Ninety minutes and five Gillingham goals later, the mood had changed from one of optimism to one of disbelief as the Gills’ performance surpassed all expectations. We had just thrashed the old “enemy” Swindon 5-0 at home on the opening day. Swindon had been tipped as dark horses for a Playoff push prior to the start of the season. We dared to dream this could be the start of something unique.

Nine months down the line and that vision has proven to be very accurate… for all the wrong reasons. As far as Priestfield games went over the course of the season, the Gills were a huge success, winning twelve and losing only three of the 23 games played over the course of the season in the league. We all know what proved to be our undoing, leading sickeningly to a third relegation in six seasons… the away form was an embarrassment, leading to not only having the worst away record in the division, but the worst away record in the ENTIRE Football League.

So, where did it all go wrong? Having looked so imperious at times at Priestfield (making teams like Leeds United and Millwall appear decidedly ordinary), the Gills looked a lightweight, naive and frankly awful side away from home. This observation leads to an obvious question – why?

For the simplest explanation, you need only look at the statistics for goals scored and goals conceded away from home. 13 goals scored (the last being Dennis Oli’s goal just before half-time at The Valley), 49 conceded. That’s compared to 35 scored and only 15 conceded at home (the best home defensive record in the league). Why the discrepancy? The answer may lie in both the way the team is set up away from home, and in the players’ mental attitude.

Many of the players, specific examples being Simeon Jackson and Curtis Weston, just have not performed away from home. Seeing them play at Priestfield and then away from home would make you think they were different players altogether. Call it a mental block or lack of motivational leadership from the manager, they just weren’t at the races away from home this season. The set up of the team has also come under intense scrutiny. The fact that we sit far deeper away than at home might explain why we always appear to be under the cosh, and why we have conceded so many goals. If you invite teams onto you at their home ground, they are going to score goals 99% of the time. Mark Stimson, with his tactical naivety, did not come to terms with this simple problem. This proved to be his undoing.

So, what’s next for us? The general consensus seems to lean towards a return for Gillngham Football Club’s favourite son. I wouldn’t say I was 100% in favour, as I’m a firm believer in never going backwards in football. However, Andy Hessenthaler is in all likelihood exactly what the club needs at the moment. A figure to galvanise not only the team, which often looked woefully unmotivated under Stimson, but the fans as well. Mr. Stimson’s tactical ineptitude and poor man management aside, his biggest flaw was in how he managed to alienate fans. Now that he has departed, many fans, myself included, believe that Hessenthaler is the man to unite us as we look to bounce back and push ourselves back up the Football League once again.

By Darius Sarrafan

Both sides’ supporters showed how much these “derby” matches mean to them. For Gillingham fans these are the games that they desperately want to win and not only for the points that are put on the board, for the likes of Charlton, their fans gave the impression that this was just another match to win against just another League One club.

Whilst the away support rallied their troops for 90 minutes and beyond, the home crowd watched on with a passion bordering on apathy. Perhaps they had similar thoughts to many of the visiting supporters, the game would be won, it was just a question of how many they would win by.

Simeon Jackson was not risked and started the game from the bench, furthering negative thoughts about the outcome.

Gillingham contested the opening forays and had an early chance when Rene Howe put a header narrowly the wrong side of the post when it appeared easier to score. Referee Paul Taylor, a crowd favourite (not) at Priestfield, made his first irritating decision of the afternoon when he booked Dennis Oli for deliberate hand ball, a debatable decision in itself.

Alan Julian had a curate egg’s type of performance during the first half. Hesitancy had been combined with some outstanding saves, but a 31st minute shot from Frazer Richardson that slipped under the keeper’s diving body will not make for happy viewing when the video is replayed.

But it was symptomatic of Gillingham’s display of resilience that they bounced back immediately. Andy Barcham cut in from the right hand side and unleashed a spectacular 25 yard shot that had Rob Elliott clutching at fresh air.

The 3,000 visiting fans’ joy was heightened into ecstasy as Gillingham took the lead in the time added at the end of the first half. Elliott failed to hold an innocuous Howe shot and Oli was on hand to poach the goal. It was to be Elliott’s last act between the sticks as he was replaced at half time, probably suffering from embarrassment.

The second half was a much different story. Gillingham were under pressure from the outset and when David Mooney swiftly turned and shot past Julian from 10 yards on the hour it was hard not to believe that the writing was on the wall for the Blues.

The rearguard action that followed was like a scene from the Alamo. The defending from Garry Richards, and in particular, Darren Dennehy was absolutely magnificent. Referee Taylor did his best to help the home side towards the points, no more so than when he opened a clear route to goal by colliding with Adam Miller.

A handball on the edge of the box by Barcham caused every one of the massed ranks a collective holding of breath that was relieved as Nicky Bailey sailed his shot over the bar.

As the final whistle sounded, joyous chanting of “We are staying up” ensued. There is a lot of water to flow below that particular bridge before we can breathe easily. But on today’s evidence the battle can be won and will be won with everybody pulling together.

South London’s moaning minnies on the train back, portrayed exactly why they are no longer the automatic promotion certainties they thought they were. Take this division and its clubs for granted and it is going to come back and bite you on the bum.

“I’m definitely aware of it,” he explained in Thursday’s pre-match interview.

“We can see that by the ticket sales that have gone out. We’ve sold 2,800 tickets so far, so we know how much it means to the supporters and I’m sure we’ll be going there, like them, and trying to give our best.”

Stimson’s side are still looking for their first away win of the campaign at the 20th time of asking and the Gills boss said that a derogatory comment about his side on television has merely added extra motivation ahead of this weekend’s match at The Valley.

“One of the TV stations I watched at the weekend said something along the lines of ‘if you can’t beat Gillingham at home then you might as well pack up’

“That wasn’t very nice to hear for me, but that’s the motivation that we want to stop and we’re going to go to Charlton on Saturday and expect a tough game but try to win the game.”

Check out the video for the full interview.

Waiting for them will be referee, Paul Taylor (pictured left).

He is vastly experienced and is currently the longest serving League referee.

He started his career in the Hertfordshire and Isthmian leagues, and progressed to officiate in the Premier League, the Champions League and an International fixture.

He refereed the 2006 league Two Play off Final and also qualified that year as a National Licensed Referee Instructor.

In 2008 he joined the Hertfordshire Football Association as the Referees Development Officer.

He last appointment with the Gills was in September 2009. It was our home draw against Norwich City and he issued three cautions for each side and dismissed the Norwich goalkeeper.

He is expected to retire at the end of this season.

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The Charlton striker made a huge impact on the Gills during his first loan stint, scoring 11 goals in 14 games.

And after a lengthy pursuit that sparked a war of words between the who clubs, Mark Stimson has finally got his man, securing Dickson on a three-month loan deal that will keep him with the club until the end of the season.

Dickson will take the number 15 shirt and go straight into the Gills squad for this weekend’s home match against Bristol Rovers, coincidentally the club where Dickson spent an earlier loan spell after Charlton rebuffed Gillingham’s original approach. During his spell with The Pirates, Dickson hit four goals in ten starts (plus four substitute appearances).

We welcome Chris back to Priestfield and hope he can recapture his goalscoring form and help fire us to League One safety.

I got out the car outside Woodlands Cemetery and made my way towards Priestfield, not my usual route for a home match and it was spitting but thankfully the weather held out and the heavens didn’t open. (I tend to go via train for home matches)

I was outside Priestfield around 1.50 and went into the Club Shop to buy my Match Day Programme and as I brought my programme I was told that the club shop had over double the amount of match day programme’s available for this match simply because the demand was their and that we were expecting a big attendance for this match – I asked if The Playoff DVD was in yet and as usual got the same response and it is just a case of being persistent and hoping that by asking I will eventually get a copy of that DVD.

I made my way through the Turnstiles and straight away brought my tickets for the 50/50 match day lottery and queued up to buy my bottle of Coca Cola and yes they do still take the lids off, good thing I took one spare with me just in-case.

I stood on the steps and as a box of clappers were being handed out at first I didn’t want one but as the box came round again I thought why not and took one for myself, seeing as their being handed out it be rude not to accept a freebie though I wasn’t going to be using the rattle throughout the match – I got speaking with Seb and Cameron and both lads had football training but there is no matches because of half term, I asked both if their sides would play in similar conditions to what Gillingham were playing in on Saturday and the response I got was a YES and it would have to be a lot worse before the ref considers calling the game off.

I gave my two sense worth of how the Brighton and MK Dons matches went and showed the lads what the grounds look like as I took a picture on my camera phone and I mentioned how poor we were at Brighton and how much better we were at MK Dons and also how the seats were padded and those seats wouldn’t look out of place in a office – I also said how Jason Puncheon made the difference and that little bit of quality is what separated the two sides.

Their dad said to me how he was at Priestfield Stadium when we played Maidstone in The FA Cup in the 1980’s and how Priestfield was very different back then to what it is now, I asked what was the media coverage like back then for a Gills – Maidstone match and was it bigger then the coverage this week for the Gills – Charlton game – The response I got back was that the media coverage back then was very different and couldn’t remember what sort of coverage IF ANY Gillingham got for the Maidstone match.

By that point Markinkent gave me a tap on the shoulder and he made his way to his seat which is 4-5 rows above me so we know where MarkinKent sits now – all the best Gills supporters sit in Block G.

I got talking with Porkpie100 and we mentioned how it be great if Gills 365 could send a team out onto the pitch and maybe play a match that could raise some funds for the Gillingham Ladies Team – we joked that we be hard pressed to play 5 minutes let along the entire match but some sort of get together would be nice just so that you get to see everyone face to face and also put the face to the username.

Because the floor was completely soaked I put my match day programme in Porkipie100’s bag so that my programme remained dry and I made sure I remember to ask for it before full time – I also spoke about the quiz night and how the team I was on “Two Steps Forward, Four Steps Back” won the quiz night, it does seem ridiculous that GISC have to have run quiz nights just to barely manage to run the Reliance Coach and the issue between Kings Ferry and Reliance does seem petty considering that supporters are going to the same game.

The match against Charlton Athletic was Simon Royce’s 100 appearance for Gillingham and think just how many times Royce has saved us over the past few seasons, true Royce has had his bad moments but then if he didn’t Simon would be playing at a much higher level, also Royce has had matches where he has kept us in games or won us matches by himself, Simon has been a fantastic servant for us over the past few seasons and been a decent professional which is more then we can say for other experienced players we have had at the club in the past.

Eventually we heard the team sheet over the PA System and the team was announced as follows……

Royce, Fuller, Gowling, Fry, Nutter, Lewis, Bentley, Oli, Weston, Barcham, Jackson SUBS: Julian, Maher, Payne, Yussuff, Rooney, Miller, Palmer.

So no Pugh and Cumbers in the 18 man squad and Mark Stimson has to rate both lads otherwise he wouldn’t have given either player a contract in the first place, no Garry Richards which means we have no defensive cover on the bench and we were trying to work out if Bentley and Lewis would sit in-front of the back four with Oli, Weston and Barcham as the attacking midfield trio or if we would play two lines of 4 with Weston behind Jackson.

A look around the ground and the corners of the Rainham End were full as was the Gordon Road Stand, Charlton had filled up the away end so 10,000 is the bare minimal we can expect to be inside The Priestfield for today’s match.

Will was sat behind me and I know he plays Sunday football as well and I asked him if he was playing football tomorrow and Will’s answer was yes, I mentioned that Seb and Cameron were not playing but Will plays in The Kent League and not The Medway City Boy’s League and in The Kent League they play all year round in any playing condition.

Behind me sit Will, Harry, their dad (Ian) and their grand-dad and all four are season ticket holders and every home match their there at the ground supporting the Gills, everything mentioned is constructive and it is a delight to sit among brilliant supporters for every home game – as I mentioned above there are a decent bunch of supporters in Block G, you get the occasional idiot who likes to curse and use every four letter word but in general we got a great bunch of fans where I sit which just makes for better viewing because I have heard of supporters who have moved to different parts of the ground just because someone is ruining their experience of watching a football match.

One person who I thought would have been at the Charlton game is Nick Collins who brings his two lads with him and normally we would have seen him at 2-3 matches by now – either Nick is sitting in a different part of the ground or is unable to get to as many matches as he would of liked, Nick Collins for those who don’t know works at Sky Sports News and has been to a few Gillingham matches over the past few seasons.

Two positives with one really good one was seeing Simon King walking on the pitch and least Kingy is off crutches and he can begin the next step of recovery and hopefully King is back to first team action by late December because I think that is how long it take for King to get back to full fitness, Mark McCammon on the sidelines is another positive and hopefully Cammo is close to first team action himself.

Charlton was going to be tough and to be honest I take a draw now but I am greedy and want all three points so here’s hoping that Gillingham can keep up their superb home form.

ANYWAY ONTO THE MATCH……

Straight from the off you could tell that this was no usual league game at The Priestfield as the atmosphere once we kicked off had just raised a notch and this local derby already had one winner as KRBS had two teams on the same pitch with their sponsor and they will be thrilled that they will have this much exposure.

Straight from kick off and Curtis Weston was fouled after just 15 seconds and perhaps a sign of things to come, Just a few minutes later and we can be thankful that match referee Jon Moss failed to spot the challenge on Izale McLeod because Stuart Lewis clearly fouled McLeod in our penalty area and that was clearly a stone wall penalty turned down and maybe we will ride our luck in this match.

It was pretty much end to end as Charlton had claims for a penalty and to be fair they had more then a decent shout for that one while at the other end Rob Elliott was tested by Barcham’s low drive which forced Elliott into a decent save.

Barry Fuller clearly was up for this one as he put in 1-2 snapping challenges before going in hard with a slide tackle that wasn’t for the faint hearted and other referee’s might have booked Fuller for that challenge but clearly this particular ref was going to take into consideration that this was no ordinary league fixture.

Charlton were just as physical as we were and Matthew Fry was floored in the early stages and in-turn Barry Fuller sent Nick Bailey to the deck and you could tell that the game had raised a notch and the tempers were at boiling point, This is where you need a strong referee and to his credit Jon Ross resisted the temptation to start flashing yellow cards left right and centre and just kept authority and just had strong words to say to players and no doubt telling 1-2 to calm down or that he had given them a warning.

Our next attack almost saw The Gills take the lead as Mark Bentley’s effort from the edge of the box saw Rob Elliott get a very strong arm behind the ball and he turned the ball round for a corner and we were on top of things and made Charlton look average and on their current showing you couldn’t see why Charlton were second in League One but we could clearly see that Charlton have some physical presence, no doubt this means Charlton can bully teams off the park.

With Mark McCammon not in the side Ian behind me wondered when Mark will return but he is still out with a hamstring injury and you wonder if Cammo is a square peg in a round hole for us partly because of how we want to play, the frustrating thing is that McCammon was just getting into his stride before his injury then he pulls up, with another year left on his contract you cannot see teams wanting to sign Mark McCammon unless of course he was available on a free meaning that we had to pay Mark off.

Deon Burton is the first player booked in this heated and tightly contested derby and mostly it is to do with back chatting and descent and it is one of those stupid yellow cards that canbe easierly avoided if a player just remains stum and gets on with the game.

One moment of genuine quality by Charlton as Bailey played this fantastic though ball / cross field pass which was right onto the feet of Izale McLeod (Well I think it was McLeod) and Gowling had to make up the yards, tracked back and made a perfectly timed sliding tackle and it had to be timed to perfect or Gowling was sent off and we won a throw on in our own half, absolutely out-standing by Josh Gowling who just looks to get even better the more he plays, to think we got him on a two year deal for nothing.

Sam Sodje for Charlton had a effort on goal which blazed over the goal and you just wonder if Charlton were having a off day and if we can take our opportunities at our end – One player who deserves a mention at this point is Mark Bentley who time and again was winning the ball on the air and thriving down that right hand side and benno’s persistence was causing Charlton all sorts of problems.

Nutter’s foul gave Frazer Richardson a chance to go for goal and his free kick failed to test Simon Royce and again another Charlton chance and another chance wasted and after the first 20 minutes you have to say that Gillingham have had the better chances though we have got away scott free with Charlton’s penalty appeal.

Then the best chance of the match, Izale McLeod was clearly offside and we were all expecting a offside flag from the linesman on the Gordon Road side but his flag stayed down and McLeod was clean through on goal with just Royce to beat and he completely skied his effort which got a massive cheer from the Gills supporters and what a huge let off, justice rewarded though because the linesman should of flagged for offside in the first place, again another Charlton chance and again they missed and you start to think could it be our day ???

Soon afterwards Josh Gowling and Izale McLeod were both competiting for the ball down the right hand side and Gowling shielded the ball out for a throw on but the momentum took McLeod over the advertisement board and he collided with a elderly disabled supporter and McLeod checked to see if the supporter was OK and everyone near by applauded McLeod because you do get some who bring hatred into their support and they think it is OK when it clearly isn’t.

Soon afterwards paramedics checked on the supporter who felt the force of McLeod’s knock, it might not seem much to those who sat elsewhere but considering the size of McLeod and also how frail the elderly gentleman was it was a knock that could affect the man’s breathing, after a few minutes the elderly gentleman was OK.

Lloyd Sam showed abit of skill and Nutter already committed was defiantly going to be the first Gillingham player going into Jon Ross’s notebook, I don’t think even the most rose tinted Gillingham supporter can say that challenge wasn’t a yellow card even on derby day – three fouls in the next five minutes really raised the tension and got 1-2 clearly rattled.

Another long ball down the right and another Bentley header who was just having the game of his life, someone better offer Mark Bentley a contract extension because if this is Benno at 32-33 then he has a few more seasons left in him, one particular moment saw Bentley slide tackle to keep the ball in and Oli held the ball up and won us a throw on and these two were starting to link up more.

Then another Gillingham chance Oli has the ball in the final third and runs through on goal then stops and you start chanting HIT IT and in the end Oli goes to the floor just abit too easierly for the ref’s liking and the chance is wasted, you either pass or you go for goal and Oli took too long on decision making for that and the chance is wasted, if that was Jackson you knew he would of gone for goal in a simular position.

This was really good by Gillingham and we looked the better side in the early exchanges and I was impressed with our showing so far and we just needed a goal which is what our effort deserves because Charlton were on the back foot.

Oli to his credit works himself into a good position and rather then loses out Oli tracks back and does enough to win us a corner, the resulting corner was swung in brilliantly by Nutter, Bentley at the back post headers the ball across goal and Oli’s over head kick is cleared off the line by Frazer Richardson and we win another corner, Oli’s overhead kick is sort of mis-kicked and a firmer connection on the ball and Rob Elliott would have been hard pressed to keep the ball out, also nice to see someone on the far post as Bentley was their just in-case Nutter’s corner went all the way through.

Lloyd Sam has another effort from distance that fails to trouble the Gillingham defence and that effort failed to test Simon Royce who on his 100 appearance was having little to do.

A lot of effort and endeavour was shown by both sides and Matthew Fry was playing with more confidence and dealt with the occasion really well, sometimes when you get a premiership youngster on loan your never exactly sure if they can handle the pressure of competitive football but Fry has great awareness and like most players who come through at West Ham Fry isn’t bad with the ball at his feet either.

Bentley again won another header and did abit of keepy uppy to keep the ball in play and just showed fantastic desire to win the ball and at this point Bentley was my MOTM because everything Mark did was class and just the simple things can make a big impact.

So the half time whistle went and though we deserved to be in-front Charlton were having a off day and were clearly rattled by some of the challenges which were not for the faint hearted and not for flair players that’s for sure.

HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 0 . 0 CHARLTON

I was quite pleased with that and as Simon Royce made his way towards the opposite end of the pitch and towards the home dressing room I gave Royce a round of applause for what he had done in the match so far even though his opposite number Rob Elliott was being severely tested.

One row below me and a few seats across (Not a crossword I promise) I saw a few regular’s who were at The MK Dons match and I mentioned “Not bad that” and how we were helding our own, the response I got was we are doing really well and we look on top of things right now, Both of us were in agreement that we need another striker and I mentioned how we could get someone from West Ham as we got Matthew Fry already while QPR was mentioned as they got a big squad and huge wage bill and may well want some clubs to take a few players off their hands.

Agyemang was mentioned and how we like to see him back at the club again particularly at this level, but with McCammon only showing in spits and spats what he can do and considering how many matches he isn’t available for duo to injury it is clear we need another striker because we cannot keep relying on Simeon Jackson to pop up and score for us all the time (though Simeon has done exceptionally well so far) – the question worth asking was could we win against Charlton ??? well if the first 45 minutes are anything to go by then it isn’t impossible because Charlton are in League One for a reason and at Priestfield, Gillingham can give anyone a game.

By this point MarkInKent came down and spoke with myself and Porkpie100 and gave his view of the match so far and now knows where the two of us sit and we got a few of us in Block G that are on Gills 365 and KFG sat with us for the Norwich match in The Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, then the 50/50 match day lottery numbers were drawn and how I could do with that £800 pound prize, but nope I didn’t win, I said I bet the ticket that is drawn out is the one after the two I brought which is the ticket Porkpie100 has – but no signed shirt or goody bag either.

With this match being a kick racism out of football campaign their were a few youngsters reading out their poems, considering how young these children were their poems were very good and as the young girl was reading her poem the sun just broke through the clouds just to add the scenery to her poem but also it means everyone in the Medway Stand will have to do a one armed salute for the rest of the second half.

Not easy to read your poem in-front of 10,000 people and speaking of the attendance the attendance was announced at 10,304 which is just outstanding for a league fixture and we be hard pressed to beat that all season, we defiantly wouldn’t get attendances anywhere near that in League Two and so far the match was living upto all the build up and sometimes you find that the build up for the match makes derbies like these a non spectacle event but the match between Gillingham and Charlton so far was played at a high tempo and the challenges were flying in – but nothing that suggested any malice between the two sets of players.

Rob Elliott was out for the second half with his fellow Charlton team mates right behind him, Elliott had done exceptionally well between the sticks so far and Charlton can feel indebted to their keeper for keeping Charlton in the match but I guess we can be thankful that Charlton’s forward line had mis-placed their shooting boots because Simon Royce had very little to do in the first half.

SECOND HALF…..

And right from the off and with Gillingham attacking the away end we thought we got off to the perfect start in the second half as Simeon Jackson instinctive effort was turned round the post by Rob Elliot who once again was called upon and again The Charlton keeper stood up firm to the task, After that we had three corner kicks in a row “COME ON GILLS” was what I chanted as we took the second corner, Rob Elliot claimed the resulting corner while another went all the way through and you just wonder if someone should stand on the far post in-case no-one makes a telling connection on the ball, but the first five minutes of the second half showed our intent and we were all over Charlton who were very average at this point and only Rob Elliott was showing any sort of class or quality because without Elliott between the sticks I am sure we would of taken the lead by now.

It wasn’t all Gillingham as Charlton won themselves a free kick in a decent shooting position and Royce was positioning the wall and also moving about and Nicky Bailey’s free kick was superbly struck but well saved by Royce who claimed the ball with both hands, it was at a decent height for Royce but none the less I really hate moments like that and just glad that Charlton didn’t capitalize from the free kick.

Like the first half the second was end to end as Fry played a decent ball to Barcham and Barcham opened himself up to go for the far post but Barcham’s effort was well saved again by Rob Elliott, more power and less placement might have seen Elliott beaten but another decent chance for The Gills.

Another Gillingham chance and with Jackson and Weston trying to get on the end of a loose ball Bentley was running on and hence the anticipation as everyone chanted “SHOOT” – Benno has struck the ball brilliantly only for his effort to be charged down by Richardson and had Richardson not been their I am sure Elliott would have had trouble trying to keep that effort out.

Richardson was then subbed off as Barcham had torn the former Leeds defender all over the place and though Basey came on in his place I think Semedo switched from the opposite flank to deal with Barcham’s pace – Semedo might be quicker then Richardson who clearly was having trouble keeping up with Barcham.

I had a quick glance to our sub bench to see what our options were and with Miller and Palmer on their you think we might just well freshen up the midfield for the final 30 minutes.

Three yellow cards in three minutes as Dennis Oli fouled Sam Sodje and that foul deserved a yellow, Curtis Weston was booked for descent while Christian Daily followed Sodje into the referee’s note book not long afterwards as most of the cards being picked up were for petty incidents rather then mis-timed challenges and Daily’s squad number (35) isn’t far off his age.

Unlike the Sunderland V Liverpool game a week ago no Beach ball was going to interfere with this match as Jon Ross ran over to where the beach ball was and was about to drop kick the beach ball into the away end but the ref choose just to safely pass the ball to a steward which got a loud cheer from both sets of supporters – least we can have abit of a laugh and a joke about it even though Liverpool won’t be seeing the funny side.

A Charlton corner was the closest they came to scoring as Burton’s header right on the line was well gathered by Simon Royce who had to make sure he hung on as their were a lot of bodies in that penalty area and all it takes is someone to stick their foot out and the ball goes into the back of the net.

After that Bentley, Oli and Nutter all had chances but they all found Rob Elliott in inspirational form and we got to get that goal eventually because how on earth we have not scored in this match just beggers belief and Oli was 1 on 1 with Elliott as well.

John Nutter whips in the resulting corner and Bentley was about to get a free header on goal but the ball is nipped away from him at the last moment and you think that we are going to get the bounce of the ball at some point.

Izale McLeod is subbed off for David Mooney and you start to think if Charlton are going to defend in depth and park the bus to earn a point – but Charlton break with David Mooney and Josh Gowling body checks Mooney on the halfway line and Gowling has to do that or Charlton would have hit us on the break and the yellow card to Gowling is the correct decision, at one stage I thought a red card might have come out but again to Jon Ross’s credit he hasn’t tried to flash cards left, right and centre and has controlled this heated derby very well.

Then our best chance of the match so far which starts with John Nutter’s throw on which he gets back from Weston and Nutter goes from dummying a cross to a surging run into the Charlton penalty area and Nutter’s first shot is deflected kindly by Oli and the ball falls kindly back to Nutter who has struck the ball beautifully only for Rob Elliott to make a truly outstanding save, that was 1 . 0 Gillingham as far as I was concerned but this keeper had just pulled off a match winning save and we just couldn’t believe that didn’t riffle into the back of the net.

But despite all the chances and the amount of pressure we put Charlton under it was Charlton who went into the lead in very fortunate circumstances as their was abit of a melee outside our penalty area and as the ball is threaded through to the far right of our penalty are John Nutter has to make contact with the ball to clear it because from my view he had a Charlton player right on his back, sadly Nutter’s clearance goes right into the far corner leaving Royce with no chance at all and though Charlton didn’t deserve it they had taken the lead and the Charlton celebrations seem to have kicked off above us and this angered many people in the Rainham End and more stewards went past us to try and deal with the situation.

I think Will wanted to go home at that point because that goal made him sick to the stomach but there was still time left for us to make a impact and boy didn’t we make a impact, just three minutes later and a throw on deep in Charlton territory was flicked on by Oli towards Bentley and Benno won another header and his flick feel into the path of Simeon Jackson who took his goal superbly, one touch and bang their was the equalizer and queue the most mental celebrations which just took the roof off the ground “YYYEEESSS” was my response and GAME ON NOW and at 1 . 1 this match could go either way, we really deserved that goal and at last Rob Elliott was beaten, chants from the Rainham End could be clearly heard as “WHO ARE YA” was being chanted to The Charlton supporters.

A closer look at Jackson’s equalizer makes the goal look even better as I thought Jacko worked his way into a good position but in-fact Bentley’s header was slightly behind Simeon who flicked the ball with his heel and smashed the ball past Elliott, the skill required to do that is more difficult then you think and while Simeon has a lot to do developing other area’s of his game, scoring goals doesn’t seem to be a problem.

After having a drink as I used most of my voice celebrating that goal we started discussing who should come on with Miller on for Oli with Miller playing behind Jackson being the general view or Palmer on to give us some options out wide – either way we felt Oli was the player to come off, as far as MOTM talk was concerned if Bentley wasn’t man of the match then we like to know who was because we couldn’t see anyone out their who done better then Benno.

Could we do it, could we score a late late winner and really take the roof of the Rainham End, we thought Stuart Lewis did as his driven effort beat Rob Elliott but also beat the post as well but we kept going and you felt that their was still 1-2 big big chances left in this match.

Porkipie100 gave me my match day programme which had remained dry thank to his bag and I am glad I didn’t leave my programme on the floor which would have been soaked and as we entered stoppage time Oli came off for Yussuff while Wagstaff replaced Lloyd Sam – with Charlton getting closer to our penalty area I shouted “AWAY” as nerves kick in at this point and we deserved something from the game and thankfully Gowling headered the ball clear and Josh would have been MOTM had Bentley not put in a fantastic display himself.

We had a chance ourselves as everyone though that Burton’s challenge on Lewis would in-fact earn Gillingham a penalty but we had afree kick right on the edge of the box and wouldn’t it be ironic if Nutter scores the O.G would then score the winner and with Nutter, Weston and Lewis all queuing up to hit this we had plenty of players who can score from range, Nutter rolled the ball to Lewis who struck the ball sweetly just that it was off target.

Their was still time for one final chance as Youga was about to get on the end of a Charlton cross but Simon Royce bravely got to the ball first and got two strong fists behind the ball and you felt that was it.

And after a huge punt down field by Rob Elliott and after 4-5 minutes of stoppage time we had earned a point and perhaps Gillingham canbe hard done by not to have all three, I felt very proud of our performance but slightly disappointed not to have won the match but I am sure if we were offered the point at 3PM then we would of taken the point at 5PM and that is precisely what we had got.

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 1 . 1 CHARLTON ATHLETIC

I waited inside the ground because I felt their would be repercussions of what had gone on inside the ground and I had no intention of getting involved with all of that and I checked to make sure I had everything and spoke with MarkInKent and said how I take the point before kick off before speaking with the steward I know about the game.

I made my way outside Priestfield Stadium and as I made my way down and over Gillingham Railway Crossing I gave Stewart a ring and told him about the game and the attendance and he also brought me my birthday present in advance (Which is FIFA 2010), I mentioned how Simeon Jackson scored and how we could feel slightly disappointed not to have won the game.

So I walked past the railway crossing and started making my way to my Uncle’s house and as I reached a old close down pub I walked past the junior school that I remember being called Hilly Fields when I was younger and I walked down the public park all the way to my Uncle’s house, as I walked down the path someone asked me what the score was and I said that the score was 1 . 1.

So I made my way to my Unce’s house where my Dad was before getting a lift to George’s Plaice where I brought a Large Portion of Chips and Two Cans of Coca Cola for myself and One Large Portion of Chips, a Fish Cake and a Double Cheeseburger for mum and dad – I spoke to the owner who I tend to see regularly after home matches and gave my view of the Charlton match and also asked what was The Chelsea score as he supports Chelsea, except that Chelsea had a evening kick off and had the match had just started.

I got back home just after 5.45 and got to tuck into a decent dinner and all in can feel delighted with the performance but slightly disappointed that our performance didn’t get three points we deserved, but at least we gave Charlton a battle and their were some challenges in that match that Charlton didn’t particularly like.

Overall a point is a good result and I am sure we would of taken that before kick off.

MOTM – Mark Bentley – No-one else other then Bentley deserved to be MOTM, Benno won every single header or aerial challenge and got stuck in on the deck, Mark was persistant and gave Charlton a tough time as Bentley’s work rate meant he had a slight edge over The Charlton left back who was not expecting Benno to be getting stuck in as much as he did.

Benno played his part in Simeon Jackson’s equalizer and perhaps could of scored himself, great performance by Bentley who showed Mark Stimson why he should be played in midfield on a regular basis.

Josh Gowling also deserves a mention for the way he played and how he put in some crucial and often match winning interceptions and Gowling has shown himself to be a bargain and to think we got Josh on a two year deal for nothing as well.

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With the majority of Priestfield bewildered at how we could end up on the losing side, up steps Simeon to turn, shoot and score and restore equilibrium. Jackson has the striker’s knack of taking the one chance given to him and is quite possibly the best finisher the club has had since Marlon King left in 2003. Where would be without his goals in the last couple of years doesn’t bear thinking about.

But it’s not Jackson who will take the plaudits. Step forward Mark Bentley who, having transferred forward after the arrival of Matt Fry, was sublime on the right of midfield. Tough-tackling and dangerous on the move, his strength in the air rounded off a much deserved man-of-the-match display – his flick-on lead to Jackson’s equaliser and today’s showing must now cement his place in that position in the months to come.

Charlton, on the other hand, didn’t live up to expectation. An early penalty shout looked good from the far side of the Medway Stand, but wasn’t good enough for referee Jon Moss who waved away appeals – thereafter the away side rarely threatened, only having three shots on target in the whole match. Simon Royce’s 100th Gillingham appearance had been a quiet one until John Nutter curled a shot into his bottom corner, sending the 2,500 visiting supporters and a cluster in the “wine and dine” section of the Medway Stand Upper Tier, into celebration. Although the club’s ticketing staff have my sympathy in trying to keep away fans from buying tickets in the home end – a difficult job, unless it is made compulsory to show a tattoo of Mark Stimson or another Gillingham-related skin marking upon entry to the ticket office – the marketing department, who allowed away supporters in the past onto this wine-chugging afternoon, must seriously look at allowing away fans onto this day. Perhaps scrapping it on big matchdays and selling the tickets to home supporters would be a better way of keeping your own happy and, more importantly, trouble-free.

Stimson will be pleased with the team’s performance, a week after the 2-0 defeat in Milton Keynes. Fry has shored up the defence, Fuller was solid, Nutter looked good going forward and Dennis Oli was a lot better than of late. But this home form needs to transfer away as well, starting with Southend next Friday or else the good work today will go to waste.

Who was flapping and pointing for ninety minutes? Phil Parkinson, looking rather uncomfortable at his side’s display and perhaps regretting this season’s snub of Chris Dickson, who scored again for Bristol Rovers this afternoon. What would he have done to have him in red this afternoon?

The Sold Out signs were posted and the atmosphere bristled with the local rivalry. Whether it was the buses or Dickson, Scally or FA Cup revenge this rivalry has been propagated over the last couple of years. Although they are relative neighbours there has never really been that much animosity between the clubs, players such as Dick Tydeman, Dave Shipperley and, dare I say, Derek Hales have switched between the two with no recriminations, but now there is a real feeling of dislike, especially from the Gillingham support, who feel that they are considered second class country bumpkins by their South London counterparts. Personally I cannot classify Charlton in the same category as the likes of Swindon, Millwall or even Maidstone in the “hate” table.

Dennis Oli was restored to the starting line-up in the absence of Scott Vernon whose loan spell from Colchester was ended by injury at Milton Keynes.

Both sides had shouts for a penalty in the opening minutes which were waved aside by referee Jon Moss, who looked to keep the game in motion. The first real opportunity of the game fell to Izale McLeod who shot high and very, very wide when free on the right hand side of the box after 25 minutes. Gillingham themselves went close from a John Nutter free kick that was well saved by Charlton keeper, Rob Elliott and a Oli overhead kick from a Nutter corner that grazed a post. All square at half time and a fair reflection of the play.

The opening 20 minutes of the second half saw the game continue to be evenly contested with a couple of half chances for each side being dealt with by the respective keepers. But, as the game entered its final quarter, it was the home side that started to assert themselves and Nutter was denied by a very good save from Elliott.

The three good chances that Gillingham had fashioned had all had a significant contribution from John Nutter, but on 79 minutes his game took a bizarre twist. A seemingly harmless situation, the ball rolled towards the full back whose shank of a clearance somehow found the bottom corner of the net. It will undoubtedly feature in a Christmas bloopers DVD, John Nutter didn’t deserve his fate and Gillingham certainly didn’t.

The despair turned to joy in double quick time. Simeon Jackson, who had been successfully shackled all afternoon by an uncompromising central defence, latched onto a Mark Bentley flick on to despatch with the unerring confidence of a striker who has 11 goals already to his name this season.

Justice had been served, overall Gillingham finished the stronger, but a draw was probably a fair result. It had been a good derby, there were only minor skirmishes of trouble when Charlton supporters made themselves known in the home areas of the stadium. But with their allocation sold out and many of them living in Kent, it was inevitable that this would be the result.

Gillingham can take several positives from the game, a fine man-of-the-match performance from Mark Bentley, good defensive performances across the back line with Barry Fuller the stand-out and, of course, there is Simeon Jackson, one chance and he’s on the score sheet again. Phil Parkinson must be thinking tonight, if only a word in jest could materialise into fact. Fact is Parky, he can do a lot better than Charlton.