Oldham Athletic (H) - 24 Jan 15

[Rimshot]

Great win, well done the lads, only downside is that Hess will be negotiating his contract this morning.

[fan_of_mulligan]

Phew, a sigh of relief because having been pulled back to 2 - 2 from being 2 - 0 up, I said to Stephen that if we didn't get all three points then Gillingham would of dropped two or all three points in a match that I believed that Gillingham had to win, pre-match I spoke about Gillingham's home form being crucial in ensuring in deciding on what division Gillingham will be playing in next season (and I apologise for harping on about it) but with home matches against MK Dons, Sheffield United, Bradford City, Rochdale and Notts County to come, then it is crucial that when we do play against "teams we should be taking points off" then we grab them - thankfully that is precisely what Gillingham did but boy don't we make hard work of it.

I managed to get the starting eleven spot on this week and at least the team selections from Andy Hessenthaler, Darren Hare, Mark Patterson and Steve Lovell have been consistent with a 4.4.2 diamond midfield formation, and I think Peter Taylor needed to pick one system as his Plan A and have a few other systems as Plan's B and C, I know the 5.3.2 formation wasn't well liked but at the time, Leon Legge, Max Ehmer and John Egan were the players in-form and it wasn't surprising that Peter Taylor stuck with that system, but I did felt that in the long run, Peter Taylor needed to either move one of them three to right back or defensive holding midfield or drop one of those three to the substitutes bench - Peter Taylor choosing to do neither is probably one of the reason's why he is no longer Gillingham Manager anymore.

FIRST HALF

And Seven Minutes into the match Gillingham score the opening goal to go in-front, Cody McDonald plays the ball forward and John Marquis on the half turn runs at Oldham Athletic's defence which is all over the place and John Marquis goes past James Wilson and places the ball into the bottom left corner of the net and there was nothing Paul Rachubka could of done to prevent John Marquis from opening the scoring, after going in-front Oldham Athletic had the bulk of possession and were creating clear cut goal-scoring chances as Bradley Dack blocks Brian Wilson's long range effort and under pressure Max Ehmer concedes a corner kick, and it is from this corner kick that Oldham Athletic should of equalised because Stuart Nelson was all over the place and out of position for Liam Kelly's Corner Kick and only a very good defensive header from John Marquis at the back post prevented Oldham Athletic from equalising.

But despite Oldham Athletic having the vast majority of the possession it is Gillingham who double the lead, James Wilson runs out with the ball from right back and plays a very poor pass inside which is intercepted by Cody McDonald and Bradley Dack is just able to prod the ball through despite being clattered by George Elokobi and John Marquis rolls the ball into the bottom left corner of the net and although Paul Rachubka got a touch on the ball, it wasn't enough to stop Gillingham from making it 2 - 0, it was nice to take the lead so early on in the match and to double the lead after fourteen minutes is even better - but any thoughts of a comfortable afternoon and a easy win were evaporated very quickly.

Oldham Athletic had there chances to score and I thought that Dominic Poleon and Amari Morgan-Smith were giving Gillingham a lot of problems defensively and Dominic Poleon often drifted into wide position's and his low cross was partially cleared by John Egan and Carl Winchester blasted over from twenty yards out and Mike Jones saw his tame effort on goal routinely saved by Stuart Nelson, but the amount of times that Oldham Athletic were in and we needed the intervention of a last ditch block / last ditch clearance was very concerning, especially down the left side of the defence where Max Ehmer and Bradley Garmston look less then convincing and I do believe that we need Leon Legge and John Egan in defence so that John Egan os on the left side of defence - you can understand why Peter Taylor played three centre backs because three centre backs disguised Max Ehmer's weaknesses as he had John Egan and Leon Legge to cover him, where as when you play with a flat back four, you got two centre backs up against one striker and one supporting striker so it is two v two in the middle.

Eighteen Minutes into the match and Bradley Dack conceded a very cheap penalty kick which means that Gillingham have conceded three penalties in there last three league games (Oldham Athletic, Coventry City and Crewe Alexandra so it is obviously something we need to work on), Mike Jones played a neat give and go with Connor Brown and Mike Jones was being closely marked by Bradley Dack and Mike Jones lays the ball off to Danny Philliskirk who is challenged by Bradley Dack and the first challenge wasn't a penalty, but the second challenge by Bradley Dack was a penalty and I was disappointed that we gave Oldham Athletic a route back into the game considering that Danny Philliskirk was on the byline and not going to score from that position, up stepped Danny Philliskirk who saw his penalty to the bottom right corner of the net brilliantly saved by Stuart Nelson but Liam Kelly scored the goal to bring Oldham Athletic back into the match - I only considered this after the game but should that goal been allowed to stood because I did wonder if Liam Kelly should of been penalised for encroachment ???

Stuart Nelson also got himself needlessly booked for kicking the ball away while Amari Morgan-Smith was also shown a yellow card for his challenge on Doug Loft, but from our own free kick Oldham Athletic equalised in the worst possible of circumstances and as the ball was cleared Bradley Garmston had a number of options he could of chosen, he could of kicked the ball into touch, he could of attempted to hoof the ball across to the right side of the pitch to Gavin Hoyte or pass the ball back to Stuart Nelson, Bradley Garmston chose the latter and the pass back to Stuart Nelson was poor but Stuart Nelson made a complete mess of it as his control was poor and Stuart Nelson attempted to slide and gather the ball but Dominic Poleon got to the ball first and placed the ball into the back of the empty net before Bradley Garmston could get back in time to clear the ball off the line - there was no foul on the goalkeeper, but had Dominic Poleon hit the deck I do wonder if a second penalty would of been awarded and Stuart Nelson would of been sent off ??? - a bad error from both Bradley Garmston and from Stuart Nelson and that's two big mistakes that Stuart Nelson has made during the game, only this time the punishment has been capitalised on by Oldham Athletic - when the score-line was 2 - 1 Me and Stephen both said that Gillingham needed a ten minute spell to keep the score-line the same and not give Oldham Athletic any incentive and within five minutes the game has gone from being 2 - 0 to Gillingham to being 2 - 2 and we have thrown the game away now.

In the previous five matches between Gillingham and Oldham Athletic there have been four goals with 1 - 0 or 0-0 being the score-lines, yesterday we saw four goals scored inside the first twenty four minutes so My Prediction went out of the window, defiantly not a foul on Stuart Nelson and we were all disappointed that Gillingham have gone from being 2 - 0 up to being pegged back to 2 - 2, Bradley Dack almost made the score-line 3 - 2 to The Gills with a dipping volley on the 24th minute which went a yard wide of Paul Rachubka's left hand post but Josh Pritchard had Bradley Pritchard had a even better chance to score in The Thirty Second Minute, Josh Pritchard played the ball to John Marquis inside Oldham Athletic's Penalty Area but George Elokobi headers the ball to the edge of the penalty area, Doug Loft chests the ball down and flicks the ball over his shoulder and still Oldham Athletic cannot clear there lines and Josh Pritchard's first time shot is only just about kept out by Paul Rachubka when I thought Gillingham had re-taken the lead.

Thirty Seven Minutes into the match and Oldham Athletic could and should of gone 3 - 2 up and once again our left side of our defence was exposed yet again as James Wilson plays the ball through to Dominic Poleon who plays the ball out-wide to Carl Winchester and Bradley Dack cannot touch The Oldham Athletic Player inside the penalty area and Carl Wincester's cross picks out Mike Jones and Mike Jones's shot is superbly kept out by Stuart Nelson who has atoned for his error for conceding the penalty, but Oldham Athletic almost scored from the corner kick which caused Gillingham's defence all sorts of problems and Liam Kelly's shot took a rebound and has Dominic Poleon diverted the ball into the back of the net at the far post then his goal wouldn't have counted as the offside flag was already raised, granted Gillingham are leaving the likes of Bradley Dack and Cody McDonald forward whenever we defend corner kicks, but defensively we lack that experienced centre back who can lead and organise the team whenever we defend set plays, while Leon Legge isn't necessarily that type of player he provides us with a much assured option defensively and breaks up that left sided partnership between Max Ehmer and Bradley Garmston.

[fan_of_mulligan]

Brian Wilson fires over the crossbar from twenty yards out and I mentioned to Stephen that we need to go in at half-time with this score-line intact and re-group for the second half and thankfully both Liam Kelly and Carl Winchester cannot add further misery to The Gills Before The Break, I have also got to mention the number of appalling decisions in the first half that bothered me because I honestly felt that James Wilson should of been sent off for pushing John Marquis in the chest, I know John Marquis's foot was high but Andy Woolmer bottled the decision in my opinion and to book Bradley Dack for complaining about Liam Kelly walking up the line for the throw on is a very cheap yellow card considering the number of soft decisions given in Oldham Athletic's direction and the number of fouls given in James Wilson's favour was appalling and we would get free kicks in defensive area's of the pitch, but the big calls and the big decisions which define football matches Andy Woolmer has got those wrong - although I have no complaints about the penalty and I don't think Stuart Nelson was fouled for the second goal either.

HALF TIME GILLINGHAM 2 - 2 OLDHAM ATHLETIC

Myself, Stephen and Wainscotty all felt that there was a red card in this game somewhere and I felt that Bradley Dack had to be substituted and bring on Jermaine McGlashan for The Second Half, John Egan was also fouled by James Wilson and even then nothing was given when it was clear as daylight that John Egan had been tripped, but if McGlashan comes on we at least give Oldham Athletic's defence something to think about because Dominic Poleon and Amari Morgan-Smith are using there pace to cause us problems and the likes of Carl Winchester and Danny Philliskirk are also giving our inexperienced back-line problems and it doesn't help when your normal consistent experienced Number One is having a mare between the sticks as well.

The lack of width in midfield is exposing our frailties at the back and it is something we have to address, neither Bradley Garmston or Joe Martin are answers to our problems at left back and Max Ehmer looks weaker in a flat back four then he did when he played alongside Leon Legge or John Egan in our three man central defence, if you compared Kortney Hause with Max Ehmer you can tell that these two players are at completely different levels of the game, that's why Kortney Hause is playing first team football at Wolves having signed a three year contract extension, in a three man central defence Max Ehmer's weaknesses are less exposed because he has two defenders covering him, it also does not help that Bradley Garmston is weak defensively and looks like a left winger playing left back then a defensive minded defender.

I think Andy Hessenthaler, Steve Lovell, Mark Patterson and Darren Hare will stick with what what we have got for another fifteen to twenty minutes before making any changes, although I would of brought on Jermaine McGlashan for Bradley Dack at half time because I couldn't see this game ending without someone being sent off and Andy Woolmer was probably going to send off one of our own players - although whatever the result and regardless of Andy Woolmer's refereeing performance, I think we should be critical with Gillingham for allowing Oldham Athletic back into the game and not use blaming The Referee as a disguise for what were two legitimate goals in my opinion.

SECOND HALF

No changes for either team at half time but a hand-ball given against Josh Pritchard when the ball was blast at Josh Pritchard from a yard away and George Elokobi climbing all over John Marquis and having the free kick given in Oldham Athletic's favour shows that we are going to have to contend with more controversial decisions from Andy Woolmer, finally a decision goes outr way as George Elokobi fouls Jake Hessenthaler and Jake Hessenthaler hits a high ball into Oldham Athletic's Penalty Area and the ball bounces inside the six yard box and Max Ehmer's volley was blocked and Oldham Athletic get the ball away from danger, had Max Ehmer got his shot on target then Gillingham would of re-take the lead.

Josh Pritchard and John Egan put in some crunching challenges right in-front of where Me and Stephen were sitting but once Jake Hessenthaler was booked in The Fifty Ninth Minute for his challenge on Connor Brown, I said to Stephen that I would bring on Jermaine McGlashan and Brennan Dickenson for Jake Hessenthaler and Bradley Dack, there was a red card in this match somewhere and Andy Woolmer was probably going to be giving us the second bookable offence if either Dack or Hessenthaler made another late challenge.

But Oldham Athletic almost took the lead in The Sixty Third Minute, John Egan did well to slide in at the near post to block Carl Winchester's near post shot out of play for a corner kick, but it is from the resulting corner kick where Oldham Athletic created there best goal-scoring opportunity as James Wilson's corner kick to the back-stick was headered across the face of goal by George Elokobi and Liam Kelly's header was cleared off the line by John Marquis and Gillingham eventually cleared there lines, Enough was enough for Andy Hessenthaler, Mark Patterson, Steve Lovell and Darren Hare as Jermaine McGlashan and Brennan Dickenson came on for Jake Hessenthaler and Bradley Garmston - I was surprised to see Bradley Dack stay on the pitch but was Brennan Dickenson playing at left back, or the more likely option that Doug Loft played at left back with Brennan Dickenson in left midfield.

Jermaine McGlashan made an immediate impact as McGlashan used his pace to take on Connor Brown and I thought that Jermaine McGlashan was fouled inside Oldham Athletic's Penalty Area but only a corner kick and not a penalty kick was awarded, the resulting corner kick was taken by Bradley Dack and Bradley Dack's In-Swinging Corner Kick was headered clear to the edge of the penalty area and Cody McDonald's first time shot was deflected out of play for a throw on and it is from the resulting throw on that Gillingham do take the lead as Gavin Hoyte throw's the ball to Jermaine McGlashan who checks the ball back to Gavin Hoyte and Gavin Hoyte's deep cross is headered clear by James Wilson and Bradley Dack's first time volley takes a slight deflection off Carl Winchester and that deflection takes the ball away from Paul Rachubka and Bradley Dack's volley goes right into the top right corner of the net and Gillingham go back in-front and now we have to make sure we hang on this time or build on our lead and make sure that there is no way back for Oldham Athletic.

Oldham Athletic react to going behind by making a double substitution as Danny Philliskirk and Carl Winchester are replaced by Jacob Mellis and James Dayton, James Dayton is a name I recognized and Oldham Athletic are going to go all out to try and get themselves back into the match which hopefully meant that there was more space for Jermaine McGlashan, John Marquis, Cody McDonald and Brennan Dickenson to exploit, but rather then exploit the space it is Oldham Athletic who are in the ascendancy as John Egan has to make a crucial interception to prevent Dominic Poleon from pulling the ball back across the face of goal and from the resulting corner kick, James Dayton has over-hit the corner kick and the ball goes out of play for a goal kick which is the perfect result for The Gills and I thought Oldham Athletic did equalise in The Eightieth Minute as Oldham Athletic moved the ball about far too easily inside Gillingham's Penalty Area and Jacob Mellis fired the ball over the crossbar when I thought Oldham Athletic had scored "NO" Was My Response and it's another nervous moment for The Gills defensively and Jacob Mellis's shot going over the crossbar is a massive let off.

Chances came thick and fast for both teams as Dominic Poleon saw his shot saved by Stuart Nelson in The Eighty Second Minute, but two minutes later Bradley Dack has flicked the ball against James Wilson's Arm and somehow a penalty kick wasn't awarded, that looked more a penalty kick then the challenge on Jermaine McGlashan and you could make a case that both penalties should of been awarded, I also thought that John Marquis was intelligent enough to let Stuart Nelson's long kick down-field go over his head so we could pen Oldham Athletic in there half as Oldham Athletic had a throw on in there third of the pitch.

But this match isn't over and frustrations were boiling over as John Marquis is penalised twice for two fouls in quick succession for fouls on Brian Wilson and Liam Kelly and Referee Andy Woolmer was given some horrendous decisions through-out the match and I think Gillingham needed a fourth goal to make absolutely sure that we pick up all three points, Liam Kelly hit a long range effort over the crossbar from a free kick twenty five yards away from goal and once Liam Kelly's effort went over the crossbar John Marquis was substituted and Joe Martin came on in his place in stoppage time, John Marquis fully deserved the standing ovation he got when he was substituted and Stephen's Stat about Joe Martin went out the window when Joe Martin came on - this meant that Joe Martin played at left back with Doug Loft back in midfield and Cody McDonald was playing as a isolated centre forward.

[fan_of_mulligan]

Gillingham just needed to hang on and Stuart Nelson gathering crosses helped relieve the pressure on our goal and Cody McDonald had the chance to put the icing on top of the cake as Josh Pritchard hoofed the ball clear and Cody McDonald and George Elokobi competed for the bouncing ball and Cody McDonald turned inside Elokobi and McDonald's touch was heavy and he just couldn't lif the ball high enough to get the ball past Paul Rachubka and had that gone in then Gillingham would of secured all three points, we needed to held the ball into the corner and use McGlashan's pace to play for yards but eventually Gillingham did enough to held on to all three points.

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 3 - 2 OLDHAM ATHLETIC

Had we lost or drew that game then Gillingham would of dropped 2-3 points so it is a relief that we did manage to go in-front and stay in-front until the full time whistle and back to back home wins has made our league position look much more pleasant then it was eight days a go where Gillingham were inside the relegation zone and back to back home wins were needed and it is nice to be able to say that Gillingham picked up six points out of six in two league games, rather then hoping that we won two league games back to back.

I am concerned that Gillingham have to score three goals to win a league game and we scored three against Oldham Athletic and three against Coventry City and it is great to see the goals flying into the back of the net, but the weaknesses in defence (especially down the left side of the pitch) need to addressed, Bradley Garmston and Joe Martin are not the answers to our problems at left back and Max Ehmer looks more exposed in a two man central defence compared to a three man central defence, whoever we appoint as manager will need to sort out these problems in defence and sort them out quickly.

I also think that John Marquis has showed exactly the type of player he is with three goals in his last three appearances, (two against Oldham Athletic yesterday and one against Coventry City last week), I don't know why some of our supporters write a player off when they don't have a prolific goal-scoring record when we sign them, Frank Nouble, Gavin Tomlin, Chris Dickson, John Marquis and even when we first signed Cody McDonald, none of these players had goal-scoring record that made you think "wow this player is going to be amazing", but given enough game-time, regular football and playing in a system that gets the best out of them then these players have shown that they can stick the ball into the back of the net on a regular basis, a prim example of this is Rickie Lambert - twenty seven appearances for Liverpool this season and three goals, where as last season for Southampton Rickie Lambert scored seventeen goals - probably because Rickie Lambert was starting more matches and playing in a team that got the best out of him, I don't think Liverpool get the best out of Rickie Lambert in the same-way Southampton got the best out of him.

Stuart Nelson needs to work on the training ground or be dropped to kick him back into life, I have to admit that for the second goal, the corner kick where Nelson was caught underneath it and 1-2 other moments that Stuart Nelson put in a performance that is way below his usual standards, we know Stuart Nelson is a decent goalkeeper and he rarely lets Gillingham down, but maybe being dropped for The Bristol City Game in Mid-Week or maybe a few words on Stuart Nelson's ear to remind him that is he isn't undroppable might get Stuart Nelson back to the performance levels we are used to seeing from our normally consistent number one goalkeeper.

I got to speak with Gary after the game and how his prediction of a low scoring game went out of the window inside the opening twenty four minutes of the game, but the win does take some of the pressure off and hopefully we can make it three league wins in a row with a win against Walsall.

FINALLY - Who sits on The Halfway Line in The Gordon Road Stand, because there was a block who held the ball over the advertisement board before throwing the ball down the line and dancing to enjoy his moment in the sun, something that made quite a few of us laugh in Block G of The Medway Stand, just wondering if anyone who sits in The Gordon Road Stand spotted that moment themselves.

PAUL RACHUBKA - Paul Rachubka should of been booked for punching the ball outside the penalty area, I was in perfect line with the penalty area and Paul Rachubka was outside the penalty area when he punched the ball and at the very least Gillingham should of been awarded a free kick, yet another poor decision from Andy Woolmer.

[gillsfan1066]

WTf, someone control this woman, get her in a head lock and hold her outside the ground the next time there is a game. No one on here except FOM could possibly have read this , no one, not even the unemployed or someone confined to bed with gout has that much time on their hands.

[Garawa]

You make me chuckle!! Although I know Bunbury looks forward to them!

[Elgrande]

How can you have the time to do these reports and at the same time getting behind the team vocally. You must sit without uttering a word or any form of encouragement?

[Rimshot]

Let's not be too critical here - FOM is a proper fan! Completely obsessive about the team, probably slightly unhinged ( Fan of Mulligoon !!!!) but that's what football can do.

[baronnight]

FOM just ignore the criticism whether banter or not, people have the choice to read it or leave it so please keep them coming.

especially the away games as I don't get to that many anymore.

[Elgrande]

I am not saying he isn't a proper fan, but how on earth can you take that all in and be vocal and vociferous at matches. I have trouble remembering where the bus stop is after a few pints and watching a match!