By Matt Boosey
Without wanting to get ahead of myself and before we start trying to run before we can walk, I think it is fair to say that the start of April has been fairly encouraging so far hasn’t it?
Given that Gareth Ainsworth has had limited training time with a group of players lacking in confidence, plus the fact that two home fixtures have bookended back-to-back long away trips (when aren’t they for us?) to Salford and Chesterfield in a matter of four days, six points from four fixtures seems like a solid return.
Even more so when you consider that three of those sides faced still harbour ambitions of reaching the end of season lottery more commonly known as the play-offs.
Ainsworth (and his assistant Richard Dobson) have been clever so far in a number of different ways; little tweaks here and small adjustments there rather than wholesale changes.
He has quickly got the fans back onside, he has so far delivered on his promise of each and every player starting with a clean slate and having a chance to impress.
He has told us supporters that success won’t be instant, so to trust the process, and he has got us playing (relatively) well and picking up results.
Three draws plus a win this month is a decent effort, and given how we dominated Colchester under the lights at Priestfield, it isn’t at all fanciful to suggest that six points from his first quartet of games could easily be eight.
To be walking out of the ground into the night air at full-time disappointed with only a point versus our Essex neighbours was a really good sign, a mixture of frustration and pride in a performance that garnered 60% possession as well as 20 attempts at goal.
After that we were on the road for a Saturday soiree to Salford, and given our recent history of struggling in front of goal, any display that brings two goals (one a beautiful effort from Remeao Hutton) in a single 90 minutes is a good one.
Annoying to trail after 15 minutes, given we had taken the lead after two? Yes, of course, but considering our lack of goals for far too long, to go in front so early and then fight back from behind meant there were again more positives than negatives.
Positives that we could take into our Tuesday trek to Chesterfield, a point emphasised further when Elliott Nevitt netted his second in consecutive games to have us in front (relatively) early on once more, but in the end we had to settle for another draw as the Spireites came on strongly to level up before threatening, albeit unsuccessfully, to send us back down the motorway empty handed.
So onto this past Saturday, back on our own patch to take on a woefully out-of-sorts MK Dons side sitting below us in the table.
An unfamiliar feeling of being favourites? Perhaps.
Let’s be honest, if you wanted to watch a game to advertise the artistry of the beautiful game, then this was not it.
But it wasn’t a game about that, instead being more about Gareth getting that first win under his belt, about last-minute debutante Taite Holtam having a first appearance to cherish and about further building that relationship between pitch and terraces (ok, the stands) a little bit more.
For 94 or so minutes, it looked like ending in a stalemate, but we hadn’t factored in Bradley Dack.
Perhaps understandably so, given his lack of impact since returning.
But not only did he rise from the bench to firstly change the complex of the game, he then won it for us in injury time in front of a bouncing Rainham End.
Ah, that sweet roar.
The cherry on top of the icing on top of the biggest of cakes.
Maybe, just maybe, this could be the start of something.
For Gareth, for Bradley and for all of us.
Matt Boosey, who has been supporting the Gills since his first game in 1989, is a season ticket holder with his daughter Ava and has been running the YouTube channel Gills in the Blood TV since 2017.
