The veteran shot stopper, who has over 400 league games to his name, has joined Brentford as Goalkeeping Coach as he makes the transition from first team player to the next phase of his career.

Simon will also register as a player, so it’s not inconceivable that he may appear between the sticks at Priestfield again.

Despite backing his manager, Mark Stimson, with funds to secure a quartet of new loan signings, it would appear the team’s away form has barely been altered.

The club’s embarrassing FA Cup exit to Accrington Stanley put the pressure firmly on Stimson and prompted a written wrist-slapping from chairman Scally in his programme notes.

This weekend’s latest away failure, a depressing 4-0 defeat against Brentford, a fellow promoted side with whom the Gills shared two 1-1 draws last season, has seen the pressure cranked up another few notches.

It would be fair to say Stimson has failed to win over the Gillingham faithful since his arrival from Stevenage Borough two years ago. Despite guiding the side to promotion last season, a significant proportion of the club’s fans simply don’t rate the Essex-based manager, who has been rather too critical of his own team for some fans’ liking in recent weeks.

There seemed to be an element of resignation and desperation in the voice of the Gills manager after the Brentford defeat. It sounded very much like a man who had reached the end of his tether. He had a pop at his players, at the referee and at the opposition manager. He claimed his preparations for the match were “Premier League level” and criticised his players for failing to carry out his gameplan. In short, he sounded like he was looking to blame anyone but himself.

Now the attention turns to the club’s chairman. Clearly words have been said between Scally and Stimson previously and with Gillingham’s winless streak away from home currently standing at 15 games many fans, including those who initially backed Stimson against the critics, have run out of patience. But the crucial opinion is Scally’s.

He won’t want to fork out for a settlement to remove Stimson from his post, but can he afford not to? Does he cut his losses in the search for a solution to our problems, or does he keep the faith with his beleaguered manager in the hope that he can get enough points to stay up and then transform the club in the summer?

GILLINGHAM’S AWAY RECORD UNDER MARK STIMSON (ALL COMPETITIONS)

Season 2007/2008 (League One): Wins 2, Draws 4, Defeats 12

Season 2008/2009 (League Two): Wins 11, Draws 5, Defeats 9

Season 2009/2010 (League One): Wins 0, Draws 3, Defeats 13

TOTAL: Games 59, Wins 13, Draws 12, Defeats 34

A week ago Stimson earmarked the next three games as winnable. We’ve been stuffed in the first one. Now we have Tranmere Rovers at home before travelling to Yeovil next weekend. Anything less than four points would, in my eyes, represent failure. By Monday next week we may have a better idea of what’s likely to happen at Priestfield. Two defeats will almost certainly force Scally’s hand.

With our away record showing no signs of improving, we can only look at Tuesday’s match with Tranmere as a must-win. Draw and the knives will be out. Defeat is unthinkable.

I initially backed the manager, but I’m beginning to wonder whether a change might be necessary now. With the manager openly criticising the very players he needs to perform, I fear Stimson is hanging himself out to dry. Backing his players, generating a sense of collective responsibility (remember England in Euro 96?) and forming a tight-knit, cohesive unit who will all fight for each other, the fans AND the manager would surely be the way forward now.

But can that happen with the current incumbent? There’s an increasing feeling at Priestfield that the answer may be no.

It is true to say that the unlucky rebound was par for the course on a day when Gillingham had no rub of the green, but the manner of the capitulation rendered the end whistle abuse of manager Stimson predictable, not that I was hanging around to utter my tuppence worth.

Train fares, match ticket, a programme and a cup of gnats pee masquerading as tea left me with little change from £45 and left me musing how I might better have spent the money. Firstly, I could have bought eight packets of cigarettes, not that I smoke or advocating that the weed is better for your health than Gillingham Football Club but I’m sure they would have resulted in greater satisfaction. I could have parked my backside on a bar stool at the local tonight and consumed about a dozen pints of Harveys, once again it wouldn’t do my health any good but, with my low capacity for drink, it would have obliterated this memory for a week. Or I could have alighted the train at Charing Cross, wandered under the Arches and passed the money on to one of the homeless, true they would probably have spent the cash on beer and fags but it would have done my soul the world of good.

And that is the crux of the problem at this moment, those that should be the heart and soul of our club, the players and the management, are showing scant regard for the wearing of the shirt. Less than three weeks ago they stood accused of a lack of pride, effort, call it what you like, in the FA Cup defeat at Accrington. Three draws papered over the cracks, but today the lack of any backbone surfaced again as Brentford inflicted the heaviest defeat of the season.

It could have been so different. Kicking towards almost 1,200 of their own supporters, Mark Bentley and new signing James Walker opened up the home defence to allow Simeon Jackson a one-on-one with Bees’ keeper Wojciech Szczesny. Such is Jackson’s luck at this moment in time that the merest touch from the keeper was enough to steer it onto the inside of the post and eventually to safety. Chances for Andy Barcham and Jackson followed before an inexplicable back pass from Darren Dennehy sent Charlie MacDonald clear only to be brought down in the box by Alan Julian for an incontestable penalty that was converted by the ex-Gravesend striker. In what might be considered the only good fortune enjoyed by the visitors all afternoon, the Gills’ keeper was unpunished in terms of a card for the foul.

If the first penalty carried no doubt, the second certainly did. Kevin Maher was adjudged to have fouled another Bee with an unpronounceable name, Toumani Diagouraga, just inside the box. Even from the length of the field, it could clearly be seen that Maher won the ball. MacDonald struck the spot kick high into the opposite corner to his first to double the home advantage. And from that unfortunate decision, Gillingham as an opposition, gave up the ghost.

Within two minutes, Myles Weston seized on Julian’s clearance 30 yards from goal and brushed aside a couple of spineless challenges to rifle a third.

James Walker managed to make no contact with a header when it was easier to score prior to half time and when he blazed over early in the second half from close range after a Bentley header had been touched onto the bar, it signaled the end of a less than auspicious debut.

Brentford played the second half in cruise control and Gillingham had little in the way of guile or spirit to shake them from their slumbers. Luke Rooney, on as substitute for Walker, loosely cleared to Weston who strolled into the box and unleashed a fierce shot that rattled the upright only for the rebound to hit the unfortunate Julian on the back and end up in the net.

If my team had no stomach for the fight, then neither would I. Enough was enough, and judging by the amount of disgruntled Gillingham supporters on the platform at Brentford Station for the early train back to Waterloo, plenty had taken the same action. Those that remained were clearly on a course to vent their spleen at the under-fire manager and his gutless charges who deserved no less than every decibel of abuse that was hurled at them.

Brentford are no Norwich, Leeds, Charlton or Southampton, all of whom will be faced in the coming weeks and in the wake of this debacle the outcomes do not bearing thinking about unless you have spent your £45 wisely.

Today was a massive match and no doubt the players would be well drilled in training, shown video highlight’s of the players they need to be marking and how they use the ball, do they cut inside or go down the by-line but today we were un-done by a very inept match official and I hope for our sakes we never see Pat Miller ever again because he gave Brentford two penalties which were very controversial and Luke Rooney was wiped out in the second half and we got nothing for it.

You can train 24/7 but no amount of preparation can prepare you for a poor refereeing performance and today Pat Miller’s performance as a match official was so bad that I will be sending a email to The Football League, sadly the damage is already done but I just want The Football League to realize that sub standard refereeing performances canbe the difference between a manager staying in the job or getting given the chop.

To those chanting Hessenthaler’s Barmy Army I felt that this lot were mindless idiots and what exactly would Hessy bring to the job that Mark Stimson hasn’t brought with him already, it is still the same set of players and should Mark Stimson walk then I expect many of our better players to go out the door as well – I like Hessy but I don’t want us to look back I want us to look forward and I want our supporters to be realistic and starting supporting our manager abit more.

All this “Conference Manager, Conference Team”, “Non League Rubbish”, “Stimson Out” talk is negative and doesn’t do the club any good what so ever and I think the perceptions of non league football among some of our so called supporters is that anyone can play non league football and that the mighty Gillingham should be signing players with abit more pedigree, we are what we are and the reality is top quality players cost big money and I rather take a punt on a young up and coming player who is itching to play In The Football League then some old journeyman striker who has played for 13-14 league clubs and earned more then his fair share in wages.

Now some may feel Mark Stimson should go, others may not like me because I have a different opinion to them but I think we should back Mark Stimson, sacking manager’s doesn’t work and we seen that in previous seasons and I think we should get behind the gaffer before start singing his name and start bringing a more positive attitude into every game and get people singing for Mark Stimson.

The man got us promoted and was honest after The Swindon home game that survival was the aim this season, if we end 20th then we will have achieved that aim, yes I like us to be higher but it would be job done.

Stimson has my backing but does he have yours ???

“It’s great,” said Stimson.

“Last weekend and this weekend is the first time I’ve had so many players. There’s some players that were left out who have been playing week-in, week-out this season. But that shows what we’ve added to the squad.

“We’ve added people who, at this moment in time, are doing better and it’s up to those who have been left out to play like they did in the reserves so if anyone is a losing a bit of concentration or a little bit of form, they’re ready to step in to their place.”

Check out the video, where Stimson talks about the strength of his squad, his expectations for the match at Griffin Park and his assessment of new signing James Walker.

Gillingham take on Brentford at Griffin Park this Saturday at 3:00pm. If you can’t make the match, don’t forget to check out Gills365′s Matchday Chat, via the Gills365 Forums.

We run the rule over Pat Miller, the referee for the match against Brentford.

The Bedfordshire based Operations Manager is in his fifth season as a league referee. He turned to refereeing in 1995 after having his playing career cut short by injury.

He has been a familiar face to the Gills in recent times, having officiated five games in the past two seasons, including the FA Cup defeat at Barnet in 2007.

Click Here for a Matchday Weather Forecast

We don’t need to dwell on Gillingham’s scandalously poor away record – the stats are there for all to see.

Instead, let’s look at the positives.

Gillingham have acquired four new faces since the teams met at Priestfield back in December. Rene Howe and Darren Dennehy look like nailed-on certs to start the match, while tricky winger Tristan Plummer may find himself on the bench. Brentford’s team, almost all of whom standing over six feet tall, may not be ideal opposition for the slight Bristol City winger.

Deadline Day signing James Walker may be involved, but whether that’s from the bench or from the start will almost certainly depend on whether Mark Stimson opts to rest top scorer Simeon Jackson. The Canadian international has struggled in recent matches and has netted just once since Christmas.

The Gills are currently in a three game winless streak, but have shown defensive improvement in that time, looking solid against playoff contenders Colchester and mid-table Walsall at Priestfield, while only succumbing to a late long-range effort at Hartlepool.

After an uncertain start, Alan Julian is finally beginning to look the part between the sticks, while Dennehy’s introduction at centre half has provided the team with some much-needed height. That height will be well tested this weekend. Brentford’s play at Priestfield was direct and aggressive. Nothing wrong with that, of course, Tony Pulis’ Gills side of the late 90s was similar, if more talented. The onus will be on Dennehy, Josh Gowling and the central midfielders to stand up and meet the physical challenge head on. Gillingham’s success will depend on those battles being won.

Brentford have lost just twice at Griffin Park this season, but are far from prolific on their home patch. They are averaging less than a goal a game over their last five home matches, and are reliant on a strong, well-drilled defensive unit to grind out results. If Gillingham can score at Griffin Park, they stand a better chance of adding to their points tally then they might at other League One grounds.

Once again, Gillingham will need to be physically strong and committed throughout the side – and that will require a strong, experienced lineup. But remembering our encounter with the Bees at Priestfield, Brentford look susceptible to pace and trickery, and Curtis Weston, consigned to the bench in recent matches, must be a serious consideration for Mark Stimson, who knows he needs to start turning draws into wins at this stage of the season.

If Gillingham can meet the physical challenge at the back and attack in numbers when in possession, they stand a decent chance of success at Griffin Park. But it’s almost certainly going to need a moment of magic from the likes of Barcham, Weston or Jackson to breach the Bees’ back line.

The smart money says this has “draw” written all over it, but if Gillingham go into the match with a positive attitude and play to win, rather than not lose, then there’s a chance we could be celebrating a first away win on Saturday night.

But, as anyone who has been to a Gills away game this season will tell you, that’s a pretty big “if”.

Click here to download the Gills365 Travelpack for this weekend’s match.

I brought two 50/50 match day lottery tickets and then made my way pitch side and spoke to Jasmine who works at Gills as a Steward and we both felt that Gillingham had a great chance to secure all three points, I mentioned that “I thought this would be a tough game with Gills winning 1 . 0 or 2 . 1” – Jasmine mentioned that she doesn’t like the tightly contested matches as they make her nervous but as long as we won that was the result we all wanted.

The last time we kicked off at 12.30 we thrashed Swindon Town 5 . 0 and how we would love a repeat of that performance again today and not only secure another three points but also give our goal difference a huge boost which will give our home supporters some festive cheer going into the new year.

A look around the ground suggested that their will be at least 6,500 inside Priestfield today but the disappointment came from the away end because I expected Brentford to bring 1,000 supporters with them and it looked liked their was only 300 – 400, considering that it is The Christmas Holidays and there is only 40 –50 miles between the two clubs then the turnout from Brentford was very disappointing.

So I made my way up the steps to where I sit and the first thing I spoke about was Febian Brandy’s status on Facebook on this fan-page, now this isn’t something to really go by but Brandy put a “Loves Gillingham FC” message on Facebook and with United signing Diouf and also having the likes of Rooney, Berbatov, Owen, Macheda and Welbeck in their ranks it may well be best for Brandy to perhaps look to move on and play regular first team football elsewhere, and who knows if Brandy enjoys his time at Gillingham and feel’s that this is where he wants to play his football then maybe just maybe Febian Brandy will join the club on a permanent basis – we might need to beat Accrington Stanley In the FA Cup to secure the £64,000 prize money which will mean that we stand a better chance of signing the lad but if Brandy likes the way things are going he might want to join us in January.

Speaking to Seb and Cameron I asked what the two lads got for Christmas and they told me a few presents they got while Seb also spoke about sitting in The Gordon Road Stand because he volunteered to help clear the pitch last weekend and sat right at the very back of Block C of The Gordon Road Stand – because the stand is lower he lost flight of the ball whenever it was hoofed into the air and because he couldn’t see the clock he didn’t know how long was left till full time.

Seb spoke about one of the games he got and also mentioned about Call Of Duty and I said that I remember when I was on a computer course a few years ago now and we linked up 8 Laptops round this table with a LAN connection (Local Area Network for those who don’t use computers very often) and the best thing about that is when you kill someone on Call Of Duty you hear people’s reactions as well as playing online which is great – I am sure Seb will be playing that game more often over the Christmas holiday (except I have no idea what the game is called and it is on X Box 360).

Another decent discussion a few of us were having was about Luke Rooney and how he has rarely featured for The Gills since the contract dispute and last weekend against Stockport was the ideal match to bring Rooney on for 25 – 30 minutes and give Luke a runout – I couldn’t see Luke Rooney coming on against Brentford who are a very physical side and will certainly get stuck in.

Last Season tempers flared in the first match and Andy Scott’s actions after that 1 . 1 draw a year ago saw him get some well deserved stick though 1 – 2 did cross the line in that return fixture, I was expecting quite a few chants and boo’s pre match today and was surprised but at the same-time delighted not to have heard them, maybe these chants were heard in other parts of the ground but where I was sitting we didn’t anything too in-appropriate or language that shouldn’t be used within the hearing distance of children.

Anyway we heard the team sheet named over The PA System and the team would line-up as follows…. Julian, Fuller, Gowling, Bentley, Palmer, Oli, Maher, Weston, Nutter, Jackson, Brandy SUB: Locke (GK), Wynter, Payne, Lewis, Yussuff, Rooney, McCammon

I thought that Barcham might have been fit enough to be named among the subs today but clearly we were looking to maybe select Barcham for the Exeter game on Monday though there is no guantee of Barcham being involved in that match – With the exception of Gowling for Fry this was the same Gillingham team that beat Stockport County last weekend so confidence was high that we can beat Brentford today and put a nice buffer between us and the bottom four.

Me and Andy were speaking pre match just how tight League One is because a win for Gillingham will see us climb as high as eleventh while a defeat and results going against us will see us drop to twentieth and such is the margin between mid table and relegation that a few wins can see you go from 20th upto mid table while a few defeats can see you very much in the thick of a relegation battle.

League One is very much a two tiered division and you would say that Leeds, Charlton, Norwich, MK Dons, Millwall, Huddersfield, Colchester and Southampton (who without their points deduction would be in the playoffs) are all teams that have the finances to sign players that we would all love to have in our starting eleven that they would have on their subs bench – and their teams you expect to be in Tier One.

While the likes of us, Brentford, Exeter, Wycombe, Yeovil, Stockport, Hartlepool, Leyton Orient, Brighton and Tranmere are all sides looking to stay in League One and avoid ending in the bottom four, sad as that maybe but that is the reality between teams with money and teams that run on a shoe string budget – that being said having the cash doesn’t mean that your going to be challenging for promotion it just helps when it comes between you and other competitors going for the same player.

I don’t know about anyone else and if others feel that League One is two tiered but for me personally I do feel that the division is split between those competition for promotion and the playoff places to those looking to avoid the drop.

Tommy Trueblue was walking round the ground and he slipped over twice, once over a stool and landed on his back, the second fall perhaps the more concerning as he fell over the advertisement board and landed on his back on the concrete floor, fortunately Tommy Trueblue was able to get back on to his feet and hopefully the mascot outfit cushioned the fall because it was a nasty fall and one that could have been far worse.

So I took to my seat five minutes before kick off hoping that we can replicate what we did in the first 35 minutes against Stockport County the previous week to make it back to back victories and of course extend the gap between us and the bottom four.

ANYWAY ONTO THE MATCH……..

The teams walked out onto the pitch and the atmosphere round the ground raised a notch as both sides were anticipating the match with three points at stake which can so badly help ether teams prospect’s and how would we love to get those points on the score-sheet this afternoon.

The match began with Brentford kicking off they immediately hoofed a long ball out-wide which didn’t come to anything other then a Gillingham throw on which was taken by Barry Fuller.

Moments later Josh Gowling put in a strong but very firm challenge on Charlie MacDonald and you could clearly hear the thwack sound from the ball and you could tell that their was going to be no half hearted challenges in this match today and the early sign’s was that this was going to be a tightly contested and very competitive match – speaking with supporters around me Brentford had the likes of Ben Strevens, Sam Saunders, Charlie MacDonald (who scored over 20+ goals for then Gravesend & Northfleet) and as much as you hate to admit it but Brentford had built a half decent side.

Decent build up play by the Gills as we worked the ball really well with nice one – two touch football and spread the ball out-wide to John Nutter who went for goal only for his effort to be blocked and then cleared by David Hunt and why not have ago from distance because seven days earlier Nutter scored a well executed goal against Stockport County and you wait 30 – 40+ appearances and two nearly come along in two games.

The resulting corner was whipped in by Chris Palmer and caused some confusion in the Brentford penalty area but Danny Foster header’s the ball clear but his header only allow’s Palmer to keep the ball in play and have another go crossing the ball into the Brentford box which Leon Legge has to clear and The Gills were the first out of the starting blocks and it would of been nice to get the early goal.

In the early stages of this match Maher was having a lot of the ball and he dropped back, made himself available for the pass and either passed out-wide to Fuller or Oli or passed back to Gowling or Benno but Maher was at this moment in time putting in a much better shift then he had done in recent weeks and this was 100 times better then the Kevin Maher we saw at Leyton Orient, perhaps dropping back allows Maher that extra 1-2 yards to have time and space to spread the ball out-wide or lay off a pass to a team mate.

But having edged out the early exchanges we almost took a tenth minute lead and again great build up play and Febian Brandy collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area and was clearly fouled, Brandy’s persistence saw him create a goal scoring opportunity out of nothing and only a superb stop by Lewis Price kept the scores level – I partly lost sight of the ball and was expecting the referee to blow up for a foul on Brandy but you got to give credit to the ref for allowing the advantage and we almost benefited from it as well.

How Lewis Price kept that out we will never know and we have come up against keepers who are determined to perform blinders against us with Alex McCarthy of Yeovil and Rob Elliott of Charlton also putting in some fine goalkeeping displays at The Priestfield.

Barry Fuller does well to track down and win possession of the ball and wins a free kick after Weston trips him up, decent play by Fuller who gets a “Barry, Barry” chant from The Rainham End and we are allowed to relieve the pressure abit but the first 15 minutes have been us but you also credit Bentley and Gowling for doing the ugly and un-appreciated side of the game.

Then the move of the match created the chance of the match as Maher’s played the ball out-wide to Dennis Oli who took one touch spun past his marker and ran towards goal, Oli played in Febian Brandy who was 1 on 1 and Brandy’s driven effort is saved by Lewis Price and anywhere else and Brandy would of scored, I thought Jackson had that chance at the time but others around me pointed out that it was Brandy, should of scored though and Brandy will be kicking himself for shooting straight at the keeper though Price made a out-standing stop to keep his side in the match.

Straight down the other end and Brentford attack, Charlie MacDonald goes down and wouldn’t it be our luck if we miss a golden opportunity to take the lead only to concede a penalty a minute later – But referee Fred Graham clearly saw something he didn’t like and rightfully booked the former Gravesend striker for diving which got a loud cheer from the Rainham End and also a “well done referee chant” which you don’t hear too often.

Dennis Oli runs down the right with the ball and gets caught by Sam Wood, REF!!!! Was my response because Wood’s challenge looked very cynical to say the least, Nutter swung in the resulting free kick but Lewis Price was able to get two hands on the ball before anyone in blue could make a telling connection ( wonder if we could pick up our team mates for free kicks ???)

Josh Gowling was the next Gills player to have ago from distance and his shot was blocked by a Brentford defender and Brentford were about to break but Maher did very well to get to the ball first and retain possession of the ball and Gowling still was up their when Weston tried one from distance which fizzed past the far post and not by much either.

Still we continued to dominate the match and you just felt that Brentford could not keep up this resolute and last ditch defending forever and Palmer’s near post corner was headered clear by another Brentford defender and 1-2 supporters around me pointed out that their was no-one at the back post to header the ball across or header across goal so if we over hit the ball then it will just go out of play.

Brentford were not causing us so much of a problem but then you got to give credit to the back five for that particularly Benno who was just simply immense and he ran the ball out of defence taking on Charlie MacDonald before playing a simple pass to John Nutter on the left flank as we turned desperate defending into attacking football and try and get that goal our play so far deserved.

Barry Fuller and Chris Palmer both crossed the ball within the next minute but both crosses were met by a Brentford player and the first one was header out for a corner but we were clearly not putting in the right type of cross or perhaps needed to be inventive or go for a far post ball and nod the ball down to either Jackson or Brandy to smash into the back of the net (well that is what we all wanted to see).

Twice in the first half we managed to not only hoof the ball clear but we managed to get the ball over The Medway Stand which is no mean feat and their was one incidant where Alan Julian wanted to claim the ball but Gowling went for row Z as the ball was not going to reach Alan in-time, job done we got the ball clear without over-playing the ball in a dangerous position.

Then we created a very clear chance to score and again more decent build up between Maher, Weston and Brandy sent Simeon through and he was clearly hacked down and Simeon was in a clear goal scoring opportunity and my COME ON REF chant was heard by anyone around me and I was not the only one out-raged by that challenge and Pim Balkestein is very very lucky to stay on the field because other match officials would of sent him off – so Fuller and Nutter stand over the ball wondering who is going to hit it and Fuller went for it and was not far off from making the score 1 . 0 and Lewis Price was pretty much stranded on his goal line and was not sure to stick or twist because Fuller could of disguised his run and let Nutter have a crack.

We had most of the possession and caused Brentford a lot of problems but still we did not have that goal that our play deserved and we should of taken the lead by now while others thought that 2 . 0 would have been a fairer reflection on what we had seen so far but 1 . 0 or 2 . 0 the general view was that Gillingham should be in-front by now.

Then we had a superb chance to make all our pressure tell as Simeon is played through one on one and draws Lewis Price but his cut across the goal was either too far in-front or had too much power for Brandy to slide in and score.

Curtis Weston trips his name-sake Myles Weston and I was not sure about that one about weather it was a free kick or not and David Hunt swings in one of those free kicks which can go in without a telling touch or someone headers the ball into the back of the net but thankfully and fortunately for us Hunt had over-hit the cross and the ball went past everyone and out for a goal kick – and that was Brentford’s best chance and we felt that the rest of the half would petter out for a 0 . 0 and we look to attack The Rainham End second half.

But Brentford hit us with a sucker punch goal and it was by far the scrappiest goal we have conceded and it has un-done all our hard work, we lose the ball out very cheaply in midfield and Weston whips in a cross which Barry Fuller slids but could not block and then it is all sixes and sevens inside the penalty area and MacDonald got a touch and apparently Strevens knocks the ball past a desperate dive of Alan Julian who I thought for one moment may have done enough to claw the ball out at full stretch – wasn’t sure what exactly had happened and will need to see it again but Brentford had taken a very unlikely and very un-deserved lead because it should have been us that had gone in-front and not Brentford.

Moments later Gowling and Bean come together and it looked half a dozen of one and half a dozen of the other and both fall to the deck, Fred Graham gives Josh Gowling another yellow card which seemed to have angered those in the Rainham End who maybe felt that it should of gone the other way.

Hunt swings in another dangerous free kick which Charlie MacDonald flicks on and Ben Strevens somehow manages to clear the crossbar from close range and having dominated most of the match Gillingham were very close to being 2 . 0 down at half time.

Myles Weston is the next Brentford player to have a shoot on goal, well to put it kindly you can call it a shot because his drilled effort from the wing is closer to the corner flag then the goal and the ball smashes into the advertisement board and a loud cheer erupted from The Rainham End and abit of sarcasm thrown in to boot as well.

At the end of stoppage time at the end of the first half John Nutter tee’s himself up and his flighted effort had enough dip and pace on the ball to beat Lewis Price, “WHY NOT, WHY NOT” was my response and Nutter almost scored the equalizer and it would have been a stylish finish and just as good as the goal Nutter scored last week against Stockport County.

HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 0 . 1 BRENTFORD

So the half time whistle went with a few boo’s but mostly applause because Gillingham had the most of this first half and we didn’t deserve to be losing this one and as the players walked off the pitch and went to their respective dressing rooms a few of us were debating about just how on earth we were not at the very least still on level terms or 1-2 goals up.

Brentford were here for the point and if they got anything more then that then it be a bonus but they clearly were not here to play attacking football as Brentford were going to sit back and defend what they have already. Several sides do line-up to try and stifle us and normally we break these teams down but Brentford are a niggling side with niggling tackles and their guy was very lucky to stay on the pitch after he brought down Simeon Jackson.

I took a few pictures for my blog and as the match day lottery tickets were read out I checked to see if I had won but still no win and the closest I have come was within 3 of the signed football and that was a while ago now.

Looking at the players and who was warming up we had Yussuff, Payne, Wynter, Rooney and Lewis out their and the first four are youngsters with Wynter, Payne and Rooney progressed from our youth set-up so it just shows the extent of our injuries because Royce, Jackman, King, Richards, Fry and Barcham would all be in the squad if fit enough.

Mark McCammon was by the dugout and I thought we may well bring him on at the start of the second half, has someone picked up a knock or are we looking to change things about and add a aerial threat to our play ???

Harry asked me who our sub goalkeeper was and I told him that was Simon Locke who was on loan from Reading and Royce is out duo to injury.

The Brentford players were out onto the pitch first and Lewis Price was getting a few chants from The Rainham End with half stick / half banter all depending on who was giving the stick and who was giving the banter but either way I could hear it from where I was sitting and that briefly caught my attention before the players were out for the Second Half.

SECOND HALF…….

Will had just got back to his seat with something to eat and drink and I gave him a spare lid I had on me so that he didn’t spill his drink – I think the taking off lids in-side football grounds is one of the most pathetic rules I have ever heard off because a coin can cause just as much damage not that I condone that sort of behaviour.

The second half started with both teams earning one free kick each but it was the third foul of the second half which swung the game in Brentford’s favour as Josh Gowling has gone in for a high aerial challenge against Charlie MacDonald and Gowling received a second yellow, then red and Gowling had to walk back to the dressing room, while many felt out-raged about the decision I felt that the referee had made the right decision and we had no complaints – Curtis Weston was also booked most likely for his protest about the second yellow.

Tom Wynter was warming up and he was going to make his Gillingham debut and we were thinking who was going to come off, Kevin Maher perhaps but he was having a decent game so far, Simeon Jackson who looked off the pace and we could play a 4.4.1 formation, in the end John Nutter was subbed off for Tom Wynter meaning that Chris Palmer was a left back and left winger at the sametime.

Then a big moment of controversy as Barry Fuller and Myles Weston are both going for the ball on the far side and the linesman flags for a Brentford free kick COME ON REF!!!! Was my initial reaction because I thought we should of got a free kick while a lot of boo’s and frustration was aimed at referee Fred Graham who I felt got this decision wrong.

Looking at how we lined up it looked liked we were going with a 3.3.3 formation as Oli was now in-between Jackson and Brandy and I looked towards the subs benching thinking that either Lewis or McCammon or maybe both were going to come on as we look to re-energise the midfield and add more physical presence in the final third.

Mark Bentley’s foul meant that Brentford had a free kick in a promising position and Marcus Bean takes the direct free kick but failed to test Alan Julian in goal but even so that was a very nervy moment and Brentford were pretty much on top of this as we were struggling to adapt to the numerical disadvantage and Sam Saunders could of made the game safe for Brentford moments later but Alan Julian makes a very good save to keep us in the match.

Another look to the bench as we are now past the hour mark and you start to think where we need to change things and not only that we got a game in 48 hours against opposition that will be in and around us so we may have to take into consideration that 2 matches in 3 days will take it’s toll and our squad has quite a few injuries at the moment.

Palmer receives the ball out-wide from Maher’s pass and we been screaming TO PALMER for a few minutes now as Palmer has been left un-marked and Palmer works himself into a shooting position only for his effort to be blocked by that Brentford wall which still stands firmly in-front of Lewis Price and it is clear that wall is going to take a few knocks till we knock it down.

Then a big moment in the match, which swings the game back into our favour slightly as Charlie MacDonald takes out Tom Wynter with a reckless challenge and we stood and wait for Fred Graham to make his decision a second yellow card comes out and now it is 10 V 10 and The Rainham End celebrate like we have scored and it was very much game on and their was still time left for Gillingham to get that equalizer and who knows maybe the winner.

I said we win this 2 . 1 with Gills scoring in the 89th and 91st minute, Ian said “We love that” and if we play rubbish but score the two goals we need to earn three valuable points then I take that any day of the week.

The Gills took a siege mentality and first Chris Palmer and John Nutter stand over a free kick which Nutter leaves for Palmer and Palmer’s effort just about curls over the crossbar, right idea and not far off from nestling into the top corner of the net but just abit too much power on the ball – but our best chance of the half and also the match came minutes later as Bentley or Fuller (not sure who) play this beautifully placed ball and Weston’s first touch is top class and his second lobs the ball over Lewis Price but Brentford have enough bodies back to header the ball clear from danger and I stood and held my head in my hands because that was a great chance to level the match.

Brentford start to make changes and Alan Bennett comes on for Leon Legge as Brentford look to reinforce that wall in-front of Lewis Price’s goal and hang onto the slender lead for as long as possible.

Fred Graham had another big decision to make as we start to play our one touch passing game and Brandy is played in and is through on goal and Febian is hacked down with intent by Sam Wood REF!!!! Was my response because my initial reaction was that he had to go, last man or denying a clear cut goal-scoring opportunity and when the referee pulled out a yellow card I like many others felt he had got that one wrong and Brentford should of gone down to 9 men.

The resulting free kick by Chris Palmer was poor and not as good as his last one but Palmer could try again and Chris teed himself up and his volley from distance had power and fizzed into The Rainham End and wasn’t too far over and why not have a shot because I do feel we are trying to score the perfect goal when you just need someone to put their foot on the ball and have a go from distance.

I looked to the subs bench and Mark McCammon was warming up and you expected him to come on at some point and Simeon Jackson was having a very poor match by his standard’s, Jackson looked liked he was having a off day or low on confidence or maybe the combination of the two but things were not coming off for him against a very rugged and rough Brentford side.

Still we continued to pile on the pressure and Dennis Oli went on a great run and a few tricks and step overs and Oli fell over but did enough to win us a free kick right in the centre of the goal and right on the edge of their penalty area and Pim Balkestein who shouldn’t even be on the pitch in the first place could join team mate Charlie MacDonald in the early bath but the chants of “OFF, OFF, OFF” were not going to change Fred Graham’s mind and only a stern talking too was what The Brentford player got for his trouble.

This is it and it was almost like a penalty and just the chance Simeon Jackson needed and you felt if Simeon hits this right then he will equalize but Jackson gets it all wrong and blast’s the ball high into The Rainham End when perhaps a driven effort across the turf was the better option and that effort really did sum up Simeon Jackson’s day and he was not going to grab another goal and another headline and time was ticking on and Brentford were starting to defend more desperately and were getting deeper and deeper while we needed to make a change and I would of taken Jackson off for McCammon by this point and just go for the aerial route.

Things got even more ugly as Myles Weston and Barry Fuller clash again and these two had been at it for a while now with Weston starting it off just as we broke away and were about to start another attack and referee Fred Graham books both players but things were getting petty and pitiful to say the least with Brentford playing a very ugly style of football and they do like a good moan as well.

Just moments later and Benno gets fouled by Weston and more chants of “OFF, OFF, OFF” came from The Gills faithful and Myles Weston is a very lucky boy that Fred Graham had already sent off two players already, a less lenient referee would of pulled out the second yellow.

Barry Fuller knocks a long ball into the Brentford penalty area which Bentley wins and the ball just doesn’t bounce our way as that Brentford wall takes another battering but still stands firm and Brentford break on us and their looking to slow the pace of the game right down by running the ball into the corner and they could even break at this point and make the match safe as Brentford were 2 v 2 at this point – but you give Tom Wynter credit for winning the ball but his pass back leaves Alan Julian with a spot of bother and his kicking was very poor today though I do feel that some of the passes Julian received were very poor and out Alan under extreme pressure to whack the ball clear.

The board goes up for FOUR MINUTES OF STOPPAGE TIME, COME ON GILLS!!!!! And we are hoping that we can find that equalizer that we so badly need, Mark McCammon comes on for Chris Palmer as we look to go for a 4.1.4 formation with Jackson, Brandy, Oli and McCammon upfront, why Mark was not brought on 10 – 15 minutes earlier I have no idea because it was obvious we needed to make a change and all-right people don’t rate Cammo but least he provides us with that alternative option that we need which could create something for one of our smaller players to get on the end off.

We kept pushing for that equalizer but the nearest we came was Barry Fuller’s effort at the death which went over and after giving it everything we had and come un-stuck for 94 minutes we un-deservedly lost a match that we should of drawn at the very least while many felt we should of scored while we were on top to force Brentford to come out and attack against us.

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 0 . 1 BRENTFORD

Their were some boo’s at Full Time but I applauded the players for their efforts but of all the teams to lose at home too though and that is what hurts about this defeat because 1. we didn’t deserve to lose and 2 . we played against better quality sides and got something and I think we deserved something today but Brentford players and supporters get to cheer three completely un-expected and three un-deserved points that we should of won and now it puts extra emphasis on the Exeter match because we got to start picking up points away from home otherwise every home game from now till the end of the season is a must win game.

You got to give credit to the players for the effort and endeavour shown and the quality of football we played from tart to finish and if we put in performances like that then we get enough points on the board to be where we want to be – the most disappointing thing about the defeat was that we could of put a nice 6-7 buffer between us and the bottom four and climb upto mid-table but the defeat means we are now looking over our shoulder for abit and are firmly involved in this relegation battle.

So frustrating because we would love to have had another three points, hear Fantastic day belted out over The PA System and really enjoy the rest of boxing day but all the result does is put a downer on the rest of the day and means that we got two –three must win matches coming up which could define our season.

So I took a few pictures for my blog, picked up my match day programme and drink and made my way down the steps and was about to go out the turnstile’s and I saw Jasmine and gave my view of the match and just how disappointed I was that Gillingham had lost their impressive and impeccable home record to a side that didn’t deserve to win and while I was speaking to Jasmine I heard two very disgruntled Gillingham Supporters who gave their views about the match and their was no cutting corners or hiding truth’s the views expressed very well and were expressed with a lot of passion and several usage’s of four letter words which of course are non-repeatable.

So I left the ground at 2.40 and walked across Redfern Avenue and walked down Sunnymead Avenue as My Dad was parked outside Gillingham Cemetery and I thought he would of parked closer to Sunnymead then Chicago Avenue but it is just typical that Dad park’s the other side so as I got to the end of Sunnymead I walked upto Chicago Avenue and Dad was waiting their and I got in and put my seatbelt on.

Dad’s response was “typical Gills” just the sort of match they would of lost when I was a kid and I mentioned that we had played very well just that we came up against a side that were playing for one point and ended up getting all three – It didn’t take very long to get home across beechings and past ThamesView School we eventually got home just before 3PM (which is usually the time we would kick off on a Saturday) and as we opened the front door my Uncle had just turned up in-time for dinner.

Overall I am very very disappointed with the out-come of the result because I thought we could beat Brentford and the way we played deserved a point at the very least but I can safely say I was proud of the effort the lads put in and the way we played particularly in the first half was exceptional and if we put in more performances like that then we win more matches then we will lose.

My MOTM – Kevin Maher – I am going to give Kevin Maher Man of The Match because Maher made space for himself and was always available to receive a pass and Maher gave him that yard or two extra space so that he could spread the ball about, pass backwards or sideways but also some of Maher’s forward passing was very good – more of the same and we can see why Mark Stimson was so keen to sign Maher in the summer.

Honourable mentions go to Mark Bentley who put in another out-standing performance at the back and also Dennis Oli who put one of his finest displays in a Gillingham shirt as his pace caused Brentford all sorts of problems plus that one touch lay off and the way Oli spun past his marker in the first half was top class.

This fixture has become a contentious one over the last 12 months causing it to court controversy and sending-offs. A year ago at Priestfield, there was an unseemly brawl which saw Nathan Elder sent off with Barry Fuller also seeing red late in the game. The return fixture in March carried a hangover from the previous encounter and some verbal jousting between the managers. Today, another two saw red as Gillingham suffered defeat at Priestfield for the first time since August.

Neither player can have too many complaints. Josh Gowling’s challenge on Charlie MacDonald in the 50th minute didn’t look the best, albeit that it was viewed from a distance. It brought a second yellow to add to his first half booking for a tackle on Marcus Bean. MacDonald also saw red 15 minutes later for a rash challenge on Tom Wynter to add to his first half booking for simulation, a blatant piece of cheating.

Gillingham will feel hard-done-by to lose a game in which they dominated for almost the entire match. The first half saw Lewis Price make good saves from Febian Brandy on two occasions and Simeon Jackson with Brentford mustering nothing in return until a minute before half time when they snatched a undeserved lead. A left sided cross from Myles Weston was touched on by MacDonald for Ben Strevens to bundle the ball home.

In the second half, once the referee had evened the teams to 10-a-side, the home side went in desperate search of an equaliser but none of the chances that came their way were as clear cut as the three first half efforts until Curtis Weston had a lob cleared from the line by Danny Foster.

Ultimately, for all their territorial advantage, Gillingham failed to find the cutting edge necessary to breakdown a resolute Bees’ backline. This made the announcement of Jackson as the sponsors’ man of the match all the more bizarre. The Rainham End responded with a Oli, Oli chant and I don’t think they were too far off the mark.

Whilst referee Fred Graham had little alternative with either of the sending off decisions, his handling of the game was less than consistent. Pim Balkestein, who took a first half booking, could easily have seen red for a cynical foul on Dennis Oli, whilst Barry Fuller and Myles Weston both got bookings for little or nothing when both could have gone in the book minutes earlier. Mr Graham was also in charge of the Griffin Park game in March when he cancelled out a Simeon Jackson goal, the diminutive striker supposedly out muscling a 6’3” defender. Let us pray that the same official doesn’t turn up again in February.

From all accounts, Mark Stimson refused to shake the hand of Brentford manager Andy Scott at the end of the match, so time has not proved to be the healer of old scores. Scott comes across as an abrasive character and Stimson could have held the moral high ground with a cursory shake of the hand. Once again, eyes will be trained on a simple gesture of good sportsmanship in February.

The home support filed out of Priestfield like the child that had received some nice Christmas gifts but found that the present he really wanted was not in the stocking. Perhaps the surprise present will come in the form of an away win at Exeter on Monday, sadly it is not something you can actually buy in the sales.