Gillingham went from Southampton to Woking in the space of a week to round off pre-season – variety that the manager hopes will serve them well.
A 1-1 draw at Woking followed their midweek game against Southampton under-21s – a behind-closed-doors game at the Premier League side’s training ground, which the Gills apparently won.
Report: Woking 1 Gillingham 1
Bonner felt the game at National League side Woking on Saturday was the ideal preparation ahead of their season opener against Carlisle United next weekend.
Speaking after the Woking game, Bonner said: “It very much had a last-day of pre-season vibe about it, it was alright, the game was okay.
“It was much more like the Dartford game, compared to the others, much more like the type of game we will play in the league.
“There was loads of restarts, loads of goal-kicks, loads of throw-ins, much more reflective of what a league game looks like so good in that sense and more of a direct game.
“It was good to face that challenge ahead of next weekend and then work out: ‘How do we not get disconnected? How do we make sure we are closer together, more aggressive in certain moments, that it’s not as easy for them to get to our box and create chances?’ It was too easy in moments.
“We had splatterings of good play and not enough of them and if we had played the close, simple and obvious passes, that gave us a chance to get control of the game.
“There were some good moments at times and lots of players getting minutes and moving people around.
“(Southampton) were really different. I think Southampton might have had 11 entries into the final third in 90 minutes and they (Woking) probably had 11 in the first 15 minutes! That’s because it is a much more direct game.
“You get lots of different types of pre-season games in. You don’t want the same thing lots of times, you try and mirror what you will play against different teams through the year, different styles and it allows us to work on many different things.
“I like the fact that we have played different types of games, I like that the one (at Woking) was (on Saturday), it was more like what a league game would look like.”
New signing Jacob Wakeling got Gills’ goal at the end of the first half.
Bonner said: “It was a brilliant header and a lovely delivery from Max (Clark). It was a nice bit of play from us and came not long after a counter-attack from Glenn Morris and a switch of play from Max and a really good delivery and excellent header. A really good goal and well taken goal.
“We didn’t have enough of those moments, we didn’t create enough around the box with good enough quality but we had periods where we looked threatening and we just needed a bit more to sustain it.”
