10-man Gills tame Wolves

Last updated : 10 March 2005 By Simon Head

The players worked as a team and defended for their lives, while playing some decent football when in possession. As often happens when a team goes under the cosh, we defended a bit too deep for my liking, but that’s probably nit-picking. The Gills were excellent – and all credit to them for producing that performance in such difficult circumstances. It would have been all too easy for the players to drop their heads and end up on the receiving end of another thrashing, but they stood up and were counted when everything was up against them.

Indeed, for the majority of the match it seemed as if they were up against TWO extra men. As if the harsh sending off of Cox (wasn’t Cooper going towards the corner rather than the goal?) wasn’t enough, the referee produced one of the most hopelessly inept, one-sided performances by an official in recent memory. Mr. Kettle, you were a disgrace.

Jason Brown had a flawless game in the Gills goal, pulling off some stunning saves, while it was great to see Chris Hope return to the sort of form we know he is capable of. Our midfield quartet ran itself into the ground for the entire match. Andy Crofts in particular was outstanding, breaking up play and supporting the defence, while in front of him, the much-maligned Mama Sidibe produced a man-of-the-match performance. He looked so much better playing off a target man, rather than actually being one himself. His work rate and effort was excellent – the only thing missing was the goal his performance so richly deserved.

With the confidence and spirit generated by a performance like that, the side should now approach the next set of fixtures with real gusto. Let’s hope they can produce something similar (hopefully with 11 men!) on Tuesday night against Watford.

Well done lads, you deserved it.