.

The Midfield were excellent for Gillingham throughout the entire match, there is a clip on social media with Jordan Graham spinning past two Accrington Stanley Players in midfield, but it wasn’t that one piece of skill that summed up how well Jordan Graham played for Gillingham against Accrington Stanley, Kyle Dempsey scored the winning goal and was unlucky not to score a second goal for Gillingham in the second half, Alex MacDonald saw two efforts on goal saved by Nathan Baxter and he assisted Kyle Dempsey’s goal, And Olly Lee and Callum Slattery were both superb on there Gillingham Debut’s, Callum Slattery was breaking up play and doing the basics very well, as well as showing great intelligence to prevent Accrington Stanley from taking a quick free kick, And with Jacob Mellis and Stuart O’Keefe on the substitutes bench, along with Matty Willock and Robbie McKenzie, Gillingham’s midfield options probably look the strongest they have been all season.

That is harsh on Josh Eccles, Declan Drysdale and Scott Robertson, With all three loan signings going back to Coventry City and Celtic respectively, But Stuart O’Keefe and Olly Lee are more experienced players, And Callum Slattery has played in The Premier League for Southampton, So Callum Slattery perhaps is more developed compared to the three loanee’s, Declan Drysdale was more of a utility player at Gillingham, playing centre back and central midfield and he even played one game up-front for The Gills, I cannot see Callum Slattery playing as a striker, but he put in a superb display for Gillingham in midfield against Accrington Stanley.

And whilst I am praising the midfield for there performance against Accrington Stanley, the back five of Jack Bonham, Ryan Jackson, Jack Tucker, Connor Ogilvie and Tom O’Connor helped Gillingham to pick up all three points against Accrington Stanley, And a win, three points and a clean sheet against a very good Accrington Stanley Side was completely unexpected before kick off, But we are delighted with the performance and the result that Gillingham have picked up, especially as this result combined with results elsewhere has seen Gillingham increase the gap between themselves and The League One Relegation Zone to eight points - nine if you include goal difference - and avoiding relegation into League Two is all I am thinking about at this moment in time, obviously, the sooner this objective is achieved, then Gillingham can start to look up the table, but until our League One Status is assured for The 2021 / 2022 Season, I think it would be sensible to look over our shoulder at The Relegation Zone for the time being.

Everything we wanted to see from Gillingham against Accrington Stanley has been ticked, Gillingham have won the match and picked up all three points, Gillingham have kept a clean sheet against a decent Accrington Stanley Side, We saw a very encouraging performance with Jordan Graham, Olly Lee, Callum Slattery, Alex MacDonald and Kyle Dempsey adding some much needed quality and creativity to Gillingham’s Midfield, Gillingham have tested the opposition goalkeeper, and had it not been for Nathan Baxter then Alex MacDonald and Kyle Dempsey could have scored two goals each in a convincing 4-0 away win for The Gills, The players have responded after a dismal result against Burton Albion, And even Stuart O’Keefe coming on as a late substitute was a added bonus.

The challenge now for Gillingham is to take that performance against Accrington Stanley into the next two league matches against Crewe Alexandra and Rochdale, and six points from these two home games will see Gillingham move up The League One Table, hopefully, Gillingham can pick up three of those six points with a home win against Rochdale at the weekend - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!

#AccringtonStanley #Gillingham #Lee #Slattery

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jediirnbru · 5 years

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Accrington Stanley FC - Crown Ground (Wham Stadium) . As soon as I saw the steelwork of the Crown Ground I just knew it was going to be the main event in this design. . #accrington #stanley #asfc #ourstanley #accringtonstanley #crownground #whamstadium #leagueone #england #englishfootball #groundhopping #stadiumhopping #stadium #prints #art #illustration #graphicdesign #design #giftsforher #giftsforhim #giftideas #artwork #inspire #football #stadia #stade #stadio #weareallstadiumprints (at Crown Ground) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8rmk6vDuG_/?igshid=1r003nsx8srf0

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video2fone · 5 years

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#accringtonstanley #andrewakingbaje #video2fone

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victortopin-blog · 6 years

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Vamos #accringtonstanley porfin campeones y ascendidos a la #leagueone q el proximo año sea mejor y buscar un nuevo ascenso .... #campeones campeones ole ole ole!!!!!!! #feliz #happy

#campeones #feliz #happy #accringtonstanley #leagueone

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wolfoffield · 6 years

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17.4.2018 #AccringtonStanley v #YeovilTown match analysis is here : #EnglandLeagueTwo #ACCYEO

#Accrington Stanley #Yeovil Town #ACCYEO #soccer #football

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assfootfc · 8 years

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via Twitter

Soccer #Livescore: (ENG-EL2) #Cheltenham vs #AccringtonStanley: 1-0. Goal for Cheltenham #Scores #Updates

— Association Football (@AssFoot) January 14, 2017

from Twitter https://twitter.com/AssFoot January 14, 2017 at 06:19AM via IFTTT

#Twitter

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fan-of-mulligan · 4 years

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FOM BLOG: GILLINGHAM 0-2 ACCRINGTON STANLEY

My Thoughts On Gillingham 0-2 Accrington Stanley.........

The last two results, Doncaster Rovers 2-1 Gillingham And Gillingham 0-2 Accrington Stanley have pretty much confirmed Gillingham to finishing The 2020 / 2021 Season either in mid-table, or looking over our shoulder to try and avoid relegation into League Two, Because if Gillingham had picked up four points from these two matches, Then Gillingham would be three points off the playoff positions going into our final three league games of 2020 (And those three matches are Away To Rochdale, Home To Peterborough United and Away To Northampton Town) Now of course, Gillingham can bring in some reinforcements in The January Transfer Window and those reinforcements could allow Gillingham to go on a fantastic run, and there is always one team every season who go from mid-table to challenging for a playoff position at the business end of the season, and I am sure we would be all hoping that the one team who achieves that feat this season is Gillingham Football Club, however, I have looked at Gillingham's results against teams in the top ten of League One This Season, and they do not make for good reading.

Gillingham's results against teams in the top ten in League One This Season

Hull City Loss 2-0

Portsmouth Loss 2-0

Fleetwood Town Loss 2-0

Ipswich Town Loss 1-0

Sunderland Loss 2-0

Charlton Athletic Drew 1-1

Doncaster Rovers Loss 2-1

Accrington Stanley Loss 2-0

Gillingham have picked up just one point out of twenty four against the teams we have faced in the top ten in League One This Season, five of these eight matches have seen Gillingham lose by A 2-0 score-line, And even more concerning is the fact that Gillingham have scored just two goals against teams in the top ten, one of those goals was Jordan Graham's Penalty Kick Against Charlton Athletic, and the second goal was Kyle Dempsey's equaliser against Doncaster Rovers On Saturday, What these stats show is the undeniable proof that there is a number of factors as to why Gillingham are not picking up points against teams in the top half of the table, Whether that will be tactically teams are set up to counter what Gillingham are trying to do more effectively, whether the opposition just have more quality players in there squad and that quality can be the difference maker in crucial moments in matches, And it could come down to the more quality players the opposition has in there squad, Which means that if one or two of there star players have a off day and perform poorly and they are not on there game, someone else can step up and produce that moment of quality that can turn a 0-0 draw into a 1-0 win, If Vadaine Oliver and Jordan Graham are performing badly for Gillingham, can other players step up and make the difference in crucial moments in matches ??? - Perhaps Kyle Dempsey can, and he has shown with his goal against Doncaster Rovers that he could step up if required to do so, But the teams at the top end of League One probably have four to five players in there starting line up who are the players for Gillingham to play close attention to, and if those five players don't perform to the best of there ability, then, with five substitutes allowed this season, those five players can get substituted and the teams at the top end of League One will have like for like replacements on the bench who can make an impact when they come on to the pitch.

And the lack of squad depth was something that concerned me at the start of the season, Because one of the questions I asked in My Supporters Blog for the preview for The 2020 / 2021 Season was the following question,,,, Gillingham will play Twelve League One Fixtures On A Tuesday Night Throughout The 2020 / 2021 Season compared to five Tuesday Night League One Fixtures throughout The 2019 / 2020 Season, Do you think the fixture congestion is going to be a huge problem for Gillingham, given that Steve Evans has mentioned that he will be lining up with a small first team squad for The 2020 / 2021 Season ??? - And to answer my own question here, I think a smaller first team squad combined with fixture congestion has contributed to so many of the injury problems Gillingham have experienced this season, Stuart O'Keefe And Jacob Mellis have both picked up long term injuries, Ryan Jackson, Tom O'Connor, Jordan Graham, Trae Coyle, Dominic Samuel, Alex MacDonald, Scott Robertson, Zech Medley, Josh Eccles, Jack Bonham and Matty Willock have all been injured at various points during The 2020 / 2021 Season as well, And Gillingham just have not got the depth to cope with the number of injuries we have picked up this season, especially in attack with Jordan Graham, Dominic Samuel and Trae Coyle all out injured.

And that leaves just John Akinde and Vadaine Oliver as Gillingham's only attacking options to call upon, and when those two play alongside each other, Gillingham's Style Of Play is very direct, now that can work and has worked, and the two wins against Bristol Rovers and Swindon Town is proof of this, however, the defeats against Doncaster Rovers and Accrington Stanley have shown that this style of play against any team at the top end of League One is not as effective as we would want it to be, Our lack of goals against the top ten teams in League One is proof of this, Because the teams at the top end of League One have players with more ability, more quality, more creativity, more guile, and perhaps most importantly, more consistency, And it is the teams who are consistent who are the teams who will eventually end up in the automatic promotion and playoff places in League One at the end of the season, Does more possession mean that you end up at the top end of the division ??? - I would say no, Because Leicester City won The Premier League Title playing a counter attacking style and it is not so much how much possession of the ball you do have, but what you do as a team when you eventually do have possession of the ball, But the lack of possession and Gillingham's Direct style of play is getting criticised at the moment because Gillingham have lost there last three matches in a row in all competitions, There is no criticism of a direct style of play when your winning football matches, But when the performances are poor and results are poor alongside a poor performance, then the style of play is going to get a lot of criticism.

And the style of play could also be a contributing factor as to why Gillingham are picking up so many injuries, Gillingham are on the defensive and on the back-foot, there is a lot of off the ball running which leads to a lot of fatigue, and when your players are having to do a lot of off the ball running Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Then that is going to take it's toll eventually, Perhaps Gillingham could get away with a lack of possession based style of play last season because there was only five Tuesday Night League One Fixtures, But when your playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Then that style of play will see teams pick up a lot of soft tissue injuries, a lot of hamstring, groin and thigh strains, and combine that style of play with a congested League One Season and a small first team squad, then Gillingham have got a lot of problems that need to be fixed In The January Transfer Window.

And right now, questions are being asked if Steve Evans should be given The January Transfer Window, or, if Gillingham should look to appoint a new manager mid-season, And the question being asked right now is a valid question, Because if this was Steve Evans first season in-charge, you can make the case for getting rid of a few players who Evans doesn't like, And Steve Evans can bring in his own players, and you can give the benefit of the doubt, But Steve Evans has overhauled the squad three times in his short tenure as Gillingham Manager, And Gillingham have signed Christian Maghoma, Declan Drysdale, Ryan Jackson, Zech Medley, Robbie McKenzie, Tom O'Connor, Josh Eccles, Scott Robertson, Alex MacDonald, Jacob Mellis, Kyle Dempsey, Jordan Graham, Dominic Samuel, Trae Coyle and Vadaine Oliver, either during the off season or during The 2020 / 2021 Season, and despite making fifteen signings this season, You can see area's of the squad where Gillingham are lacking, and the lack of pace within the squad is particularly concerning, Because Gillingham do not have A Myles Weston / Jermaine McGlashan type player on the bench who can come on for fifteen to twenty minutes and inject a bit of pace into the final third, And whenever Gillingham have switched to a formation which requires width, We are asking Kyle Dempsey, Alex MacDonald, Dominic Samuel and Tom O'Connor to play in the wide area's, The lack of pace means that Gillingham have to resort to a direct style of play because we do not have players with blistering pace who can be a defenders nightmare in the latter stages of matches.

As for my own thoughts on Steve Evans future right now, I think Paul Scally will back Steve Evans with funds for new signings in The January Transfer Window, And we will be hoping that those reinforcements can help Gillingham to be that one team that goes on a run from mid-table to challenging for a playoff place at the business end of the season, I just do not think Paul Scally will make a managerial change in the middle of the season in a season where there is no match-day income and maybe Paul Scally will remember what happened when Justin Edinburgh was sacked and Ade Pennock came in and Gillingham were dragged into A League One Relegation Battle and Gillingham just about avoided relegation into League Two on the final day of The 2016 / 2017 Season - And just is a over-statement - Because I don't think any of us can forget those six minutes after the full time whistle when Gillingham drew 0-0 away at Northampton Town and we had to wait for The Fleetwood Town V Port Vale Result to come through before Gillingham can finally breath a sigh of relief that we retained our League One Status - Also, A New Manager will want his own staff, his own players, and we would have to pay off Steve Evans and Paul Raynor mid-season in a season where there is no income coming into the football club.

Another criticism I have seen is Steve Evans reluctance to promote anyone from the youth team into the first team, Now there were exceptional circumstances as to why Gillingham could only name four substitutes on the bench for The Football League Trophy Game Against Cambridge United, However, there must be someone, particularly a striker or a winger in the youth team who can be named on the bench, especially with Jordan Graham, Trae Coyle and Dominic Samuel all out injured on the sidelines, I would say Jack Tucker is the one player who has come through the youth set up under Steve Evans Management who has excelled, Whilst Henry Woods and Joe Walsh have both been in and around the first team squad, And I suppose the question has to be asked if there is a reluctance from Steve Evans to promote anyone from the youth team into the first team, or, If our current crop of young players are no-where near good enough to play for the first team, One player who was always scoring goals in various loan spells in Kent Non League Football last season was Roman Campbell, and he was released, And I was also impressed with Toby Bancroft's brief substitute appearance for Gillingham against Dover Athletic In The Kent Senior Cup, So much so, That I wanted to see Toby Bancroft start for Gillingham against Whitstable Town In The Semi Final.

And as well as criticism of style of play, lack of possession, only one point picked out of a possible twenty four when Gillingham have played against the top ten teams in League One, Not having the squad depth to cope with the demands of a congested league season, And the reluctant to promote young players from the youth team into the first team (even though the latter criticism perhaps can be considered being over-critical or being over the top) There is pressure on our attacking players to score from few chances created, Kyle Dempsey's equaliser was Gillingham's only shot on target against Doncaster Rovers, John Akinde's shot which was saved by Nathan Baxter was Gillingham's only shot on target against Accrington Stanley, And when Gillingham won 2-0 against Swindon Town, both sides had three shots on target, But Swindon Town had 65% possession and nineteen attempts on goal, The lack of attempts on goal means that whenever John Akinde, Vadaine Oliver, Jordan Graham, Dominic Samuel and Trae Coyle get a goal-scoring opportunity, they have to take that opportunity and score, because another opportunity may or may not come there way throughout the entire match, that puts pressure on your attacking players to score, and that pressure will effect your players confidence, where as if Gillingham were getting eight or nine shots on target every game and Dominic Samuel, Vadaine Oliver, Trae Coyle and Jordan Graham have two shots on target each, they might miss the first chance, but someone will surely score the second chance they get on goal - Two shots on target in the last two matches against Accrington Stanley and Doncaster Rovers is a huge problem, and it is another thing to be concerned about.

MATCH DISCUSSION - And I have not even got into last night's match against Accrington Stanley, And I have got to criticise Steve Evans for switching to a back three with Robbie McKenzie, Declan Drysdale and Jack Tucker all playing as Gillingham's Three Man Defence with Ryan Jackson and Connor Ogilvie at wing back, There is nothing wrong with switching to this formation to try and confuse the opposition, However, Gillingham were switching to a formation which Accrington Stanley are very comfortable playing and Gillingham did not look comfortable playing with three centre back's against a team who know precisely the strength's and weaknesses of this formation, But the one change I was pleased to see was Dominic Samuel playing centrally alongside Vadaine Oliver, Dominic Samuel does not look comfortable playing out-wide when Gillingham line up with A 4-3-3 Formation, Or, on the right wing when Gillingham played A 4-4-1-1 Formation against Doncaster Rovers in the second half on Saturday, We wanted to see Dominic Samuel play as a central striker, and unfortunately, Dominic Samuel only played for twenty minutes before having to be substituted because of injury.

And as far as goal-scoring opportunities go, It was Accrington Stanley who were looking to open the scoring from the get go, Because Colby Bishop almost gets on to the end of a long pass down the right side of Gillingham’s Defence and Declan Drysdale has to come across and clear the ball out of play for A Accrington Stanley Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Accrington Stanley almost opened the scoring, Sean McConville whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jack Bonham gets the faintest of touches on to the ball to parry the ball wide and away from goal at the expense of conceding another corner kick - Michael Nottingham almost got on the end of Sean McConville’s dangerous in-swinging cross, but that crucial touch from Jack Bonham prevents Accrington Stanley from taking the lead - and from the second corner kick, Harvey Rodgers whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Vadaine Oliver headers the ball clear towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Seamus Conneely wins the aerial challenge up against Josh Eccles to header the ball back inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and the ball ricochets off Colby Bishop and Sean McConville’s first time shot towards goal is saved by Jack Bonham and Accrington Stanley have made a very encouraging start to this match and could have taken the lead already.

Ten Minutes Into The Match, And Sean McConville passes the ball out-wide to Matt Butcher down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Matt Butcher takes a touch to control the ball before firing in a low cross towards the near post which almost picks out Dion Charles inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, But Declan Drysdale was in the right place at the right time to clear the ball out of play for A Accrington Stanley Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Sean McConville whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jack Bonham manages to punch the ball partially clear and away from goal and Robbie McKenzie’s pass down the line goes towards Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely passes the ball forwards towards Michael Nottingham, And Michael Nottingham whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Colby Bishop manages to header the ball down towards Cameron Burgess inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Cameron Burgess manages to pass the ball back to Harvery Rodgers, who see’s both of his efforts on goal blocked by Josh Eccles and Vadaine Oliver respectively and Connor Ogilvie boots the ball clear and away from danger and Gillingham survive the latest attacking onslaught on to our goal.

Thirteen Minutes Into The Match, And Accrington Stanley had the chance to open the scoring again, Accrington Stanley have a throw on down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch - Gillingham’s Right - And Cameron Burgess and Sean McConville retain possession of the ball between them as Cameron Burgess opts for a short throw on, And Sean McConville eventually passes the ball forwards towards Matt Butcher, who is forced wide and away from goal by Ryan Jackson, But Matt Butcher lays the ball off to Cameron Burgess, who plays a short pass square to Joey Pritchard in a more central position on the pitch, And Joey Pritchard plays a first time pass backwards towards Sean McConville, And Sean McConville takes one touch to set himself and another touch to hit a low curling effort towards goal which was always curling wide and away from goal and never troubling Jack Bonham in goal, and the ball has gone out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

Twenty One Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham have been awarded a throw on right in the far corner of The Medway Stand / Brian Moore Stand, And it is from this throw on where Gillingham almost took the lead, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw into the heart of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area and the ball is allowed to bounce inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, and as the ball bounces up off the turf, Vadaine Oliver’s acrobatic over-head kick fails to hit the target and that was a golden goal-scoring opportunity for Gillingham to take the lead - Had Vadaine Oliver’s over-head kick been on target then Gillingham would have taken the lead, and this chance for The Gills came just moments after John Akinde had come on to replace Dominic Samuel in attack.

Twenty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Accrington Stanley could have been awarded a penalty kick, Sean McConville, has possession of the ball roughly twenty five yards from goal, And Sean McConville passes the ball square to Harvey Rodgers, And Harvey Rodgers gets the ball under control before playing a short pass square to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville passes the ball out-wide to Michael Nottingham, And Michael Nottingham gets the ball under control down the right side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Michael Nottingham whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post, and it looked liked Ryan Jackson had bundled Dion Charles down to the deck inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Referee Michael Webb waves away the penalty appeals from Accrington Stanley - But that penalty appeal looks exactly like the penalty Ryan Jackson conceded against Charlton Athletic when Ryan Jackson had fouled Omar Bogle inside our penalty area and this is something that Ryan Jackson has got to stop doing, otherwise Gillingham are going to concede quite a few penalty kicks this season.

Twenty Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Accrington Stanley had the chance to score again, Jack Tucker has to be in the right place at the right time to kick the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on, and it is from this throw where Accrington Stanley almost take the lead, Cameron Burgess throws the ball short to Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely gets the ball under control before passing the ball through to Cameron Burgess down the left side of the pitch, And Cameron Burgess manages to shrug off the attempted challenge from Jacob Mellis, run forwards in possession of the ball, and Cameron Burgess whips in a dangerous cross low towards the near post and Colby Bishop gets the faintest of touches on to the ball to flick the ball across the face of goal and just wide of the far right post, And had Colby Bishop made a better connection to get on the end of Cameron Burgess’s low cross, then Accrington Stanley would have taken the lead.

Thirty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Josh Eccles can consider himself very very lucky to have not been booked at the very least for a reckless challenge on Sean McConville, And when that challenge happened, I thought there was every possibility that Josh Eccles could have been sent off for his challenge on Sean McConville, So for Referee Michael Webb to only give Josh Eccles a warning is a very fortuitous decision indeed, And Accrington Stanley were looking to make the breakthrough from the resulting free kick as Sean McConville, whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Vadaine Oliver headers the ball clear and out of play for A Accrington Stanley Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Sean McConville whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jack Bonham makes a routine save in goal for Gillingham - But at this moment in time, It is Accrington Stanley who look likely to open the scoring in this important League One Fixture.

And In The Thirty Eighth Minute Of The Match, Accrington Stanley create another decent goal-scoring opportunity, Sean McConville has possession of the ball in Accrington Stanley’s Half Of The Pitch, And Sean McConville runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Harvey Rodgers, and Harvey Rodgers passes the ball back towards Seamus Conneely, And Seamus Conneely takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forwards towards Joey Pritchard, And Joey Pritchard has the time and space to take a few touches in possession of the ball before whipping in a low dangerous cross towards Colby Bishop inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Colby Bishop cannot get on the end of that dangerous low cross from Joey Pritchard and the ball runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Maybe Declan Drysdale sliding in had done enough to prevent Colby Bishop from getting on the end of that cross, but at the same-time, Declan Drysdale could have quite easily diverted the ball into the back of the net and score a own goal and give Accrington Stanley the lead as well.

Forty Minutes Into The Match, And despite Accrington Stanley creating a succession of goal-scoring opportunities, Gillingham had the chance to take the lead, Josh Eccles manages to intercept the ball from Sean McConville down the right side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Own Defensive Final Third, And Josh Eccles kicks the ball long down-field, And Josh Eccles long ball down-field turns into a decent long pass towards John Akinde, And John Akinde just cannot make any contact on the ball and had John Akinde headed the ball over the advancing Nathan Baxter, Then John Akinde could have opened the scoring for The Gills.

And In The Forty Third Minute Of The Match, Accrington Stanley manage to win themselves a corner kick, Michael Nottingham has possession of the ball in Accrington Stanley’s Half Of The Pitch, And Michael Nottingham plays a one / two with Sean McConville before continuing his forwards in possession of the ball, and Michael Nottingham passes the forwards towards Dion Charles on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Dion Charles spins past Connor Ogilvie’s attempted challenge and runs out-wide in possession of the ball and Dion Charles works his way towards the byline and his cross towards the near post takes a slight deflection off Connor Ogilvie, and the ball has gone out of play for A Accrington Stanley Corner Kick.

Unfortunately, From The Resulting Corner Kick, Accrington Stanley were able to take the lead, Matt Butcher whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Colby Bishop was in the right place at the right time to header the ball into the far right corner of the net and Accrington Stanley have taken the lead, and on the balance of play, you have got to say that Accrington Stanley deserved to go in-front, but what a dreadful goal and a dreadful time for Gillingham to concede just before half time - GILLINGHAM 0-1 ACCRINGTON STANLEY - And that goal combined with the less then impressive performance from Gillingham in this match so far, along with The 2-1 defeat away against Doncaster Rovers On Saturday has not been a good few days for Gillingham, and now Gillingham have all the work to do to try and get themselves back on to level terms at the very least.

However, In First Half Stoppage Time, Accrington Stanley could have doubled there advantage and gone 2-0 up, Cameron Burgess runs forwards in possession of the ball for Accrington Stanley down the left side of the pitch, and Cameron Burgess passes the ball forwards towards Dion Charles on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Dion Charles manages to spin past Robbie McKenzie’s attempted challenge and pass the ball centrally towards Matt Butcher on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Matt Butcher gets the ball under control before seeing his shot towards goal blocked by Colby Bishop, and the ball ricochets back to Sean McConville, who gets the ball under control and passes the ball towards Harvey Rodgers in a right / central position on the pitch, And Harvey Rodgers whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Declan Drysdale and Robbie McKenzie’s headed clearance goes straight towards Joey Pritchard inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Joey Pritchard lays the ball off to Sean McConville, And Sean McConville has seen his fiercely driven low effort towards goal brilliantly saved by Jack Bonham, who gets down low quickly to turn the ball around the post at the expense of conceding a corner kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Accrington Stanley had the chance to double there lead again, Sean McConville whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jack Bonham punches the ball partially clear and away from danger and Josh Eccles completes the clearance by kicking the ball out of play for A Accrington Stanley Throw On - 1-0 down, And Gillingham are still in this match, 2-0 down, And Accrington Stanley are in a fantastic position to pick up all three points.

And right at the end of the first half, Gillingham had the chance to equalise, Gillingham have a throw on down the left side of the pitch right in the far corner of The Gordon Road Stand / Brian Moore Stand, and it is from this throw on where Gillingham create the final goal-scoring opportunity of the first half, Connor Ogilvie throws the ball short to Jacob Mellis, who passes the ball short out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie passes the ball back to Jacob Mellis, who takes a few touches in possession of the ball before whipping in a low dangerous cross which is cleared by Colby Bishop straight into Kyle Dempsey’s path on the edge of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Kyle Dempsey manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson down the right side of the pitch, And Ryan Jackson just about manages to keep the ball in play before whipping in a high and hanging cross and Vadaine Oliver’s looping header towards goal is booted clear by Cameron Burgess and Robbie McKenzie headers the ball forwards towards Josh Eccles, who passes the ball back to Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker kicks the ball long down-field towards John Akinde, who chests the ball towards Vadaine Oliver, And Vadaine Oliver manages to pass the ball back to Jacob Mellis, And Jacob Mellis gets the ball under control before passing the ball out-wide to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie whips in a low dangerous cross towards the near post which was comfortably saved by Nathan Baxter In The Accrington Stanley Goal.

HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 0-1 ACCRINGTON STANLEY

SECOND HALF:

Tom O’Connor comes on to replace Jacob Mellis at the start of the second half, and it looks like Tom O’Connor will line up on the left side of midfield, Kyle Dempsey on the right, with Robbie McKenzie and Josh Eccles in central midfield, whilst Gillingham will line up with Ryan Jackson, Declan Drysdale, Jack Tucker and Connor Ogilvie as our back four, the back three / back five formation was not working and Gillingham had to change something at the start of the second half to try and cause Accrington Stanley more problems defensively, the vast majority of Gillingham Supporters were calling for a formation change at the break, and that is precisely what has happened - hopefully with the chance of formation we will also see the result change into Gillingham’s Favour and Gillingham can turn this 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win.

And right at the start of the second half, we see a immediate improvement from The Gills, Because Josh Eccles intercept’s a long ball forwards straight from the kick off and Josh Eccles passes the ball out-wide to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey plays a first time pass down the line towards John Akinde and John Akinde cannot get on the end of that pass from Kyle Dempsey, but pressure from John Akinde does at least force Cameron Burgess to kick the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Tom O’Connor’s in-swinging cross hits the roof of the net and goes out of play for A Accrington Stanley Goal-Kick - almost as if Tom O’Connor was trying to score directly from the corner kick.

Forty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Colby Bishop is penalised for his foul on Connor Ogilvie, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Gillingham had the chance to equalise, Jack Tucker kicks in a high and hanging cross-field cross and John Akinde wins the aerial battle to header the ball down towards Vadaine Oliver, and the ball was a bit behind Vadaine Oliver so he had to play a improvised pass out-wide to Kyle Dempsey, who manages to get the ball under control, And Kyle Dempsey is looking around for various passing options before passing the ball back to Josh Eccles, And Josh Eccles gets the ball under control before passing the ball out-wide to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey looks to take on Colby Bishop before passing the ball inside to Declan Drysdale, And Declan Drysdale passes the ball forwards to Josh Eccles, who flicks the ball around the corner to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey is through by the byline and Kyle Dempsey whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Cameron Burgess headers the ball partially clear and away from goal and Joey Pritchard headers the ball clear outside of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area and Declan Drysdale wins the aerial challenge to header the ball forwards towards Josh Eccles, And Josh Eccles manages to evade the attempted challenge from Joey Pritchard, run forwards in possession of the ball and Josh Eccles driven effort towards goal from the edge of Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area takes a double ricochet off Mark Hughes and Sean McConville, and the ball deflects very fortuitously into Vadaine Oliver’s Path, But Vadaine Oliver’s first time shot towards goal goes well wide of the far left post, and really, Vadaine Oliver should be hitting the target at the very least with that effort on goal - When Gillingham played against Doncaster Rovers On Saturday, Reece James opened the scoring when the ball deflected into his path, and Vadaine Oliver needed to do the same to pull Gillingham back on to level terms.

Fifty One Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham created another goal-scoring opportunity, Robbie McKenzie passes the ball back to Declan Drysdale just inside Accrington Stanley’s Half Of The Pitch, And Declan Drysdale passes the ball forwards towards Josh Eccles, who takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson passes the ball back to Declan Drysdale, who passes a first time pass centrally to Robbie McKenzie, And Robbie McKenzie retains possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson, And Ryan Jackson passes the ball back to Declan Drysdale, And Declan Drysdale takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and John Akinde wins the aerial challenge to header the ball towards Tom O’Connor, And Tom O’Connor chests the ball under control before hitting a half volleyed effort which goes just wide of the far left post - and that was the chance for Gillingham to equalise.

Fifty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham have a throw on down the left side of the pitch in Accrington Stanley’s Half Of The Pitch, And Connor Ogilvie hurls in a long dangerous throw and John Akinde wins the aerial challenge to flick the ball on towards Vadaine Oliver, And Vadaine Oliver manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Kyle Dempsey inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Kyle Dempsey’s pass towards Ryan Jackson is cut out by Sean McConville at the expense of conceding a corner kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Tom O’Connor’s in-swinging cross is routinely saved by Nathan Baxter and Gillingham have got to severely test Accrington Stanley defensively because that’s now two disappointing crosses from Tom O’Connor where Gillingham have not caused Accrington Stanley something to be concerned about, Accrington Stanley scored from a corner kick because of the quality of the cross, and we need to see better deliveries from corner kicks from The Gills.

Fifty Four Minutes Into The Match, And despite Gillingham pushing to find the equaliser, Accrington Stanley almost extended there lead with there first attack of the second half, Nathan Baxter kicks the ball long down-field and the ball bonces over Connor Ogilvie’s head and runs through to Dion Charles, who runs forward in possession of the ball inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Dion Charles low shot towards goal is saved by Jack Bonham at the near post and Jack Bonham prevents the ball from going out of play for A Accrington Stanley Corner Kick - That effort on goal from Dion Charles is a warning for Gillingham and Gillingham have got to defend much better then that from a long clearance from Nathan Baxter.

Fifty Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Accrington Stanley were looking to score that all important second goal, Cameron Burgess kicks the ball long down-field and Declan Drysdale manages to win the aerial challenge up against Colby Bishop and Declan Drysdale was in a physical battle with The Accrington Stanley Striker and Declan Drysdale has done enough to shield the ball back to Jack Bonham, who dives on to the loose ball, but that was less than conniving defending from Declan Drysdale there.

Fifty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham have been awarded a throw on down the left side of the pitch in Accrington Stanley’s Final Third, And Connor Ogilvie hurls in a long dangerous throw and Vadaine Oliver does really well to flick the ball across the face of goal and Nathan Baxter makes a comfortable save in goal for Accrington Stanley, And In The Sixty Second Minute Of The Match, Gillingham had the chance to equalise, Joey Pritchard is penalised for his foul on Josh Eccles on the halfway line and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick, and it is from this free kick where Gillingham should have scored, Josh Eccles quickly passes the ball square to Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker passes the ball out-wide to Connor Ogilvie down the left side of the pitch in Accrington Stanley’s Final Third, And Connor Ogilvie gets the ball under control before whipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Vadaine Oliver cannot get any contact on the ball, but the ball runs through to John Akinde, who retains possession before laying the ball off to Vadaine Oliver, And Vadaine Oliver’s scuffed shot towards goal trickles wide of the far left post and that is a disappointing effort on goal from Vadaine Oliver.

However, a minute later, And Gillingham really should have equalised, Tom O’Connor manages to keep the ball in play down the left side of the pitch in Accrington Stanley’s Half, And Tom O’Connor passes the ball back to Connor Ogilvie, who plays a long high pass towards John Akinde and John Akinde is through on goal inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And John Akinde waits for the ball to come down, shift the ball away from Mark Hughes attempted challenge and John Akinde’s fiercely driven effort towards goal is saved by Nathan Baxter and the ball has gone out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick - Could John Akinde taken that shot on earlier or maybe try and place the ball into the far right corner of the net, possibly, But John Akinde has tested The Accrington Stanley Goalkeeper in-between the sticks.

And the result corner kick see’s Kyle Dempsey whip in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Nathan Baxter gathers the ball with considerable ease, and from here, Accrington Stanley turn defence into attack, Nathan Baxter throws the ball out-wide to Cameron Burgess, And Cameron Burgess passes the ball down the line towards Dion Charles, And Declan Drysdale has come across and completely missed the ball and Dion Charles has possession of the ball in Gillingham’s Final Third And Dion Charles continue’s his run forwards inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area towards the byline, and Dion Charles pulls the ball across the face of goal across the six yard box and Tom O’Connor has cleared the ball away from danger for the time being, but Joey Pritchard is on to the loose ball inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Joey Pritchard skips past Josh Eccles attempted challenge before passing the ball across the six yard box and Dion Charles is there to stick the ball into the back of the net with a first time finish and there is nothing that Jack Bonham can do about that - GILLINGHAM 0-2 ACCRINGTON STANLEY.

But that goal from Accrington Stanley has come after Gillingham have created plenty of goal-scoring opportunities in the second half, With John Akinde’s shot on target forcing Nathan Baxter to make a save just a minute earlier, But Gillingham’s defending for the second goal was poor and what was Declan Drysdale doing when he has essentially allowed Dion Charles to have possession of the ball down the left side of the pitch, the defending from Gillingham from then onwards was disappointing to say the least, And with Accrington Stanley winning 2-0, the prospects of Gillingham getting anything out of this match is looking slim at best.

Seventy Minutes Into The Match, And Accrington Stanley had the chance to go 3-0 up, Accrington Stanley have a throw on in there own half of the pitch, And Michael Nottingham throws the ball back to Mark Hughes, who takes a touch to control the ball, And Mark Hughes plays a short pass out-wide to Michael Nottingham, who gets intercepted by Vadaine Oliver, And Vadaine Oliver retain possession of the ball before trying to pick out Robbie McKenzie with a threaded through-ball and Mark Hughes makes the all important interception and Michael Nottingham passes the ball backwards towards Seamus Conneely, who kicks the ball long down-field and Colby Bishop wins the aerial challenge up against Jack Tucker to flick the ball on towards Dion Charles, And Dion Charles has the pace to run forwards in possession of the ball, And Dion Charles see’s his low effort cut across the face of goal from outside the penalty area go just wide of the far left post, and that really should have been 3-0 to Accrington Stanley - Colby Bishop won the aerial challenge up against Jack Tucker, But Declan Drysdale is really struggling at the moment and I just wonder if Declan Drysdale is going to be substituted, Because he has put in a very disappointing performance for The Gills in this match against Accrington Stanley.

Twenty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Tom O’Connor’s cross is blocked by Michael Nottingham at the expense of conceding a corner kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Gillingham had the chance to half the deficit, Tom O’Connor has whipped in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Cameron Burgess headers the ball clear, and the ball ricochets towards Connor Ogilvie, who’s shot on the turn is blocked and the ball ricochets back towards Ryan Jackson, who passes the ball back to Jack Bonham, And Jack Bonham takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Cameron Burgess wins the aerial challenge up against Vadaine Oliver and Declan Drysdale chests the ball under control before volleying his effort towards goal very high into the back of The Rainham End and the ball has gone out of play for A Accrington Stanley Goal-Kick - Declan Drysdale would have redeemed himself for his error for Accrington Stanley’s second goal if he had scored for 1-2.

And when the ball goes out of play, Gillingham make a double substitution as Alex MacDonald comes on for Robbie McKenzie and Scott Robertson comes on for Vadaine Oliver, It appears that Gillingham have switched to A 4-2-3-1 Formation with Josh Eccles and Scott Robertson in central midfield, Tom O’Connor on the left, Kyle Dempsey on the right, And Alex MacDonald playing just behind John Akinde in attack.

Seventy Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham win themselves another corner kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Alex MacDonald whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Colby Bishop wins the initial aerial challenge to header the ball partially clear and Jack Tucker is on to the loose ball inside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Jack Tucker gets the ball under control before passing the ball back to Scott Robertson, And Scott Robertson takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Harvey Rodgers headers the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Accrington Stanley manage to clear there defensive lines and Dion Charles gives the ball away to Josh Eccles, who runs down the right side of the pitch in possession of the ball, And Josh Eccles is right by the byline, And Josh Eccles pass back to Ryan Jackson is intercepted by Joey Pritchard, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And from the resulting throw on, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and John Akinde does win the aerial challenge to header the ball across the face of goal, But Accrington Stanley have everyone back to defend these long throws and every defensive clearance goes to A Gillingham Player with Jack Tucker now in possession of the ball, And Jack Tucker kicks the ball long down-field and John Akinde wins the aerial challenge to header the ball down towards Declan Drysdale, And Declan Drysdale doesn’t make the sort of movement you would see a striker usually make when John Akinde wins the knock-down and Michael Nottingham boots the ball clear and away from goal as Accrington Stanley are happy to defend this two goal lead.

Eighty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham had the chance to half the deficit to 1-2, Ryan Jackson uses his pace to take on Joey Pritchard and whip in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Tom O’Connor’s downward header is blocked and deflected out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick - And Tom O’Connor’s header was on target and the block preserves Accrington Stanley’s two goal lead.

Eighty Five Minutes Into The Match, And Accrington Stanley have the chance to go 3-0 up, Sean McConville intercepts Josh Eccles pass and runs forwards in possession of the ball, And Sean McConville continue’s his run forwards before threading a through-ball through to Dion Charles and Dion Charles is one on one with Declan Drysdale inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Dion Charles goes past Declan Drysdale, And Dion Charles shot towards goal is blocked by both Jack Tucker and Jack Bonham at the near post and the ball goes out of play for A Accrington Stanley Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Accrington Stanley create another decent goal-scoring opportunity, Sean McConville plays a short corner to Joey Pritchard and Joey Pritchard losses possession of the ball to Josh Eccles, And Josh Eccles pass down the line is cut out by Matt Butcher, who just smashes the ball long down-field and Josh Eccles, Tom O’Connor and Ryan Jackson just cannot dig the ball out of the far corner and Declan Drysdale can only kick the ball partially away from goal, And Scott Robertson losses possession of the ball to Harvey Rodgers, who spins past both Scott Robertson and Connor Ogilvie, thankfully, Harvey Rodgers shot towards goal lacked the power to severely test Jack Bonham, who was able to make a very routine save in goal for The Gills.

Eighty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham have the chance to get themselves back into the match, And if Gillingham are to get a draw, then this needs to be a goal, Gillingham have a throw on right in the far corner of The Gordon Road Stand / Rainham End, And Ryan Jackson throws the ball short to Scott Robertson, who takes a touch to control the ball, And Scott Robertson runs inside into a more central position of the pitch just outside Accrington Stanley’s Penalty Area, And Scott Robertson’s fiercely driven effort towards goal clears Accrington Stanley’s crossbar and Nathan Baxter isn’t required to make a save, and the final noteworthy moment of the match see’s Ryan Jackson pass the ball back to Scott Robertson in a more central position on the pitch, And Scott Robertson takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick, And Jack Tucker’s Header across the face of goal goes wide and out of play for A Accrington Stanley Goal-Kick, and after three minutes of additional time, the full time whistle is blown, and the full time score inside Priestfield Stadium is Gillingham 0-2 Accrington Stanley.

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 0-2 ACCRINGTON STANLEY

A lot of the comments I saw post match was criticism regarding Steve Evans post match comments regarding the chances we have created and dominating possession, John Akinde’s shot on goal was the only save that Nathan Baxter had to make throughout the entire match, Vadaine Oliver had two chances in the second half where he really should have hit the target, But as I mentioned above, Kyle Dempsey’s goal was the only shot on target against Doncaster Rovers, John Akinde’s effort was Gillingham’s only shot on target against Accrington Stanley, and only two goals scored against teams in the top ten in League One is a very concerning stat to say the least.

But Gillingham have the chance to put the last two disappointing defeats against Doncaster Rovers and Accrington Stanley behind them if Gillingham were to win away against Rochdale at the weekend, Gillingham have got a terrible record at Spotlands and Gillingham drew 2-2 away against Rochdale last season, And whilst a draw away from home wouldn’t be a bad result, Gillingham can do with a win just to put the last two results behind us, and also, With The Boxing Day Match Against Peterborough United Postponed, Gillingham can do with going into this mini season break off the back of picking up all three points against Rochdale This Weekend - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!

#Gillingham #AccringtonStanley #LeagueOne #FootballTactics

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