The fans arrived and gave their thanks to Andy Hessenthaler for his years of service to the club. The atmosphere was that of a changing of the guard, but while many were happy that Hess had vacated the managerial hotseat, most still found it sad to see him go. We all wish him well…
After a disappointing first hour and the concession of a sloppy goal (no surprise there), we were gifted a penalty thanks to the eagle-eyed referee Clive Penton, who was the only man at Priestfield to spot Wes Morgan’s ‘handball’ in the area during a Gills attack. TV replays showed the ball did hit Morgan’s hand – and that Morgan did move his hand to the ball, but it looked more like a reflex action than a deliberate handball. It was a lucky break, but we haven’t had many in the last two seasons, so we’ll gratefully take it, thanks! Henderson’s composure from the spot despite Gerrard’s gamesmanship levelled the scores. From that moment on, there was only going to be one winner.
John Gorman’s introductions of Mama Sidibe and Tommy Johnson for the ineffective pairing of Iwan Roberts and Darren Byfield were spot on. We’d looked poor up front, Henderson aside, and Mama and Tommy both came on and caused the Forest defence all sorts of problems.
For all his injury problems, Tommy Johnson is a quality player – and is arguably our best player. His left foot is like a wand at times and his passing and vision opened up an already stretched game even further. His winning goal and celebration sent the crowd into orbit and gave us a much-needed three points.
Despite playing poorly for the first hour, the team never gave up and showed their battling spirit right through to the final whistle. In the end, the Gills simply wanted it more than Forest, whose cynical time-wasting tactics from the moment they scored in the 14th minute were an insult to the club’s name and tradition for fair play and good football. If Saturday was anything to go by, the Forest fans see precious little of either at the City Ground under Joe Kinnear.
MARKS OUT OF TEN:
First half: 5
Second half: 8
MAN OF THE MATCH: Darius Henderson
A fantastic example of bustling centre forward play. His confidence is high and he now seems comfortable in the side. Hopefully he’ll be a fixture in the team in weeks to come.
PS: I must also mention the excellent performance by Paul Smith. I’ve been one of his biggest critics in recent months, and felt he should be left out of the side, but on Saturday he turned in his best performance in two seasons and ran Henderson close for Man of the Match. Well played Smudger.