League Two Gillingham (1) v Rovers (1)

[Boz]

Encouraging first half, home crowd sounding restless. Hope we can keep it up.

 

[Boz]

Rovers taking a bit of a battering this half. Time for a tactical change?

 

[Ian]

Yeah, lots of pressure from the home side this half and we are struggling to get it past the half way line.

 

[Higgy 2]

Rovers taking a bit of a battering this half. Time for a tactical change?

Big time. Norris looks so rusty.

 

[Higgy 2]

I'd be tempted to get Norris off, push Saunders up and stick Pike on left to help Wood as he's needed it since their subs.

 

[Boz]

Brave by Nigel replacing 2 attackers with another pair. Thought he might have brought McAlear on to tighten up midfield.
Gills now level.

 

[Higgy 2]

Shit. How come nobody standing in front of the corner taker?????? Easy to send in at pace.

 

[Sparky]

Let’s hope we can hold on for a point

 

[bigmart]

Not a bad point in the end, 2 very hard games coming up.
Meanwhile at the bottom FG win leaves Colchester in big trouble

 

[Boz]

When that added time effort from Dieng went in, was thinking not again. Thankfully the liner’s flag raised.

Good point given the second half battering Rovers seemed to be taking. Should Nigel have made changes earlier and did he make the right ones? Hard to call just from listening. Sounded like the defence played well including Yarney maybe having his best game in a Rovers shirt.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

A good result and it sounds like we should have won the game given the chances we created in the first half. I am glad Adkins's team selection was vindicated, as there is no way the same eleven players could have completed three such difficult games this week.

It seems Adkins has made decisions on a few players now, and Hawkes, McAlear, Norris and Jolley will be on their way. I am glad that Merrie is back in the fold and getting an opportunity.

 

[dollar'sbloke]

Cursing luck and the ref, then realised he had seen the basketball skills. Doesn't mean much but creditable result

 

[Higgy 2]

A good result and it sounds like we should have won the game given the chances we created in the first half. I am glad Adkins's team selection was vindicated, as there is no way the same eleven players could have completed three such difficult games this week.

It seems Adkins has made decisions on a few players now, and Hawkes, McAlear, Norris and Jolley will be on their way. I am glad that Merrie is back in the fold and getting an opportunity.

We definitely could have won I thought Hendry's effort late on was in...only to come off the inside of the post.
Logical substitutions just before the goal, but may have resulted in the corner taker having a clearer path to the goal given nobody attempting to block the easy path in.
Merrie and Yarney able deputies dorWalker and Davies.
LOC MoM for me.

 

[Boz]

Seen the highlights and Nigel's post-match interview. NA seemed pleased with the result though it sounded like he thought we should have done something different during the period we were dominated in the second half. He mentioned illness as being a reason for some of the absences in today's game, plus Connor Jennings being one booking away from a 2 match ban, so thought carefully about picking him.

Hendry's goal was quality and he was very unlucky not to get a second at the death. Good hold up work and ball to Regan from Sam Taylor for that late effort. An amazing goal-line clearance from Chris Merrie when we were still ahead too.

Had a quick look at the Gills forum. They mostly thought the result was fair although attributed Rovers' dominance in the first half mainly to selection errors and thought we were wasteful in taking our chances. Interesting that they didn't seem to have a particularly positive view of Luke Norris, who was on their books for a couple of years, either then or now.

 

[Ian]

 

[Ian]

Norris still has a way to go yet, you have to remember how long he's been out for. Those highlights didn't show Apter's miss when he hooked it well over which was a really great chance. Still a decent point on the road. Tough test coming up on Tues. I know there was a lot of pressure on the defence second half but I thought Wood struggled quite a bit with players running at him.

 

[Sparky]

Agree with Ian that we can’t really judge Norris yet. It’ll be interesting whether we give him another year as he’s moved his family up north. I suspect we will.

Pleased for Merrie as he’s decent on his day and we can’t rely on Walker to play regularly. Yarney sounds like he did ok and although he’s ok as back up, I doubt he’ll want another season on the bench so suspect he’ll go unless Turnbull leaves and Nigel persuades him to stay.
Wood does have his weaknesses and it’s whether we can afford anything better in that position.

A good result but the next two games are very difficult.

 

[mellow submarine]

First half , it was like Gills hadn't done their homework on Apter, Tranmere looked very dangerous on the counter attack . Gills didn't double up on Apter and when he was fed the ball he made fine progress towards their goal. Robbie is a top talent and really should have taken the opportunity to write his name in the headlines. He needs to grab a goal or two when he is given space like that. There was an air of nonchalance about the attacks, they lacked killed instinct. I thought that Gillingham would have to improve in the second half and they certainly did .

Gills were fired up, they were more aggressive physically and in the press. Tranmere were under the cosh for 40 mins. Its funny how Tranmere can dominate a team for 45 mins and score nil but when the boot is on the other foot ......
Gills targeted our left in numbers, Wood stuck his task but had far too much to do, Harvey helped out , but all too often Gills found a way through. Countless balls went into the box. Against a tall side we won our share of headers. Tranmere kept their shape well but when in possession, due to the opposition closing down, we couldn't string more than a few passes together before the turnover. It was one way traffic for most of the second half. At 75mins I did think that I would be happy with a point, the Morecambe game still fresh in my memory, their goal had an air of inevitability about it.

After the equalizer , maybe due to Gills taking a breather we had a little resurgence and dominated for a 5 minute spell in which Hendry came close to winner.

I was happy to hear the final whistle. A hard earned point, felt kind of disappointing because we had been in the lead for 80 mins, but , before the game I could only see one winner.

Could the line up have been improved upon ? if we had had a full squad and not such a busy schedule. The team is always better for having a fit Walker in the team. Norris did ok, tried to hold the ball up but Gills pressed hard , having Harvey in the forward line would have given them more of an out ball ,he was penned in on the left. Merrie did well, with a fine point saving goal line clearance, good to see him getting some game time . Maybe they would they have benefitted from McAlears physicallity in the middle when they were under the cosh, but he isn't great at holding onto the ball which was a big problem for all the team in the second half. Yarney dropped in seamlessly for Davies, he would have benefitted from Harvey being in the forward line with his booming clearances. I think Morris helps Wood out in so many ways, maybe he was a miss.
Josh maybe could have come on for Apter , but he is more effective on the left and but given Woods workload I wouldn't have wanted him there. Maybe having LOC in the middle to break up play, but he has been good at right back. Good to see Sam getting on, they need to plan for next season.

As much as I hate the dark arts, I think that we would have benefitted from a couple of fake head injuries in the second half , to waste time and stifle the oppositions momentum, given us a breather, Lord knows, enough teams do the same to us, maybe we could have held onto the lead. I guess that it isn't in Nigels DNA to coach such tactics but 3 points would have been nice.

An exiting game, deffo worth 90 mins on iplayer.

MOM - hard to pick a standout, everybody gave their all, I guess Hendry , for the goal, edges it.

My first time at the Priestfield, I was impressed, the local fans were friendly and knowledgable, proper supporters, well worth a trip.

 

[Sparky]

Interesting post match. As well as the usual post match tribute to Connor Jennings , Nigel rattled off some interesting stats that since he took over permanently in November, if the league had started then we’d be 4th in the league and 2nd on goal scorers.

Immaterial of course but gives some hope for next season, albeit I fear how we’ll Cope without Apter

 

[Sparky]

First half , it was like Gills hadn't done their homework on Apter, Tranmere looked very dangerous on the counter attack . Gills didn't double up on Apter and when he was fed the ball he made fine progress towards their goal. Robbie is a top talent and really should have taken the opportunity to write his name in the headlines. He needs to grab a goal or two when he is given space like that. There was an air of nonchalance about the attacks, they lacked killed instinct. I thought that Gillingham would have to improve in the second half and they certainly did .

Gills were fired up, they were more aggressive physically and in the press. Tranmere were under the cosh for 40 mins. Its funny how Tranmere can dominate a team for 45 mins and score nil but when the boot is on the other foot ......
Gills targeted our left in numbers, Wood stuck his task but had far too much to do, Harvey helped out , but all too often Gills found a way through. Countless balls went into the box. Against a tall side we won our share of headers. Tranmere kept their shape well but when in possession, due to the opposition closing down, we couldn't string more than a few passes together before the turnover. It was one way traffic for most of the second half. At 75mins I did think that I would be happy with a point, the Morecambe game still fresh in my memory, their goal had an air of inevitability about it.

After the equalizer , maybe due to Gills taking a breather we had a little resurgence and dominated for a 5 minute spell in which Hendry came close to winner.

I was happy to hear the final whistle. A hard earned point, felt kind of disappointing because we had been in the lead for 80 mins, but , before the game I could only see one winner.

Could the line up have been improved upon ? if we had had a full squad and not such a busy schedule. The team is always better for having a fit Walker in the team. Norris did ok, tried to hold the ball up but Gills pressed hard , having Harvey in the forward line would have given them more of an out ball ,he was penned in on the left. Merrie did well, with a fine point saving goal line clearance, good to see him getting some game time . Maybe they would they have benefitted from McAlears physicallity in the middle when they were under the cosh, but he isn't great at holding onto the ball which was a big problem for all the team in the second half. Yarney dropped in seamlessly for Davies, he would have benefitted from Harvey being in the forward line with his booming clearances. I think Morris helps Wood out in so many ways, maybe he was a miss.
Josh maybe could have come on for Apter , but he is more effective on the left and but given Woods workload I wouldn't have wanted him there. Maybe having LOC in the middle to break up play, but he has been good at right back. Good to see Sam getting on, they need to plan for next season.

As much as I hate the dark arts, I think that we would have benefitted from a couple of fake head injuries in the second half , to waste time and stifle the oppositions momentum, given us a breather, Lord knows, enough teams do the same to us, maybe we could have held onto the lead. I guess that it isn't in Nigels DNA to coach such tactics but 3 points would have been nice.

An exiting game, deffo worth 90 mins on iplayer.

MOM - hard to pick a standout, everybody gave their all, I guess Hendry , for the goal, edges it.

My first time at the Priestfield, I was impressed, the local fans were friendly and knowledgable, proper supporters, well worth a trip.

Thanks for the report Mellow.

I agree I think we need some more dark arts as we’re a bit too nice sometimes.

Wood is a bit of a concern. A full backs primary job is stop crosses as we don’t do it enough at times