By Stefan Bennett
It has only been two weeks since Gareth Ainsworth took over at Gillingham. In that time he has already taken charge of four games and there are already signs for us Gills supporters to feel a little more positive and optimistic for next season.
Changes to the squad, with Max Ehmer nowhere to be seen. Speculation that he will never play for the club again has done the rounds. Also, still no Bradley Dack. There has been talk that he also may never play for the club again, whereas manager Gareth Ainsworth has said he has had a knock and isn’t ready to play yet.
Last Saturday, the Gills made the long trip north to face Salford. Gillingham went into the game with a very good record against Salford, having won four of the last five meetings home and away, with the only defeat coming in December 2022.
The team saw a return to the starting XI for captain Armani Little, who came in for Robbie McKenzie. There was also a return for Shad Ogie, who had been out for a while under previous boss John Coleman. On-loan Crystal Palace youngster Asher Agbinone returned from injury to make it to the bench.
Gillingham have struggled for goals. It’s no secret, but it was a fantastic surprise when the Gills took an early lead around the opening 90 seconds of the game, a deflected shot from Elliot Nevitt found its way into the back of the net much to the delight of the travelling Gills faithful.
However, it didn’t last long as Salford hit back with an equaliser on seven minutes, Ben Woodburn with a decent cross, which should have been dealt with, was met by Cole Stockton, who despite having Sam Gale tight on him, managed to get a touch on the cross to put it past Glenn Morris.
From there, it looked like it could become a bad day for the Gills. Salford started having more of the ball and space, which led to Salford taking the lead with a brilliant run and shot from the edge of the box by Kelly N’Mai, leaving the Gills defence and supporters stunned and frustrated.
There was almost a moment of madness, where Morris took a free-kick deep in his own half, which went the distance and bounced over the Salford keeper and just landed on the roof of the net.
One of the big issues Gills have had under the previous few managers has been when going behind in games, we have struggled to find ways to get back into them. Players at times have hung their heads and the games were gone.
Thankfully, a change in mentality under Gareth Ainsworth saw the Gills fighting in what was an entertaining first half score again to level at 2-2. A goal in the 24th minute from Romeao Hutton, capitalising on an error from Salford’s Luke Garbutt, with a beautiful strike into the top corner.
Despite Salford being the better side in the second half and Gillingham not having another shot at goal until the 88th minute, it finished all square with the Gills hanging on. It was frustrating that we couldn’t put in a better performance in the second half but there were positive signs, especially in that first half.
We then moved forward to Tuesday evening at Chesterfield. Another away trip to a side around mid-table. The Gills had a mixed bag of recent results against Chesterfield going into this game with three draws between the two clubs, one win and one defeat. The last meeting was a 1-0 win early in the season at home at the end of August.
A start for Aaron Rowe had eyes on him as a debut season hampered by injury has had many Gills supporters wanting to see what he can really offer. And to be fair, Rowe looked really good in this game.
Gillingham survived an early scare after only 30 seconds. A lack of communication between keeper Morris and Hutton from a Chesterfield cross from just inside the Gills half caused them both to go for the loose ball and ended in a collision which allowed Chesterfield an opportunity, which was put behind for a corner by Gale.
Rowe looked lively, combining with Nevitt and getting the ball into the box which saw Jonny Williams attempt a volley which was blocked. However, moments later Rowe and Nevitt would combine again, with Nevitt showing nice control and a cool finish into the bottom corner to put Gills ahead.
It was great to see Gillingham scoring early in back-to-back games after so many first halves without any goals this season. Gillingham just needed to defend well and attack well to find another goal to build on the lead and Nevitt was unlucky to just head over the bar from a corner.
Gillingham defended well from a lot of pressure from Chesterfield. I personally couldn’t help but feel a Chesterfield goal was coming, and unfortunately, I was right. The Gills couldn’t replicate their positive start in the first half. Despite a nice run and low effort from Rowe, Chesterfield took over, piled on the pressure, and put the Gillingham defence to work with chance after chance.
Gillingham did have another opportunity with Joe Gbodé firing just wide. But ultimately, Chesterfield’s pressure paid off in the 77th minute as Will Grigg hit home from a Ryan Colclough cross for a well-deserved equaliser.
This left me so frustrated. Very much another tale of two halves. It is clear that many of the Gillingham players just can’t keep up for 90 minutes. We drop off too often and allow opposition sides to come at us and put us under pressure. Don’t get me wrong, there are signs of what Gareth Ainsworth is trying to do with the club and with the right recruitment in the summer and keeping hold of the small selection of players he feels he can get a tune out of, next season could be a much better and more positive one.
So now we look to Saturday and a home match against MK Dons, who are currently two places below us in 19th and only a point behind us. If we can somehow have yet another positive start and get an early lead as we have on the road in these last two games, I feel Priestfield will be rocking and hopefully get the team through 90 minutes and a more comfortable win.
That’s what I’m hoping for. It’s about getting this season done and over with now. Let the rebuild begin and hopefully we will have plenty to sing about next season.
Stefan Bennett is a Gillingham season-ticket holder in The Rainham End, a fan for more than 30 years and a former club steward.
