[ 11 Feb 17 ] GILLS v Port Vale Match Thread

[Garawa]

In comparison to Port Vale we did but nowhere near as much as against Shrewbsury. Donnelly had a great chance to tuck it in the bottom left corner but got excited and sent it back to the right where Cody almost inadvertently deflected it in. A square ball across the 6 yard box should have been tapped in in the second half and I think Parker was 3 seconds away from scoring the winner when the ref blew for offside (and then full time straight after) when I don't think he was at all. Had he not done so he would have had the shot. There were a couple of attacks also that were thwarted after the ref blew for some very minor fouls.....although they can't really be called that at all.

We were poor but compared to Vale, looked the more threatening side in my opinion.

[gillsfan1066]

They didn't have a good pre -season, hahahahahahahahaha, when was that July of last year, hahahaha????? What the hell are you talking about , these teams have played 30 games since then , plus a couple of cup games and that rubbish competition that included some reserve teams , come on be serious there a crap side like were proving to be.

[Garawa]

Personally I think it was brinkmanship and one of two alternatives. Their captain was either saying that a poor pre-season now means they were quote "not conditioned at all" and that the games played so far means that the players are paying the price for it now with no ability to bring in new faces (something he blames squarely on former manager Ribero who was sacked at the end of December). Or this was a way of putting the players performances totally down to a manager no longer at the club and excusing their lack of recent ability.

Either way it appeared to show in their play and if they continue that way, would surely be one (along with Coventry) to go down this season.

[Garawa]

Link to the goal highlights can be accessed at the bottom of the match info post at the very top of each match thread. I have edited the post to include the Vale highlights that have just been published.

[Kent_UckyFriedGills]

That was the worst performance I have seen for a long while.I wasn't at the Oxford game.I'm disappointed as we have no win since December,and these games against Teams around us are the games you need to be winning if you want to stay up.Port Vale were poor,but we made them the better side.Their goal was poor to give away,and we just could not keep the ball.They were stronger and first to the ball most of the game as well.We robbed Port Vale of a win when Parker headed in to equalise in the 95th minute.Most around me had left,and not many celebrated the goal.It was a strange game as the atmosphere was flat,as was the performance.The crowd was under 5,000 as well which is a concern.If we can beat Chesterfield and get a result at Coventry you can say it is a good point.Yesterday is a game most will forget quickly.

[fan_of_mulligan]

Thank You Josh Parker, because not only does that last gasp equaliser prevent Gillingham from losing the game, but it also prevents Port Vale from leap-frogging Gillingham in The League One Table and that goal could be oh so important come the end of the season, and we could well be talking about Josh Parker's Goal being the difference between avoiding relegation into League Two, and getting relegated, it is also a goal that extend's Gillingham's unbeaten run to four matches with four draws in a row, which shows that Gillingham are becoming a difficult side to beat, but we're still waiting for that opening win under Adrian Pennock's Management.

And it is so frustrating, because Adrian Pennock stuck with the same team that earned a valuable point away from home against Bradford City, and rightfully so as well, but Gillingham put in such a dreadful display, and if Gillingham put in the same effort we put in against Bradford City against Port Vale, we would be talking about an important home win and picking up all three points, perhaps complacency crept into the players, and 3-4 of them thought that, well, we drew with Bradford City so we should beat this lot comfortably, and that does happen, but we got away with it yesterday, Port Vale should have left Priestfield Stadium with all three points, and we have to be grateful that Josh Parker has scored a valuable equaliser to prevent Port Vale from winning the game and extending our unbeaten run, but huge improvement is going to be needed against Chesterfield on Tuesday Night - A Match that Gillingham have got to win now.

It was good to see Lee Martin make his competitive debut for Gillingham, and Adrian Pennock was very positive with his substitutions as Josh Parker and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas came on to replace Jake Hessenthaler and Scott Wagstaff, and it was these two who combined for the equaliser, we also had Bradley Garmston and Elliott List on what was a very attacking substitutes bench and Adrian Pennock has got a tough call to make now, should Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Josh Parker start in place of Scott Wagstaff and Cody McDonald, or, does he stick with the same eleven again, hoping that consistency in team selection, will mean more of an understanding is built up among the players ??? - I can see some changes being made, as we're in a spell of playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday for the next few weeks, but it is nice to look at The Substitutes Bench and realise that there are options there if we need to make any changes to The Starting Line Up, or make any changes during the game, and two of Adrian Pennock's Substitutes contributed to the late equaliser.

But while there are plenty of attacking options available, there is very little that can be done to improve the defence, Ryan Jackson was awful, Chris Herd did OK, but I would like to see Chris Herd play in his more natural Central Midfielder Role, Adedeji Oshilaja is being asked to play at Left Back because Paul Konchesky lacks pace, and Bradley Garmston is still getting back to full fitness, but Max Ehmer did have a very good game in the centre of Gillingham's Defence Yesterday, but I went with Josh Parker as Man Of The Match, because it was a dreadful performance in freezing conditions, and Josh Parker scored with the last kick of the game to earn Gillingham a valuable point.

This was one of those matches which won't live long in the memory for The 4,942 Supporters who braved the freezing conditions at Priestfield Stadium to watch a very disappointing match with very few moments of genuine quality, a match that perhaps sums up Gillingham and Port Vale's Eighteenth and Nineteenth Position's in League One, and normally, if your The Away Team then you would be the happier of the two sets of supporters to earn a point, but on this occasion, I think we're the happier of the two sets of supporters because Port Vale Deserved to win, Sheffield United and Bradford City were brilliant performances away from home, but to go to Bradford City and draw 2-2, and then play so badly yesterday was hugely disappointing, and it could have been so much worse had Port Vale held on for the win, we could be talking about a bad result and a bad performance, thankfully, we nicked the point right at the very end of the match.

Final Thought: The Goals we're scoring at the moment are mostly from set plays, Josh Wright has scored from two knock-down's from Ryan Jackson's Long Throw, and Josh Parker headed in Gillingham's Equaliser From A Corner Kick, that confirms that Gillingham aren't creating enough goal-scoring opportunities in opening play, The Long Throw is a useful weapon to have, but more needs to be done in the final third, and in Scott Wagstaff, Rory Donnelly, Bradley Dack, Cody McDonald, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Josh Parker, Lee Martin and Elliott List, there is enough players there who are creative and can create goal-scoring opportunities, getting the best out of these players and scoring 2-3 goals a game is absolutely crucial, because this Gillingham Side is incapable of keeping clean sheets, that Gillingham need to score two or three goals a game to win a game.

At least we're four games unbeaten, OK, Four Draws, but this is a starting point and I am hoping that slowly but surely we will get there under Adrian Pennock, but Chesterfield is A Must Win Game on Tuesday Night, and I am hoping that A Night-Time Atmosphere at Priestfield Stadium can inspire the players to get that all important win we need, so that we can take some confidence into The Coventry City Game at the weekend, which is also, another very important league game.