If we continue to play football and produce performances like that, we're going to do pretty darn well this season.
Let me explain why. The first 15 minutes were reasonably even, with both sides settling into their stride. But from the quarter of an hour mark onwards, the Gills dominated, in terms of possession, territory and chances created.
Jackson spurned a couple of half-chances before narrowly missing what looked like a certain goal following good work out wide from Curtis Weston.
Simon King got booked for a daft challenge 30 yards from goal, and that challenge eventually cost us our first goal.
With halftime approaching, the ball broke to Darren Anderton as Bournemouth launched a rare counter attack, King raced across to challenge Anderton, but it looked as if the only challenge he would have been able to make would have been a deliberate foul, which would definitely have brought out a yellow card. Already on a booking, King thought better of lunging in recklessly and Anderton broke into the box and, much to the surprise of Simon Royce, so it seems, shot, rather than crossed. The ball went under Royce's dive and we were 1-0 down. It was totally against the run of play and the Bournemouth fans probably couldn't believe their luck.
If that had been last season, the game would have been over. I can't remember too many times we came back from a goal behind to claim a draw, but this is a new season, a new, better team and things were noticably different.
Gillingham started the second half and dominated Bournemouth for the opening 15 minutes, then, while Adam Miller was receiving treatment for a facial injury, a group of about 15-20 idiots (they weren't fans IMHO) decided to try and kick off with some of the more mouthy element of the Bournemouth support. I've never seen these guys at a Gills game before, and they spent large parts of the second half baiting the opposition fans, some of them barely even facing the pitch at times. It was bad enough for the police to go wading in, and a retirement-age couple sat in front of us got up and left shortly after, clearly distressed - I can't blame them, it was disgusting and had no place at any game, especially not a Gills game. It wasn't banter, it was a concerted attempt to incite violence, and we don't need that in any shape or form at all.
The kerfuffle off the pitch clearly affected the team on it, as the momentum swung almost instantly following the restart and Bournemouth had their best spell of the game. Even so, Simon Royce didn't have a save of note to make, and with the game going into stoppage time, the two subs, Tyrone Berry and Gary Mulligan combined perfectly to score what was a very good goal indeed.
Berry pulled the ball back from wide on the right, Mark Bentley ran past it and Mulligan, with absolutely no hesitation, lashed a right footed strike high into the net for a stunning equaliser.
It was no less than we deserved. In fact, I'd argue that Bournemouth could count themselves lucky that we didn't win. We created a host of chances, and if we'd been a little sharper in front of goal, we could have had four of five. Jackson could easily have had a hat-trick, and won't spurn as many chances as that in any other match this season. His partnership with McCammon (who impressed with his work-rate and link play) looked very promising indeed.
The long ball game has gone, and in it's place is a passing game, building from throws from the keeper, with the occasional long ball to mix things up. It worked well, and after watching today's game, my optimism has been replaced with genuine hope for our chances this season.
In short, we looked good, we played well, and we never gave up. And Mullers scored a cracker!!!