[ 1 Feb 22 ] GILLS v Crewe Alexandra Match Thread

[Garawa]

- Crewe lead the wins 23 to the Gills 21 and only 8 meetings have been drawn. Crewe won the reverse fixture 2-0 earlier in the season, ending a run 4 straight Gills wins in which they scored 9 goals and conceded 1.
- Crewe last won at Priestfield in March 2014 making it 4 consecutive home defeats to Crewe (1-3, 3-4, 1-3 and 0-3). Since then, the Gills have won 3 in a row against today's visitors (2-0, 3-0 and most recently 4-1).
- Crewe have the worst first half goal difference in League 1 (-13) thanks to conceding 25 goals in their 28 games before half time. They have conceded 5 goals in their last 5 first halves whilst the Gills have conceded 8.
- 10 League 1 games this season have seen a side manage to win no corners during the match. 4 of those were for Crewe including in 2 of their last 3 games. The Gills have conceded 10 corners in their last 4 games with a League 1 average of 5.2 per game.
- The Gills will join Crewe on 22 points with a win. Crewe have won 3 of their last 8 league games but have failed to score in each of the last 3. The Gills have won 3 games all season.
- Crewe's previous 14 away league games have seen just 1 win (2-1 at Morecambe) and they have suffered 10 defeats. Crewe are the only League 1 side to have conceded in every away league game this season.

(19.46) Kick Off [ 3 - 4 - 1 - 2 ]
Neil Harris takes charge for the first time for the Gills. No place for Ben Thompson who could not be registered in time.

(19.49) Lloyd attacks and is brought down but its a good challenge. Lloyd then forces a really good save from Jääskeläinen in the Crewe goal.

(20.00) Carayol drives forward and drives a shot across goal which takes a faint touch and out for a corner.

(20.01) Penalty! The attack continues with Carayol and Lloyd making a nuisance of themselves. O'Keefe sends it back and handball is given.

(20.02) GOAL! Gillingham 1-0 Crewe Alexandra: Lloyd (pen)

(20.06) Gills counter-attack at speed and a neat pass just evades the lunge of McKenzie who would have made it 2.

(20.25) Lloyd has the ball on the edge of the box, resists the urge to shoot and finds Carayol. His low bullet cross could go anywhere but deflects out for a corner.

(20.34) Tucker and O'Keefe cause a bit of mayhem in the Crewe box. The ball strikes a hand but the ref deems it ball to hand despite loud protests.

(20.31) 6 minutes of stoppage time will be added due to a lengthy injury to a Crewe player.

(20.36) Play stops again after Carayol lands awkwardly and is taken to hospital for a head injury. Oliver takes his place.

(20.47) Half time 1-0.

(21.03) The second half kicks off.

(21.15) Oliver strikes a peach of a left-footed shot which comes off the inside of the post, travels across the face of the goal and out for a goal kick.

(21.33) Tucker is called upon to make a couple of vital interventions.

(21.47) Crewe get into the box. A good shot is met by Chapman who gratefully falls onto the ball. Gills holding on and trying to slow the game down.

(21.49) Like the first half, there will be 6 minutes of stoppage time in this half.

(21.56) FULL TIME 1-0
The Gills finally win after 18 games, avoiding setting a new club record of 18 league and cup games without a win. Neil Harris wins his first match in a game which lasted around 1 hour an 55 minutes.

Attendance: 4,917 (151)
Position: 23rd
Referee: Darren Drysdale
Match highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkOroLhlwxs
BBC Match Report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59618282