I'm reserving judgement on my concurrence to the title of the thread, but to be fair to him whatever he did at half time yesterday had a positive outcome.
The first half was, well I know the intolerance of this board to foul language, so I'll just say dire. It really did look like exactly what it was - a game between 2 clubs whose positions in the lower half of L1 seemed fully justified. The ball spent an inordinate amount of time in the air, and after the Gills threat in the first 5 or so minutes was nullified we created very little (if not nothing) of note. Accrington definitely had the better of the half and but for over-enthusiastic movement on the part of their forwards, and a couple of shots placed just slightly more accurately, could have had a couple of goals or more. From a Gillingham point of view the only outstanding moment of note was the save by Bonham from Colby Bishop's header - and outstanding is exactly what it was.
The second half was much better from a footballing point of view, with Gills keeping the ball on the ground much more, and looking a much better team for it. Accrington were probably still creating more chances, but RCC's goal was well developed down the right, and when he got the ball his turn inside Hughes and subsequent shot were both quality.
After that it was just (just??) a matter of keeping Accrington out for the last half hour. That we managed is largely down to some remarkable saves from Jack Bonham, who was light years ahead of anyone else in the Star Player stakes. Throughout the game RCC did significantly more good than bad, and Ogilvie and Ehmer played solidly in central defence.
And several words of credit are due for Accrington's ongoing ground improvement. The away end is still uncovered (and probably will remain so), but the facilities for both sitting and standing away fans, behind the away end of the stand opposite the main stand (to the right of the away end for those who know the ground) are much improved. But the biggest improvement is in the pitch, which was relaid last summer. Along with, I think, most of the country we had incessant rain from Thursday evening, through Friday and overnight into Saturday. It was still raining on Saturday morning when I left for the 30 minute drive to the game. But the pitch played superbly from beginning to end, and still looked in excellent condition at the end of the game.
So, my first game of the season, and on balance, well I'm grateful that I stayed dry - the rain finally stopped at about 2pm - and for the 3 points. But the quality of the match, particularly the first half, will not live long in my memory. I know the attribution of 'luck' in games is ultimately pointless, but Accrington will have less luck in games, probably this season, and come out on the winning side.
)) - but my paternal love for them is so great that I am able to see beyond the negatives. It won't help to improve society in general ( because the negatives will affect others, rather than myself ). Does this make me a bad parent ? Maybe ' yes ' to an extent. But my sons are not criminals. They are growing up in a World in which I comes a long way before YOU. This is a tide which is difficult to swim against. Regrettably it is becoming a more common trait in our society.
