Gillingham’s youth players got the opportunity to shine on Tuesday night but there was a youngster on the opposition scoresheet with a familiar name.
The Gills beat Hollands & Blair 4-3 in an entertaining friendly at Star Meadow in front of a crowd of 172 and with the last kick of the game 15-year-old Preston Kedwell fired home from the penalty spot.
Teenager Kedwell – the son of Gills legend Danny – had been pushed over in the box and stepped up to score his second goal in as many matches for Blair.
He was one of several bright young talents playing for SCEFL Premier Division side Blair but it was their experienced front-man Dean Grant who scored Blair’s other two goals with well-taken finishes.
Gillingham fielded a team made up of youth players for the midweek fixture and it was Luke Jessup’s non-league side who struck first in the seventh minute. George Monger’s pass found Grant and his deft touch was enough to beat young keeper Carter Sullivan.
The Gills soon hit back, however, with two goals inside 10 minutes.
Captain Harry Waldock’s superb ball found Harry Bridle who kept himself onside and took it past goalkeeper Jack Reeves before slotting the ball home.
Gillingham included a few trialists in their team and it was their player wearing no.2 who made it 2-1 to the visitors.
There was no confirmation of the Gills goalscorer but whispers among supporters was that the son of another Priestfield favourite scored it.
Blair failed to clear the ball from a corner and it was rumoured that Alexander Asaba – previously playing for the youth team at Huddersfield Town – was the goalscorer who managed to get enough on the ball to beat Reeves.
Blair had lost 7-4 to Herne Bay at the weekend and manager Jessup was hoping he wasn’t going to see another capitulation. They were 5-0 down against Steve Lovell’s side on Saturday before a second-half fightback.
It was Grant who pounced again to make it 2-2 with 34 minutes gone. He used his strength to fend off a challenge to collect a ball over the top and still had a lot to do before slotting the ball home.
Grant dragged another shot wide for Blair before the Gills fired in a third, once again beating the offside trap as Stan Sargent met Joe Orpwood’s perfectly weighted ball and he finished well.
Gillingham made five changes at the break and one of those introduced scored their fourth. Jimmy Heasman took a touch and fired home from the edge of the box.
Kedwell was one of the second-half subs for Blair, playing just behind the strikers, and when he was fouled in the box the call from the home manager was to take the penalty. The teenager stroked the ball in with a cool finish and the referee blew up to end the game straight after the restart.
