A good performance, created chances and scored twice. First time we've scored more than once in a league game for a long, long time. Gillingham were nullified well after we scored - Rooney showed some neat touches when he came off the bench but failed to find a team mate with one of his passes, I think. Didn't look like a 6-figure player to me, but from 10 minutes I can happily accept that's an invalid judgement - he did look like he had the touch and dribbling ability of one destined for bigger things. Player Ratings: Neal: 6.5 - had nothing to to. I genuinely can't remember him making a save all game (not because he's bad, because our defence is so good!) Grandison: 8 - I'm always going to be a little biased towards everyone's favourite player, but he was solid defensively if a little inconsistent going forward. However, both goals were made by him; the first when he drove 30 yards forward and won a corner, and the second when his cross was deflected for Wright to volley home. Sharps: 7 - Won everything in the air. One or two iffy moments, but on the whole a composed performance. SCS: 8.5 (MotM) - Brilliant. IMO our best centre-half, an immaculate defensive performance from him as always, and a stunning volley (the technique was exquisite) which makes him our top scorer in the last 7 games. Jacobsen: 8 - another splendid performance, he worked hard, make some inch-perfect tackles and completely nullified any kind of threat down the left hand side along with Wright. Richards: 7 - I have come to expect stunning performances every week from this fella, and there were a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes (including missing a chance for what would've been a stunning goal in stoppage time), but an excellent work ethic and the usual efficiency with the passing ensured another good performance in the heart of Town's midfield. D. McAllister: 6.5 - A decidedly average performance. He lost the ball a fair bit but got stuck in and won it back, and I expect him to start next week. Solid enough, as débuts go. Taylor: 6.5 - Final ball was a little disappointing but his enthusiasm and work-rate were excellent. He linked up reasonably well with the forwards, but missed a chance to cap off his performance with a goal after bursting though their midfield. Wright: 7 - I couldn't understand the booing. It was pathetic, he played decently and almost hit the net from 25 yards. His goal was well taken, and I was not surprised in the slightest by the lack of celebration. Disgraceful from some of the fans, who then started singing his name in a childish attempt to pretend innocence. GET BEHIND THE PLAYERS! I expect him to leave in the summer. Morgan: 7 - good performance. Started slowly but grew into the game, troubled the defenders and worked tirelessly. Unlucky not to get a goal. Collins: 6.5 - Held the ball up well and won a couple of headers, but missed an absolute sitter. I am very much a fan, and I want to see him start the next game. Poor refereeing, I won't even start because I don't think I'd finish if I did. Dreadful. Gills fans, feel free to add your thoughts. A decent number of you there, despite a pitiful home showing from us. Decent noise though.
excellent report, on this performance are we capable of taking any points off southend next week? and are you concerned about our apparent lack of firepower up front. surely they cannot have off days every game
Great detailed report, well done today, you totally out played us, our team was too weak today, we had no striking power. Good luck for the rest of the season.
Morgan: 7 - good performance. Started slowly but grew into the game, troubled the defenders and worked tirelessly. Unlucky not to get a goal. This is starting to become a trait. There is no denying he works hard, but he is 'unlucky' not to score in most matches recently. We need our strikers to start scoring again, otherwise this will be another failed season.
Gillingham were very disappointing and very physical. Reminded me of Stevenage last season and Wimbledon of years gone by. Aerial challenges were always designed not to win the ball but surreptitiously prevent the opponent winning it. Only threat, as stated above, came from Rooney who was also profligate. Turner is still insistent on effort rather than quality. Taylor runs around a lot but once in possession always cuts inside and delays a pass too long. Collins' booking early on lessened his physical presence and it was noticeable, even for only the last few minutes, how much more aware Gornell is of his team mates around him. This included at least 3 sublime lay-offs culminating in one which set up Richards to run clean through on goal.
Well done. By far an away the better team won. All the best for the rest of the season. If any team in this league would be deserving of promotion it'd be you. Always there or thereabouts. Once again well done on a totally deserved 3 points. Sorry we weren't better opponents today.
I think Gillingham must have had an off-day today as they have been in good form recently but they did start the match off with the look of a team that would be happy with a point. The ref was diabolical and booked Collins just for going for a bouncing ball and after that Collins was wisely pulling out of 50:50 challenges. Our defence was magnificent and our midfield looked strong and Neal only had to make one save. Mcallister looked to be a yard short of full match fitness but I am sure he will improve and his steadiness and strong tackling enabled Richards to flourish alongside him and get forward with more purpose than I ever remember him doing. If we are to play two wingers I think it is essential to play two holding midfielders like we did today. There was some flowing and pacy breaks from us (particularly in the first half) that really stretched their defence and we had a couple of periods of play where we had several successive corners. Our finishing was again pretty awful - there were four clear instances where our forwards had just the keeper to beat and he only had to make one decent save. This is our biggest problem and I do not think we will be promoted unless we improve in this area. The final cross in also needs to be improved with the otherwise admirable Grandison and Taylor being the biggest offenders. I cannot agree with Lenny about Wright - he is a real mixed bag this season of the very good and the awful and his habit of pulling out of challenges and otherwise losing the ball very cheaply does not endear himself to the faithful. However, he did take his goal well and his footballling ability is a big asset when he is on song. I think he will stay because he was persona non grata at his previous club and will remember the faith GT showed in him. I cannot see why Ainsworth is on the bench - in my opinion he is better than either Wright or Taylor. It will be more of a test against Southend and it is important that one of our centre-forwards starts scoring soon but I do think Morgan and Collins are the two who work best together (even if only to create more chances for others). I suspect GT will go for the same starting line-up and predict we can shade it narrowly.
I agree about the point on Turner's desire for effort - I think it's why Wright, even on a bad day, is almost never taken off. I believe Collins was named MotM by Steve Cross on BBC Radio Shropshire, not quite sure why though. Gornell is an excellent player and whilst I would generally like to see a Gornell/Collins partnership, I don't feel Collins is quite on form at the moment, he worked hard (as always) but is nowhere near as good technically as Gornell, and isn't currently doing the one thing that Gornell doesn't - score. Morgan was a real threat, and I mean he was genuinely unlucky not to score - he was within inches. He caused their left back all kinds of problems, and I think he would be a decent shout as a winger in a 4-5-1/4-3-3 if Turner decides to try it again.
