[ 9 Apr 16 ] Sheff Utd v GILLS Match Thread

[fan_of_mulligan]

CHANCES FOR GILLINGHAM.......

THREE MINUTES – Gillingham have a long throw deep in Sheffield United Territory, and Ryan Jackson’s long throw is completely mis-judged by George Long and Rory Donnelly’s over-head kick lands on top of the roof of the net, Ryan Jackson’s long throw lead to Gillingham’s opening goal in the 4-0 win on the opening day of the season, Me and Danial both agreed after that close effort on goal for The Gills, that Gillingham should put in as many crosses and long throw’s into Sheffield United’s Penalty Area as possible.

FIVE MINUTES – And from the resulting goal-kick, Gillingham created another decent goal-scoring opportunity, George Long’s long kick down-field is flicked on by Chris Basham and Billy Sharp losses out to Max Ehmer challenging for the second ball, and Adam El-Abd headers the ball clear and Brennan Dickenson flicks the ball on, Paul Coutts keeps the ball in play and his attempted through-ball ricochets off Brennan Dickenson and Sheffield United Fans wanted a free kick for hand-ball, when the ball clearly hit Brennan Dickenson in the chest, from here Gillingham hit Sheffield United on the counter attack as Andrew Crofts runs forward in possession of the ball and Rory Donnelly ran wide to provide a passing option, and Andrew Crofts cuts inside and skips past Dean Hammond’s challenge and squares the ball to Jake Hessenthaler, who takes a touch to control the ball and Jake Hessenthaler tee’s himself up for a shot on target which has to be parried by Sheffield United Goalkeeper George Long – excellent strike from Jake Hessenthaler and Gillingham had recovered from that shaky start.

FIFTEEN MINUTES – Fifteen Minutes into the match and Luke Norris does extremely well to retain possession of the ball and Luke Norris plays the ball inside to Andrew Crofts, who from a similar position to Jake Hessenthaler tries his luck on goal, and Andrew Crofts shot on goal fails to hit the target and hits the advertisement board – WHY NOT, WHY NOT – Was my response, as Gillingham had created very little since that effort on goal from Jake Hessenthaler.

NINETEEN MINUTES – Ryan Jackson’s long throw again causes havoc in Sheffield United’s Penalty Area as George Long punches the ball clear as Max Ehmer went up for the aerial challenge, if Gillingham are going to score against Sheffield United then I can see the goal coming from a set play, three of Gillingham’s goals came from a set play against Sheffield United on the opening day of the season, and it appears that Sheffield United haven’t improved defensively from that opening day result.

TWENTY FIVE MINUTES – Gillingham created the best goal-scoring opportunity of the entire match and Gillingham should of scored, again this goal-scoring opportunity came from a free kick, Brennan Dickenson’s in-swinging corner kick to the far post see’s Max Ehmer header the ball across the face of goal and Adedeji Oshilaja header’s the ball over the crossbar when we all thought that Adedeji Oshilaja should of opened the scoring for The Gills – that was a guilt edge golden goal-scoring opportunity for The Gills, and we’re not going to get many goal-scoring opportunities better then that one.

CHANCE FOR GILLINGHAM – FIRST HALF – After David Edgar was penalised for his challenge on Luke Norris, Gillingham create a half chance from the resulting free kick as Brennan Dickenson clips in a dangerous free kick and Adedeji Oshilaja and George Long both challenge for the high aerial ball and George Long punches the ball clear, why Adedeji Oshilaja was flagged for offside, we had no idea ???

SECOND HALF

FIFTY FIVE MINUTES – The biggest and most controversial incidents in quick succession coming up, Ryan Jackson’s long throw into Sheffield United’s Penalty Area is headed clear by Jay McEveley and Josh Wright headers the ball out-wide to Ryan Jackson, who plays the ball back to Josh Wright, and Josh Wright plays the ball through to Andrew Crofts, who has made a third man run and I thought that Ryan Flynn’s challenge on Andrew Crofts was inside the Sheffield United Penalty Area, and how on earth did Ryan Flynn not get booked for that challenge, the appeals from The Gillingham Players tells you that they thought it was a penalty kick - I thought it was a penalty kick at the time.

Brennan Dickenson goes across to take the resulting free kick, and Brennan Dickenson’s in-swinging cross is punched clear by George Long, but only as far to Adam El-Abd, who cannot direct the ball goal-wards and Billy Sharp gets the ball clear, but only as far to Ryan Jackson who takes a touch and kicks the ball long into Sheffield United’s Penalty Area and once again Chris Basham is allowed to climb all over the back of Adedeji Oshilaja and get away with yet another climbing offence, but the loose ball ricochets back to Max Ehmer, who’s snap-shot effort on goal is fired over the crossbar – not only would Gillingham have taken the lead if Max Ehmer scored, but Danial would of won £10 as Danial had Max Ehmer for first goal-scorer.

SEVENTY SEVEN AND SEVENTY EIGHT MINUTES – Gillingham have a rare goal-scoring opportunity in The Seventy Seventh Minute and Brennan Dickenson is standing over the ball for a dangerous free kick – and if Gillingham are going to score then it is going to come from a set play - Brennan Dickenson’s in-swinging cross from the resulting free kick is flicked on by Adam El-Abd and Adedeji Oshilaja’s shot towards goal is saved by George Long and the ricochet falls to Luke Norris who see’s his shot blocked by Jay McEveley on the goal-line and Alex Baptiste clears the second ball – there was nothing at the time to suggest that Jay McEveley had handled the ball on the goal-line – but the highlights and the players reactions tell a completely different story - Had Rob Lewis spotted that incident then Gillingham would have been awarded a penalty kick and Kay McEveley would of been sent off.

[fan_of_mulligan]

SUBSTITUTIONS – SIXTY ONE MINUTES - Cody McDonald on for Rory Donnelly – The right substitution but we were all surprised that Cody McDonald was going to play for a good thirty minutes, the scene is set for Cody McDonald to come on and score a late winner for Gillingham.

With George Williams and Cody McDonald coming on, the third substitute we were expecting to see was Bradley Dack on for one of Josh Wright or Andrew Crofts, Justin Edinburgh was thinking about substituting Brennan Dickenson and bringing on Bradley Garmston, but consistent chants from Gillingham Supporters of “BRADLEY, DACK, DACK, DACK” Saw Bradley Dack brought on as Gillingham’s Third and Final Substitute, although we were surprised to see George Williams substituted as I felt for the young midfielder to be substituted on and off in the same game, as Bradley Dack came on for the final eight minutes plus stoppage time.

TRAFFIC.......

We left from Rainham at 8AM and arrived at Bramall Lane at 12.45PM, there were a few road-works and fifty mile speed limit’s which added time to our travel time, we also parked quite a way from the ground which meant a ten minute walk to Bramall Lane as Diane didn’t want to risk anyone damaging her car – on my first visit to Sheffield United when I travelled via Supporters Coach, a few idiots threw bottle’s at the coach – and because of what happened in the aftermath of that match, Diane has always parked quite far away from Bramall Lane, just to make sure that nothing happens to her car.

Traveling back was not too bad, we arrived at Watford Gap Services just before 9PM so we could get something to eat and drink, and I had brought Nine Chicken Nuggets, Fries and A Coke for £5.90, Diane used the charger in McDonalds to charge her phone up, while I had used Diane’s Car Charger to charge my phone up on the way back home again - it was only after we had left Watford Gap did we encounter severe traffic problems with “incident” being highlighted on the road sign’s, as road works and lane closures added additional time on to our journey, we didn’t have to pay for The Dartford Crossing, but the journey back home was longer then expected.

FURTHER THOUGHTS.......

I had brought two tickets for this match and I was expecting to make a twenty pound loss as I had forgotten that Diane had already brought me a ticket, thankfully, I was able to sell my spare ticket to another Gillingham Supporter and not lose twenty pounds, so before entering the ground I was pleased not to make a loss from buying an additional ticket, and I was pleased leaving Bramall Lane as Gillingham earned a valuable point against A Sheffield United Side who have badly under-achieved by there standards this season.

The Chip Shop near Bramall Lane was really nice and I paid £3.90 for A Small Portion Of Chips, A Cheese-Burger And A 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola and it was nice to sit down on the bench outside the chip shop in the sun to eat our dinner, food and drink inside all football stadiums is expensive and not of the same quality that you can find from food and drink outlets around the ground.

Gillingham’s Form in the last six games is P6 W2 D4 L0 F5 L1 PTS 10 – Five clean sheets in the last six games is sensational when you consider that Gillingham have travelled to Southend United, Scunthorpe United, Bury and Sheffield United – defensively Gillingham are doing everything right and a point away at Sheffield United can never be considered a disappointing result, especially as Sheffield United created a lot of goal-scoring opportunities in The Second Half, and Max Ehmer, Adedeji Oshilaja and Adam El-Abd were out-standing defensively, I went for Adam El-Abd for Gillingham’s Man Of The Match, but you could of picked anyone out of Ryan Jackson, Adedeji Oshilaja, Max Ehmer and Adam El-Abd for Gillingham’s Man Of The Match – Brennan Dickenson struggled on Saturday and Justin Edinburgh was seriously considering substituting Brennan Dickenson and bringing on Bradley Garmston, before changing his mind and bringing on Bradley Dack.

I really do like The 3.5.2. / 5.3.2 formation, and when Gillingham signed Ryan Jackson, Max Ehmer, Adedeji Oshilaja and Bradley Garmston in the summer I thought this was precisely how Gillingham were going to line up and I am surprised that Justin Edinburgh hasn’t played this system more frequently, this formation gets three centre backs, two strikers and Bradley Dack in the central attacking midfielder role all on the pitch at the same-time, the obvious weakness is the lack of width in wide area’s, and Ryan Jackson and Brennan Dickenson could be playing against a winger and a full back if the opposition like to get the ball wide and whip in a lot of crosses, but I do like this formation a lot though.
With Max Ehmer wearing a face-mask, Adam El-Abd having glue on his head to seal a blood-wound closed and Jake Hessenthaler having a tooth smashed out, Gillingham have picked up a few war wounds at Bramall Lane and the players effort and commitment cannot be questioned, perhaps a lack of quality in key area’s and at crucial moments is a explanation for no goals in the last two league games, but we’re not getting any protection from the referee regarding these arm aerial challenges where someone’s arm or elbow is hitting one of our players in the face.

RULE CHANGE - And finally, one rule I like to see brought in, is that if a player has to leave the field of play to receive treatment for a injury, then the opposing player who committed the foul for that player to require treatment should also leave the field of play until that player is back on the pitch, or a substitution has taken place, When Jake Hessenthaler went off the pitch to receive treatment, Gillingham were ten verses eleven, imagine how we would of felt if Sheffield United scored while Gills had a numerical disadvantage, because A Sheffield United Player had injured one of Gillingham’s Players, I would also want this rule introduced if the reverse happened and A Opposition Player needed treatment after one of our players committed a foul that see’s the opposition go down to ten men.

Perhaps the one problem with this rule, will be players conning The Referee to try and get the opposition’s best / key players on the sidelines for a few minute’s, and that is where this rule starts to get complicated.