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fan-of-mulligan · 3 years

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FOM BLOG: GILLINGHAM 4-1 CREWE ALEXANDRA

My Thoughts On Gillingham 4-1 Crewe Alexandra.............

Gillingham’s 4-1 Home Win Against Crewe Alexandra was Gillingham’s Best Home Performance Of The Season, and this result has seen Gillingham answer quite a few questions, Because prior to Gillingham’s 4-1 home win against Crewe Alexandra, Gillingham had picked up just four points against teams in the top ten In League One, Gillingham had only scored three goals in nine games against teams in The Top Ten Of League One, And Gillingham had picked up just four points out of twenty seven, So For Gillingham to pick up all three points, score four goals, and put in such a convincing performance against a very good Crewe Alexandra Side, means that Gillingham can take a lot of confidence going into a very difficult away fixture against Sunderland At The Stadium Of Light On Saturday.

Other questions have also been responded to, Like the lack of the goals Gillingham have scored, Because if you take out The 4-1 away win against Rochdale, And The 2-2 draw against Rochdale at the weekend, Gillingham had only scored two goals in our four league games against Accrington Stanley, Northampton Town, Burton Albion and Plymouth Argyle, and the questions being asked is this, Have Gillingham have got enough fire-power to cause some of the more established sides problems defensively, and that question has been answered with Gillingham scoring four goals against Crewe Alexandra, And Gillingham have finally won a home league game, because our last league win at Priestfield Stadium came against Swindon Town, When Gillingham won 2-0 against Swindon Town On The Fifth Of December, If Gillingham are going to close the gap between themselves and the teams in and around the playoff places in League One, then winning more home games between now and the end of the season is how Gillingham can close the gap on the playoff positions.

Whether Gillingham can challenge for a playoff position in League One will depend greatly on the results Gillingham can pick up in our next five League One Matches, Because Gillingham's Next Five League One Fixtures Are As Follows….. 30th January A Sunderland, 5th February H Lincoln City, 13th February A Charlton Athletic, 16th February H Peterborough United and 20th February H Bristol Rovers - Gillingham will play against teams in Seventh, First, Sixth, Third And Nineteenth in the next five matches, and were Gillingham to pick up eight points from those five matches, then there is a chance that Gillingham could be that one team that goes from mid-table to challenging for A League One Playoff Place at the end of the season.

My Own Opinion Is This, I am concentrating on Gillingham picking up enough points between now and the end of the season which will see Gillingham retain there League One Status for The 2021 / 2022 Season, and the sooner that objective is ticked off the list, then Gillingham are in a position to start looking up the table, rather then looking over our shoulder at The League One Relegation Zone, I just have the opinion that teams like Lincoln City, Hull City, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Peterborough United, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic have the squad depth to cope with the demands of a congested league season, and the seven clubs I have mentioned can make five or six changes to there starting line up, and the replacements that are coming into the starting line up are like for like replacements in-terms of quality, The teams who are consistent are the teams who will pick up enough points to secure automatic promotion into The Championship, or pick up the points required to secure themselves a spot in the playoffs, and like for like quality replacements that provides depth in your squad will be a difference maker - If only Gillingham didn’t lose those three league games against Plymouth Argyle, Burton Albion and Northampton Town, because the additional nine points would have put Gillingham on Forty Two Points From Twenty Four Matches - A Points Tally which would have put Gillingham up as high as fifth In The League One Table.

STARTING LINE UP

Gillingham Lined Up As Follows Against Crewe Alexandra,,,,, Jack Bonham, Ryan Jackson, Robbie Cundy, Jack Tucker, Connor Ogilvie, Callum Slattery, Kyle Dempsey, Jordan Graham, Olly Lee, Tom O’Connor, Vadaine Oliver Substitutes: Robbie McKenzie, Stuart O’Keefe, Matty Willock, Alex MacDonald, Tyreke Johnson and John Akinde - Substitute Goalkeeper Joe Walsh wasn’t named among the substitutes bench, and we now know the reason as to why that is the case, because two Championship Clubs have made offers for Joe Walsh which were too good to turn down, QPR are rumoured to have offered £500,000 for Joe Walsh, And I am sure we will find out more details once we hear official confirmation that the transfer has been concluded.

But with Joe Walsh’s absence, Gillingham are lacking a understudy goalkeeper to Joe Walsh, And Charlie Walker has surprisingly not been promoted on to the bench to provide goalkeeping cover for Jack Bonham for this home league game against Crewe Alexandra, Paul Raynor mentioned that Gillingham will sign a back up goalkeeper before The Sunderland League Game at the weekend, But even with a new goalkeeper signed, Gillingham will still only have two senior goalkeepers to call upon, and we have seen on numerous occasions this season when Joe Walsh has been unavailable that Gillingham do not have anyone else to provide Goalkeeper Cover.

As for how Gillingham are lining up for the home league game against Crewe Alexandra, Either Gillingham are sticking with The 4-2-3-1 Formation which Gillingham played against Rochdale, Or, Gillingham are lining up with A 4-4-2 Diamond Midfield Formation, I cannot see Robbie Cundy, Jack Tucker and Connor Ogilvie lining up as a three man central defensive partnership with Ryan Jackson and Tom O’Connor as wing backs, I think Gillingham will either line up with A 4-2-3-1 Formation, Or, A 4-4-2 Diamond Midfield Formation.

FIRST HALF:

And within the first fifteen seconds of the match, Crewe Alexandra should have opened the scoring, Ryan Wintle passes the ball back towards Rio Adebisi, And Rio Adebisi kicks the ball long down the left side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Right - And Chris Porter gets the ball under control before playing a short layoff towards Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk clips the ball over Ryan Jackson’s shoulder towards Chris Porter, And Chris Porter headers the ball down towards Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk manages to pick out Oliver Finney with a first time pass inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Oliver Finney plays a first time flick back towards Chris Porter, And Chris Porter passes the ball square towards Tom Lowery inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Tom Lowery plays a first time pass short towards Oliver Finney, And Oliver Finney takes a few touches in possession of the ball before seeing his low shot towards goal saved by Jack Bonham and the ball diverts out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick.

That was an incredible passage of play from Crewe Alexandra with Tom Lowery, Oliver Finney, Charlie Kirk and Chris Porter all involved in that remarkable one and two touch passing display that we are so accustomed to seeing from Crewe Alexandra, and even though Oliver Finney was being closely marked by Jack Tucker, Callum Slattery, and Robbie Cundy, Oliver Finney still managed to get a shot off on goal which required Jack Bonham to make the save to preserve The 0-0 score-line.

Two Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra were on the front-foot, Charlie Kirk manages to pick out Oliver Finney with a pass down the right side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Oliver Finney’s first time cross is blocked by Robbie Cundy and the ball ricochets off Gillingham’s New Signing and hits Oliver Finney and the ball ricochets fortuitously out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Crewe Alexandra are going to dominate possession of the ball and they are going to be passing the ball through into Gillingham’s Final Third on a regular basis, and this match is going to be similar to Gillingham’s 1-0 win against Crewe Alexandra at Gretsy Road, where Gillingham somehow managed to win 1-0 thanks to John Akinde’s Header.

But In The Ninth Minute Of The Match, And Gillingham manage to win themselves a penalty kick, Crewe Alexandra have a throw on down the left side of the pitch in there own defensive final third, And Charlie Kirk throws the ball back towards Rio Adebisi, And Rio Adebisi takes a touch to control the ball before looking around for passing options, And Rio Adebisi plays a short pass square to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle passes the ball back towards Omar Beckles, And Omar Beckles takes a touch to control the ball before clipping a cross-field pass towards Travis Johnson down the right side of the pitch, And Travis Johnson gets the ball under control before passing the ball forwards towards Tom Lowery, And Callum Slattery manages to intercept the ball and the ball ricochets towards Jordan Graham, who gets the ball under control, turns and runs inside the penalty area in possession of the ball, And Jordan Graham is fouled by Travis Johnson and Referee Alan Young points to the penalty spot straight away, and this is a fantastic opportunity for Gillingham to take the lead early on in this important League One Fixture.

And up steps Jordan Graham to take the resulting penalty kick, And Jordan Graham powerfully places the ball into the bottom right corner of the net with Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper Dave Richards diving towards the left side, And Jordan Graham has opened the scoring for The Gills from the penalty spot, and that goal is precisely what Gillingham needed against a very good Crewe Alexandra Side, Because Crewe Alexandra are the last team you want to be chasing the game against because of the way they retain possession of the ball, and by scoring first, Gillingham can perhaps control the game better because we are in a winning position - GILLINGHAM 1-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA.

Twelve Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra managed to win themselves a corner kick because Owen Dale’s through pass through to Chris Porter is intercepted by Connor Ogilvie and Connor Ogilvie’s interception diverts the ball out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Crewe Alexandra came close to equalising, Travis Johnson whips in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick and Omar Beckles wins the aerial challenge in the air up against Jack Tucker and Robbie Cundy, And Omar Beckles header towards goal is saved by Jack Bonham.

Sixteen Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra had a goal-kick, And Dave Richards passes the ball short to Oliver Lancashire, And Oliver Lancashire takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Travis Johnson, And Travis Johnson is being closed down by Tom O’Connor and Travis Johnson passes the ball back towards Oliver Lancashire, And The Crewe Alexandra Centre Back kicks the ball long down-field and Jack Tucker wins the aerial challenge on the halfway line to header the ball forwards towards Olly Lee, But Ryan Wintle manages to get the ball under control and pass the ball out-wide to Travis Johnson, And Travis Johnson see’s his attempted pass through to Owen Deal cut out by Callum Slattery on the halfway line, And Callum Slattery manages to get the ball under control, take a few touches in possession of the ball, And Callum Slattery’s through-ball is just to long for either Vadaine Oliver or Jordan Graham to be able to get on the end of that pass, and the ball runs through to Dave Richards In The Crewe Alexandra Goal.

Eighteen Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham had the chance to go 2-0 up, Gillingham have a throw on down the left side of the pitch, and from the resulting throw on, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Vadaine Oliver cannot make contact with the ball to header the ball goal-wards or knock the ball down towards a team mate, and the ball bounces high off the turf and Dave Richards just about manages to prevent Ryan Jackson’s long throw from going over the goal-line, Olly Lee couldn’t get to the ball ahead of The Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper, and from here, Gillingham had huge claims for a penalty kick turned down from Referee Alan Young, Dave Richards rolls the ball short to Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk takes a few touches in possession of the ball, But Charlie Kirk’s pass square to Tom Lowery is intercepted by Callum Slattery, And Callum Slattery plays a short pass square to Jordan Graham down the right side of the pitch, And Jordan Graham manages to retain possession of the ball before being clattered to the deck by Oliver Finney, and no free kick was awarded in Gillingham’s Favour and Rio Adebisi has possession of the ball for Crewe Alexandra in the visitor’s final third, And Rio Adebisi passes the ball short to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle is being closed down by Jordan Graham, Olly Lee and Kyle Dempsey, And Jordan Graham manages to intercept the ball, and Jordan Graham is bundled down to the deck inside Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area by Ryan Wintle and Rio Adebisi - I thought that was going to be another penalty kick for Gillingham, But Referee Alan Young is unmoved by Gillingham’s appeals for a penalty.

Twenty One Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra had the chance to level the game up at 1-1, Omar Beckles passes the ball out-wide to Charlie Kirk down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Charlie Kirk takes a touch to control the ball before seeing his clipped pass headed clear by Callum Slattery and Charlie Kirk manages to keep the ball in play before running down the left flank in possession of the ball, and Charlie Kirk manages to pick out Tom Lowery with a clipped pass towards The Crewe Alexandra Midfielder on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Tom Lowery runs forwards in possession of the ball before managing to pick out Oliver Finney with a short pass inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Oliver Finney’s first time shot towards goal fails to hit the target and Jack Bonham wasn’t required to make a save - But that effort on goal from Oliver Finney is a warning for Gillingham, Because Crewe Alexandra do come into this match having not lost there last ten league fixtures in League One.

Twenty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Tom Lowery’s heavy pass back to Omar Beckles is over-hit and Crewe Alexandra have given away a very cheap corner kick, Gillingham’s pressing from the front is causing Crewe Alexandra a lot of problems defensively, But Crewe Alexandra are also creating problems of there own making by over-playing in there own defensive final third, and from the resulting corner kick, Gillingham had the chance to double there lead, Tom O’Connor whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Goalkeeper Dave Richards parries the ball up into the air and Robbie Cundy lays the ball off to Jack Tucker, who see’s his first time shot towards goal blocked by Oliver Lancashire and the ball diverts out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And From The Second Corner Kick, Jordan Graham passes the ball short to Tom O’Connor, who gets the ball under control before firing in a low cross inside Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area and Oliver Finney boots the ball clear and away from danger for the visitor’s.

Twenty Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham have a throw on right in-front of the dugouts and Crewe Alexandra cannot deal with the high press from The Gills, and from the resulting throw on, Gillingham could have gone 2-0 up, Ryan Jackson throws the ball long down the line and Vadaine Oliver wins the aerial challenge to flick the ball on towards Jordan Graham, And Jordan Graham manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball back towards Callum Slattery, And Callum Slattery takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball square to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie gets the ball under control before standing the ball up towards the far post, and although the ball is too high for Vadaine Oliver to header towards goal, Kyle Dempsey had made a run behind Vadaine Oliver, and Kyle Dempsey’s Header towards goal was saved by Dave Richards And The Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper parries the ball up into the air and Tom Lowery boots the ball clear and away from danger for the visitor’s.

But that was the chance for Gillingham to double there lead for 2-0 and Kyle Dempsey is very unlucky that his well timed header was saved by The Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper and 2-0 would have seen Gillingham put themselves in a very commanding position to pick up all three points, 1-0, And Crewe Alexandra only need one chance to level the game up at 1-1, This was the case against Rochdale where Connor Ogilvie’s Header was saved and Gillingham went from winning 1-0, to losing 2-1, And John Akinde scored a late equaliser for The Gills, hopefully, that missed opportunity from Kyle Dempsey doesn’t see Crewe Alexandra replicate what Rochdale managed to achieve on Saturday.

Twenty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Jack Tucker manages to pick out Vadaine Oliver with a diagonal cross-field cross and Vadaine Oliver’s looping header was on target and Dave Richards makes a routine save in goal for Crewe Alexandra, But The Linesman down The Medway Stand / Brian Moore Stand Side Of The Pitch had his flag raised for offside, And In The Thirty Second Minute Of The Match, Gillingham had the chance to double there lead, Crewe Alexandra manage to clear there defensive lines and Robbie Cundy headers the ball back into the visitor’s half of the pitch, and Ryan Wintle cannot get the ball under control and Olly Lee manages to play a first time pass through to Jordan Graham down the left side of the pitch, And Jordan Graham manages to retain possession of the ball despite being closely marked by Omar Beckles, and Jordan Graham runs away from goal towards the byline, And Jordan Graham back-heals the ball to Tom O’Connor down the left side of the pitch in Crewe Alexandra’s Final Third, And Tom O’Connor whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross first time and Vadaine Oliver’s header is on target and comfortable for Dave Richards to make a routine save - either side of The Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper would have seen Gillingham double there lead.

But despite all the chances created, Crewe Alexandra should have equalised in the thirty fourth minute of the match, Crewe Alexandra have possession of the ball down the right side of the pitch, And Owen Dale back-heals the ball towards Travis Johnson, And Travis Johnson plays a one / two with Tom Lowery before passing the ball out-wide to Owen Dale, And Owen Dale passes the ball centrally to Tom Lowery, who retains possession of the ball before playing a short pass out-wide to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle is forced to pass the ball all the way back to Omar Beckles In Crewe Alexandra’s Half Of The Pitch, And Omar Beckles takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball square to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle plays a one / two with Oliver Lancashire before playing a short pass down the line towards Travis Johnson, And Travis Johnson passes the ball square to Tom Lowery on the halfway line and Tom Lowery plays a short pass sideways towards Omar Beckles, And Omar Beckles passes the ball forwards towards Oliver Finney, And Oliver Finney plays a first time pass out-wide to Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk passes the ball down the line towards Charlie Kirk In Gillingham’s Defensive Final Third, And Charlie Kirk plays a give and go with Oliver Finney before firing in a dangerous in-swinging cross across the face of goal and neither Chris Porter or Tom Lowery can make a telling connection on the ball to divert the ball goal-wards, and had they done so, Then Crewe Alexandra would have equalised.

And failure to score that goal-scoring opportunity proved to be very costly for Crewe Alexandra, Because Gillingham doubled there lead after thirty seven minutes, Crewe Alexandra have a goal-kick, and again, Dave Richards has passed the ball short towards Omar Beckles and Omar Beckles takes a few touches in possession of the ball, And Omar Beckles has passed the ball straight towards Kyle Dempsey on the halfway line, And Kyle Dempsey runs forwards in possession of the ball for The Gills, And Kyle Dempsey passes the ball short to Jordan Graham in a right / central position on the pitch, And Jordan Graham takes a few touches in possession of the ball before whipping in a low dangerous cross, And Olly Lee’s first touch allows Olly Lee to nutmeg Omar Beckles, And Olly Lee accurately places the ball underneath the advancing Dave Richards and Gillingham have doubled there lead to 2-0, and this second goal is precisely what Gillingham needed against a very good Crewe Alexandra Side - GILLINGHAM 2-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA.

If you were A Crewe Alexandra Supporter, You would be wondering what on earth was Omar Beckles doing with the poor pass into midfield which was intercepted by Kyle Dempsey, But From A Gillingham Point Of View, this goal is precisely what Gillingham needed and precisely what we needed to do against Rochdale at the weekend, Because against Rochdale, Connor Ogilvie’s header was saved and Rochdale went from losing 1-0 to winning 2-1 and John Akinde scored a late equaliser to salvage a point, but against Crewe Alexandra, Gillingham have scored that all important second goal, and I wonder if Olly Lee hadn’t of scored, if Referee Alan Young was going to award Gillingham a second penalty kick, Because it did look like Omar Beckles was pulling Olly Lee back, But Olly Lee scoring makes any potential penalty or non penalty decision a after-thought, Because Gillingham are winning 2-0 against Crewe Alexandra.

Forty Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra had the chance to half the deficit, Omar Beckles has possession of the ball for the visitor’s, And Omar Beckles passes the ball square to Ryan Wintle down the left side of the pitch in-front of the dugouts, And Ryan Wintle takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forwards towards Oliver Finney, And Oliver Finney controls the ball on the half-turn before passing the ball out-wide to Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk plays a short pass square to Rio Adebisi, And Rio Adebisi takes a touch to control the ball before threading a return through-ball through to Charlie Kirk down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Charlie Kirk manages to whip in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick and Owen Dale takes a touch to control the ball before seeing his shot towards goal blocked by Connor Ogilvie at the expense of conceding a corner kick - And that was the chance for Crewe Alexandra to score to get themselves back into this match just before half time.

Forty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Ryan Jackson hurls in a long throw into the heart of Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area and Rio Adebisi headers the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And it is from this corner kick where Gillingham almost scored for 3-0, Tom O’Connor whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Dave Richards manages to punch the ball clear and away from goal and Jordan Graham is penalised for his challenge on Owen Dale, and the free kick awarded to Crewe Alexandra just relieves some of the pressure building on to there own goal.

Forty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham are almost in for 3-0, Omar Beckles passes the ball forwards towards and Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle is under pressure from Gillingham’s High Press and has to pass the ball back towards Omar Beckles, But Olly Lee manages to intercept the ball and the loose ball runs kindly through to Dave Richards in The Crewe Alexandra Goal, And Crewe Alexandra just cannot deal with Gillingham’s High Press, and the way Jordan Graham, Vadaine Oliver, Olly Lee, Kyle Dempsey, Tom O’Connor and Callum Slattery just have not allowed Crewe Alexandra any time on the ball in there own final third.

But from here, Gillingham do manage to make the score-line 3-0, Dave Richards rolls the ball short to Omar Beckles, And Omar Beckles takes a few touches in possession of the ball and Omar Beckles pass forwards towards Ryan Wintle is intercepted by Vadaine Oliver, And Vadaine Oliver gets the ball under control before passing the ball forwards towards Olly Lee, And Olly Lee flicks the ball back towards Kyle Dempsey, and although Tom Lowery gets to the loose ball first, Kyle Dempsey manages to intercept the ball from The Crewe Alexandra Midfielder, And Kyle Dempsey accurately places the ball into the bottom left corner of the net for 3-0, and that goal for Gillingham just before half time gives Gillingham a comfortable 3-0 lead - GILLINGHAM 3-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA.

There is nothing that Dave Richards can do about that, and once again, Crewe Alexandra cannot deal with the high press, and also, Omar Beckles is just passing the ball into area’s of the pitch where Gillingham can regain possession of the ball, It was Omar Beckles pass which lead to Olly Lee scoring for 2-0, and it is also Omar Beckles pass which leads to Kyle Dempsey scoring for 3-0, and that third goal for Gillingham had put The Gills in a very strong position to pick up all three points on our first half performance alone.

HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 3-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA

I uploaded the following status update on to Social Media at half time,,,,,,, HALF TIME: GILLINGHAM 3-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA - Jordan Graham, Olly Lee & Kyle Dempsey have got themselves on the score-sheet in what has been a excellent first half performance for Gills, The high press from our midfield and attack have caused Crewe problems in there own final third, Dempsey has had a header saved, And The Crewe Goalkeeper has also saved Oliver's header from O'Connor's cross, It hasn't been a one sided display, Because Oli Finney almost scored for Crewe in the opening fifteen seconds of the match and Beckles Header was saved by Bonham. Crewe whipped in a dangerous cross towards the back-stick which went out of play for A Goal-Kick, and that cross was the chance for 1-1, and minutes later Olly Lee doubled Gillingham's Lead for 2-0, great goal for Olly Lee after being picked out from a cross from Jordan Graham. The five substitutions give Gillingham the options to make the substitutions required to match up the stamina levels from our high press, because Graham, Oliver, Lee and Dempsey have been on the front-foot for The Gills in the first half. Excellent first half from The Gills.

SECOND HALF:

And right at the start go the second half, Jack Tucker headers clear two crosses from Oliver Finney and Charlie Kirk, And Jack Tucker smashes the ball clear for a third clearance in quick succession, And In The Forty Eighth Minute Of The Match, Crewe Alexandra were looking to score to try and kick-start a potential come-back, Robbie Cundy headers Rio Adebisi’s cross clear and out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Charlie Kirk whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Robbie Cundy headers the ball clear towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Ryan Wintle chests the ball under control before firing a fiercely driven effort towards goal which was routinely saved by Jack Bonham In The Gillingham Goal.

And In The Forty Ninth Minute Of The Match, Crewe Alexandra were on the front-foot again, Because the visitor’s have a throw on down the left side of the pitch, And Charlie Kirk throws the ball short to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle passes the ball back out-wide to Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Robbie Cundy can only header the ball up into the air and Jack Bonham gathers the ball in mid-flight and makes a comfortable save in goal for The Gills.

But In The Fifty First Minute Of The Match, Crewe Alexandra created another decent goal-scoring opportunity, Charlie Kirk has possession of the ball for Crewe Alexandra down the left side of the pitch, And Charlie Kirk takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball through to Oliver Finney on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Oliver Finney manages to thread the ball through to Rio Adebisi inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area as The Crewe Alexandra Left Back had made a over-lapping run, And Rio Adebisi’s first time shot towards goal is saved by Jack Bonham and Jack Bonham hasn’t parried the ball wide and away from goal and the follow up effort towards goal from Owen Dale is fired over the crossbar from eight yards out - AND THAT WAS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR CREWE ALEXANDRA TO SCORE FOR 3-1 DOWN!!!!!! - Credit must go to Tom O’Connor for throwing himself in-front of that shot to put Owen Dale off, And Crewe Alexandra have had there chances to score in the opening six minutes of the second half.

Fifty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham are awarded a free kick because Oliver Lancashire is penalised for his challenge on Jordan Graham down The Medway Stand / Rainham End Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Gillingham had the chance to score for 4-0, Jordan Graham has gone for goal from the resulting free kick, And Jordan Graham’s effort on goal has cleared Crewe Alexandra’s Defensive Wall, But also, cleared the crossbar as well, Personally, I don’t think that free kick was within shooting territory and I thought Jordan Graham was going to whip in a cross towards the near or far post.

Fifty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandras manage to win themselves a corner kick after a extended spell in possession of the ball, and from the resulting corner kick, Charlie Kirk whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jack Tucker headers the ball partially clear towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, Tom O’Connor manages to header the ball further away from goal, and Ryan Wintle gets to the loose ball first by the byline, But pressure from Jordan Graham forces Ryan Wintle to over-run the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On.

However, despite the chances created by Crewe Alexandra In The Second Half, and especially the chance which saw Owen Dale fail to hit the target after Jack Bonham had saved Rio Adebishi’s initial effort towards goal, Gillingham scored there fourth goal of the game in The Sixty First Minute Of The Match, Gillingham had a throw on down The Medway Stand / Rainham End Side Of the Pitch In Crewe Alexandra’s Final Third, And Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Connor Ogilvie wins the first aerial challenge to header the ball on towards Olly Lee, And Olly Lee headers the ball over Crewe Alexandra Goalkeeper Dave Richards to put Gillingham 4-0 up against Crewe Alexandra, and any slim possibility of Crewe Alexandra coming back from three goals down to draw three all has been eliminated with that header from Olly Lee - GILLINGHAM 4-0 CREWE ALEXANDRA

Olly Lee is perhaps not known for his heading ability, But two goals for Olly Lee against Crewe Alexandra, four goals for The Gills on the night, and surely now Gillingham will pick up all three points to move up The League One Table, Olly Lee also assisted Kyle Dempsey for his goal just before half time, and all in all, we have seen a exceptional performance from Olly Lee, And Gillingham have put in there best home performance of The 2020 / 2021 Season at Priestfield Stadium.

After Olly Lee’s goal for 4-0, Crewe Alexandra made a double sub, With Stephen Walker and Luke Murphy coming on to replace Owen Dale and Tom Lowery, Crewe Alexandra are perhaps looking to substitute players now in preparation for there next League One Fixture against Ipswich Town at the weekend, and speaking of substitutions, With Gillingham winning 4-0 against Crewe Alexandra, Gillingham have the luxury to bring on Stuart O’Keefe and Alex MacDonald to freshen up our midfield, especially when you take into consideration the effort and the high press that Olly Lee, Kyle Dempsey, Callum Slattery, Tom O’Connor and Jordan Graham have all been apart of, Crewe Alexandra have not been able to deal with Gillingham’s high press throughout the entire match.

Sixty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra could have scored a consolation goal, Callum Slattery was penalised for his challenge on Charlie Kirk And Crewe Alexandra have been awarded a free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Charlie Kirk passes the ball back towards goalkeeper Dave Richards, And Dave Richards passes the ball square to Oliver Lancashire, And Oliver Lancashire takes a few touches in possession of the ball before clipping the ball down the left side of the pitch towards Rio Adebisi, who passes the ball back to Omar Beckles, And Omar Beckles takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field, and although Robbie Cundy wins the initial aerial challenge, the header from Robbie Cundy back towards Jack Bonham almost drops into Chris Porter’s path, and Jack Bonham was able to gather the ball with some ease - That long pass from Omar Beckles is the first time Crewe Alexandra have tried to knock the ball long down-field, But with the score-line at 4-0 to The Gills, It is going to take a dreadful level in performance from Gillingham and Crewe Alexandra severely upping there game to try and come back from 4-0 down to draw 4-4.

Seventy Minutes Into The Match, And Callum Slattery’s pass down the line towards Ryan Jackson is intercepted by Charlie Kirk, and the ball is deflected out of play for A Gillingham Throw On Down The Gordon Road Stand / Rainham End Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw On, Gillingham had the chance to score for 5-0, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Oliver Lancashire headers the ball partially clear towards the edge of Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area, And Kyle Dempsey takes a touch to control the ball before running across the eighteen yard line, And Tom O’Connor strikes a first time effort wide of the far right post, and the ball goes out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Goal-Kick - Tom O’Connor had to go for goal first time because he was getting closed down quickly.

Seventy Three Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra make there third substitution of the match With Antony Evans coming on to replace Ryan Wintle, And In The Seventy Fourth Minute, Gillingham had a throw on down The Gordon Road Stand / The Rainham End Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw On, Ryan Jackson hurls in a long dangerous throw and Robbie Cundy does really well to win the aerial challenge to flick the ball on towards the far post and Vadaine Oliver headers the ball into the back of the net and there is nothing that Dave Richards can do about that in The Crewe Alexandra Goal, However, Vadaine Oliver and Gillingham’s celebrations were cut short because the linesman had his flag raised for offside - But I have got to say that looking at the highlights again, Vadaine Oliver looks like he is onside when Robbie Cundy wins the aerial challenge to header the ball on towards the far post.

Had this match been 2-1, Crewe Alexandra score late on and draw 2-2, we would look back on Vadaine Oliver’s goal being chalked off for offside as a more controversial decision, I do think Vadaine Oliver was onside when Robbie Cundy headed Ryan Jackson’s long throw into his path, and the only talking point is Gillingham winning 5-0, compared to currently winning 4-0, Also, It would have been good to see Vadaine Oliver get himself on the score-sheet, Because Vadaine Oliver’s overall performance for Gillingham against Crewe Alexandra deserved a goal.

Seventy Six Minutes Into The Match, Crewe Alexandra have been awarded a free kick in a very promising position on the pitch, and from the resulting free kick, Rio Adebisi whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and Robbie Cundy headers the ball out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick before colliding with the advertisement board, thankfully, Robbie Cundy was OK to continue playing for The Gills, And considering this was Robbie Cundy’s debut for Gillingham, The Centre Back has put in a decent performance against a very good Crewe Alexandra Side.

Seventy Nine Minutes Into The Match, Crewe Alexandra make there fourth substitution of the match with Regan Griffiths coming on to replace Charlie Kirk, And a minute later, Crewe Alexandra do finally stick the ball into the back of the net, Dave Richards passes the ball short to Omar Beckles, And Omar Beckles takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Anthony Evans, And Anthony Evans see’s his pass intercepted by Kyle Dempsey, But Anthony Evans manages to intercept the ball from Kyle Dempsey and run down the left side of the pitch in possession of the ball, And Anthony Evans goes on a driving run forwards and continue’s his run inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Anthony Evans see’s his shot towards goal deflect off Robbie Cundy across the face of goal and Chris Porter was in the right place at the right time to score a real goal poachers finish, And Crewe Alexandra have scored a consolation goal - GILLINGHAM 4-1 CREWE ALEXANDRA.

That goal just takes some of the shine away from a fantastic performance from The Gills, Because it would have been nice to see Gillingham held on to the clean sheet, and whilst the goal that Chris Porter scored shouldn’t change the out-come of the result, It does give Crewe Alexandra some hope that they could kick-start a come-back, Maybe the concentration levels dropped momentarily because Gillingham were winning 4-0, and when your concentration levels drop, that’s when you get punished.

And straight from the kick off, Gillingham had the chance to reestablish there four goal lead, Jordan Graham manages to charge down Rio Adebisi’s attempted clearance and the ball loops up into the air and drops fortuitously into Kyle Dempsey’s Path, And Kyle Dempsey manages to play a lobbed ball over the top of Crewe Alexandra’s Defence, and the ball just wouldn’t drop kindly for Vadaine Oliver to get a shot off on goal and Oliver Lancashire makes a last ditch challenge to knock the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Tom O’Connor’s in-swinging cross towards the far post is over-hit and goes out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Throw On.

Eighty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra had the chance to score to make the score-line 4-2, Crewe Alexandra had a throw on right in-front of the dugouts and Travis Johnson was quick to throw the ball long down the line and Oliver Finney has the strength to shrug off the attempted challenge from Jack Tucker, And Jack Tucker slips and Oliver Finney is now through on goal for the visitor’s, and Oliver Finney see’s his shot towards goal at the near post saved by Jack Bonham and the ball ricochets against Robbie Cundy, Jack Tucker’s challenge inside the penalty area intercepts the ball momentarily and Robbie Cundy can only partially clear the ball, and Regan Griffiths is on to the lose ball, and Regan Griffiths takes a few touches in possession of the ball before twisting and turning and whipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post, And Regan Griffiths cross is over-hit, and the ball runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Credit must go to Robbie Cundy for doing enough to prevent Chris Porter from heading that cross from Regan Griffiths towards goal.

Eighty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra create another goal-scoring opportunity, Crewe Alexandra turn defence into attack quickly with some excellent one and two touch pass and move football and Luke Murphy runs forwards in possession of the ball down the right side of the pitch for Crewe Alexandra, And Luke Murphy continue’s his run forwards in possession of the ball before threading a pass through to Stephen Walker on the over-lap, And Stephen Walker manages to evade the attempted challenge from Jack Tucker, and pass the ball square to Luke Murphy inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Luke Murphy’s first time effort towards goal goes wide of Gillingham’s far left post - AND CREWE ALEXANDRA HAVE GOT TO HIT THE TARGET WITH THAT EFFORT ON GOAL FROM LUKE MURPHY!!!!!!!

Gillingham then make three individual substitutions with John Akinde coming on for Vadaine Oliver after eighty seven minutes, Alex MacDonald comes on to replace Jordan Graham In The Ninetieth Minute, And Stuart O’Keefe comes on to replace Olly Lee in second half stoppage time, all three players who have been substituted off the pitch have played a crucial role for The Gills in this impressive display against Crewe Alexandra, But I am surprised that Stuart O’Keefe wasn’t given a ten to fifteen minute runout, especially when you take the result against Crewe Alexandra into consideration.

And the final goal-scoring opportunity of the match went to Crewe Alexandra, just after Stuart O’Keefe had come on as a sub, Dave Richards kicks the ball long down-field and although Jack Tucker wins the initial aerial challenge, the second ball drops to Chris Porter, who manages to pass the ball square to Regan Griffiths first time, And Regan Griffiths gets the ball under control before whipping in a low cross towards Chris Porter inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Chris Porter manages to retain possession of the ball and tee up Oliver Finney, who fails to hit the target with a first time effort towards goal.

And after five additional minutes of added time, the full time whistle is blown by Referee Alan Young, And Gillingham have managed to win 4-1 against Crewe Alexandra inside Priestfield Stadium, fantastic performance, a fantastic result against a brilliant Crewe Alexandra Side, and Gillingham have picked up three massive points which slowly see’s Gillingham move in the right direction.

FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 4-1 CREWE ALEXANDRA

I uploaded the following status update on to Social Media after the full time whistle,,,, FULL TIME: GILLINGHAM 4-1 CREWE ALEXANDRA - A Brace From Olly Lee and goals from Kyle Dempsey and Jordan Graham have seen Gills win 4-1 at home against Crewe in what can be considered our best home performance of the season, pressing from the front caused Crewe problems all game. Chris Porter's consolation goal prevents Gillingham from earning themselves a clean sheet in a similar way to how Rochdale scored late on when Gillingham won 4-1 at Spotlands. But after drawing 2-2 against Rochdale at the weekend, Gills really needed to win against Crewe Tonight, Jack Bonham had to make two saves in the early stages of the second half, But once Olly Lee scored that fourth goal for Gillingham, that goal made absolutely certain that Gillingham would pick up all three points and the rest of the match was about The Gills seeing the game out. O'Connor failed to hit the target after a lay off from Dempsey, And Oliver's celebrations were cut short when he was flagged for offside. Crewe had three opportunities to try and get themselves back into the game at 4-2, which could have set up a interesting end to the match. All in all, a great performance, great result, and Gillingham have picked up seven points out of nine from the three league games against Accrington Stanley, Rochdale and Crewe Alexandra, Hopefully, Gillingham can keep this run going with a result at Sunderland at the weekend.

I also re-tweeted tweets from Ryan Jackson, Kyle Dempsey, Jordan Graham, Vadaine Oliver, several tweets from Gillingham’s Official Twitter Account, BBC Radio Kent, And D3D4, I also mentioned the following,,,, I am sure if someone offered Gillingham seven points out of nine from the three league games against Accrington Stanley, Rochdale and Crewe Alexandra when Accrington Stanley V Gillingham kicked off at 3PM On The 16th Of January, We would have gladly taken seven points out of nine, And One of the questions I asked fellow Gillingham Supporters, In The Gillingham Supporters Blog was how do Gillingham turnaround our dreadful form against teams in the top ten in League One, Gillingham have won 4-1 against Crewe Tonight, 7th Place Sunderland are Gills next opponents.

Gillingham Have Won Another Home League Game At Priestfield Stadium On A Tuesday Night. I would say Gillingham's 4-1 home win against Crewe Alexandra Is Gillingham's Best Home Performance Of The 2020 / 2021 Season. - Gillingham have got a dreadful record when it comes to winning home league games on A Tuesday Night, So to pick up another mid-week home win and put in such a convincing performance and win 4-1 against Crewe Alexandra is a fantastic result, I would have liked to have seen Gillingham pick up six points out of six from the two league games against Rochdale and Crewe Alexandra, And if only Connor Ogilvie scored that header against Rochdale, then we could be talking about back to back home wins and three league wins in a row, But four points from two home games against Rochdale and Crewe Alexandra is still a very decent points tally.

The intensity and pressing from the front from Gillingham against Crewe Alexandra was very impressive, both of our recent wins against Accrington and Crewe have seen Gills Midfield get themselves on the ball in the opposition's final third. Lee and Slattery have added quality to our midfield, And we then heard the explanation from Assistant Manager Paul Raynor as to why Young Goalkeeper Joe Walsh wasn’t named on the substitutes bench for our home league game against Crewe Alexandra, Gillingham had accepted an offer from two Championship Clubs that met our valuation for Joe Walsh, And at the end of the day, £500,000 for our young substitute goalkeeper who has only made one substitute appearance for Gillingham in League One is fantastic business, and Gillingham have to sell players to keep the club going in what is difficult times financially for every football club outside The Premier League.

I am sure if we broke the deal down, QPR Have paid £300,000 for Joe Walsh, and the fee can rise up to £500,000 with incentives and bonuses and that is how these deals tend to get done, QPR appear to be buying young Football League Talent, Because they also signed Charlie Kelman from Southend United as well, QPR are signing a highly rated goalkeeper who is young and has a lot of potential, And Gillingham have sold there under-study goalkeeper for a decent transfer fee.

And finally, With Gillingham playing against Sunderland, Lincoln City, Charlton Athletic and Peterborough United in the next four league games, It is vital that Gillingham won against Crewe Alexandra, And Gillingham go into these four league matches picking up seven points out of nine, Gillingham have scored seven goals in the last three league games and we’re starting to see more quality and a more enjoyable style of play to watch from The Gills, Hopefully, Gillingham can build on this win against Crewe Alexandra by getting a result against Sunderland at The Stadium Of Light, Before Gillingham play against Lincoln City live On SKY Sports On Friday Night - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!

#Gillingham #CreweAlexandra #Football #LeagueOne

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fan-of-mulligan · 4 years

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FOM BLOG: CREWE ALEXANDRA 0-1 GILLINGHAM

My Thoughts On Crewe Alexandra V Gillingham...................

This was a unconvincing win for Gillingham, A win that plenty Gillingham Supporters would call a smash and grab 1-0 win, But after losing five league matches in a row and Gillingham haven't scored in those five league defeats against MK Dons, Portsmouth, Fleetwood Town, Ipswich Town and Sunderland, then it doesn't matter how Gillingham won against Crewe Alexandra, Because these three points are three vital points, Because this result stops the winless and goal-less run that Gillingham were on and maybe Gillingham can gain some confidence and gain some momentum from this win against Crewe Alexandra, And Gillingham can take the confidence from this win into the two cup matches against Woking and Arsenal's U23's over the coming week.

As for how Gillingham Lined Up Against Crewe Alexandra, Gillingham Lined Up As Follows........ Joe Lumley, Ryan Jackson, Jack Tucker, Connor Ogilvie, Zech Medley, Robbie McKenzie, Tom O'Connor, Kyle Dempsey, Jordan Graham, Vadaine Oliver, Trae Coyle Subs: Joe Walsh (GK), Christian Maghoma, Declan Drysdale, Henry Woods, Matty Willock, John Akinde, Dominic Samuel - I was pleased to see Trae Coyle start for Gillingham, because I think Trae Coyle can provide Gillingham with some pace and trickery in the opposition's final third, Tom O'Connor starting for Gillingham was a unexpected surprise as well, Mikael Mandron also starts up-front for Crewe Alexandra and many supporters believed that The Former Gillingham Striker will get himself on the score-sheet, simply because Gillingham are on a horrific run of form at this moment in time.

FIRST HALF:

Eighteen Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra should have taken the lead, Jack Tucker kicks a long diagonal cross-field cross pass towards one of Vadaine Oliver or Tom O’Connor, But Perry Ng manages to win the initial aerial challenge and Daniel Powell manages to get on to the loose ball and pass the ball back towards Perry Ng, And Perry Ng kicks the ball long down-field towards Mikael Mandron on the halfway line, And Mikael Mandron manages to retain possession of the ball before threading a fantastic pass through to Tom Lowery on the over-lap down the right side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Left - And Tom Lowery has aches of space to run into, And Tom Lowery whips in a fantastic low cross across towards Charlie Kirk, who is unmarked inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Charlie Kirk’s first time shot towards goal goes wide of the far right post when really Charlie Kirk should have hit the target - And that was a massive let off for The Gills.

Thirty One Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra created a golden goal-scoring opportunity to try and take the lead, Daniel Powell has possession of the ball for Crewe Alexandra down the right side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Half, And Daniel Powell passes the ball back to Perry Ng, And Perry Ng takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball forwards to Mikael Mandron, who not only manages to retain possession of the ball, But Mikael Mandron manages to thread through a fantastic through-ball through to Daniel Powell, And Daniel Powell is running through on goal for the home side, And Daniel Powell see’s his low effort towards goal crash against the out-side of the near post and the ball diverts out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Crewe Alexandra really should have scored again, and once again, Mikael Mandron is involved in the build up.

Thirty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra again create another decent goal-scoring opportunity, Gillingham are on the offensive and looking to make the breakthrough as Gillingham are causing Crewe Alexandra problems down our right side of the pitch, as Jordan Graham passes the ball through to Ryan Jackson on the over-lap in Crewe Alexandra’s Final Third, And Ryan Jackson’s cross ricochets off Luke Offord and the ball runs through to Callum Ainley, And Callum Ainley runs forwards towards the halfway line in possession of the ball before passing the ball short to Daniel Powell, And Daniel Powell takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball square to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle passes the ball forwards to Tom Lowery, Who plays a first time layoff into Harry Pickering’s Path, And Harry Pickering manages to a thread a through-pass through to Charlie Kirk, And again, Charlie Kirk has a lot of space to run into and Charlie Kirk is through on goal for Crewe Alexandra, And Charlie Kirk see’s his shot towards goal saved by Joe Lumley, and Gillingham can consider themselves fortunate that the ball runs through to Robbie McKenzie and Crewe Alexandra are not given the opportunity to stick the ball into the back of the net from the re-bound.

Thirty Five Minutes Into The Match, And despite Crewe Alexandra creating plenty of goal-scoring opportunities in this match so far, Gillingham had the chance to take the lead, Connor Ogilvie manages to intercept the ball from Mikael Mandron on the halfway line and pass the ball out-wide to Tom O’Connor, And Tom O’Connor takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Zech Medley just inside Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Zech Medley takes a touch to control the ball before playing a one / two with Robbie McKenzie, and Zech Medley kicks the ball long down-field and Vadaine Oliver manages to chest the ball under control before smashing his effort towards goal first time with a dipping volley which goes wide of the far right post with Will Jaaskelainen well and truly beaten in The Crewe Alexandra Goal - Vadaine Oliver perhaps could have gone closer to goal rather then opting to shoot first time, because Luke Offord slipped at the crucial moment for Crewe Alexandra.

Thirty Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra create another decent goal-scoring opportunity, Mikael Mandron plays a short pass to Daniel Powell, who passes the ball square to Callum Ainley, And Callum Ainley gets the ball under control before passing the ball out-wide to Charlie Kirk down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third - Gillingham’s Right - And Charlie Kirk cuts inside into a more central position on the pitch before picking out Perry Ng with a cross-field pass, And Perry Ng takes a touch to control the ball before clipping in a dangerous cross which see’s Daniel Powell completely unmarked inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Daniel Powell’s looping header thankfully goes over the crossbar - It is only going to be a matter of time before Crewe Alexandra open the scoring, Because Crewe Alexandra have created plenty of clear cut goal-scoring opportunities to take the lead.

Forty Minutes Into The Match, And Tom O’Connor’s last ditch challenge on Charlie Kirk diverts the ball out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick, and from the resulting corner kick, Crewe Alexandra should have scored, Callum Ainley passes the ball short to Charlie Kirk, And Callum Ainley makes a quick run which allows Charlie Kirk to run through by the byline and take on Trae Coyle, And Charlie Kirk fires in a low dangerous cross across the face of goal, and Mikael Mandron’s diving header is kept out by a combination of a very good save by Joe Lumley and the ball hitting both Jack Tucker and Perry Ng and Jack Tucker manages to get the ball partially clear and away from goal, and Vadaine Oliver headers the ball towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Harry Pickering headers the ball back inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Jack Tucker headers the ball partially clear towards Charlie Kirk, and Charlie Kirk’s fiercely driven shot towards goal hits Tom O’Connor hard and the ball deflects out of play for A Crewe Alexandra Corner Kick.

And In The Forty Fifth Minute Of The Match, Crewe Alexandra were on the front-foot and looking to open the scoring again, Luke Offord has possession of the ball for Crewe Alexandra on the halfway line, And Luke Offord passes the ball out-wide to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle runs forward in possession of the ball down the left side of the pitch, And Ryan Wintle continue’s his run forwards before passing the ball short to Harry Pickering, And Harry Pickering gets the ball under control before cutting inside into a more central position on the pitch, And Harry Pickering passes the ball forwards towards Mikael Mandron on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Mikael Mandron plays a one touch layoff into the path of Callum Ainley, And a neat pice of skill see’s Callum Ainley go past Jack Tucker, And Callum Ainley’s shot towards goal is tipped over the crossbar by Joe Lumley who gets the faintest of touches on to the ball to prevent Crewe Alexandra from taking the lead.

HALF TIME: CREWE ALEXANDRA 0-0 GILLINGHAM

I uploaded the follow status update on to Facebook And Twitter At Half Time,,,, HALF TIME: CREWE 0-0 GILLINGHAM - Gillingham are fortunate that the score-line is still 0-0 at half time, Charlie Kirk shoots wide from Tom Lowery's low cross, Daniel Powell has seen his shot hit the post from Mandron's through-ball, Kirk has also seen his shot towards goal saved, Powell has seen his header go over the crossbar from Ng's floated cross, And Lumley has also tipped Callum Ainley's shot over the crossbar and played a pivotal roll in ensuring that Crewe did not score after a goal-mouth scramble. Gills have created chances, Jasskelainen has saved Ogilvie's Header, Oliver should really hit the target with his effort on goal, Oliver's Header is on target from O'Connor's Cross but was comfortable for Jasskelainen to deal with, I have got to say that Crewe are the better side.

Jordan Graham’s in-swinging corner kick has clipped the top of the crossbar and gone out of play for a goal-kick, Jordan Graham has also whipped in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Connor Ogilvie’s header towards goal is saved by Will Jasskelainen, Perry Ng has seen his shot from distance comfortably clear Gillingham’s Crossbar, And I thought there was a potential penalty decision for Gillingham when Tom O’Connor was fouled inside Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area, But A Corner Kick Was Awarded To Gillingham Instead.

I had to watch the vast majority of the first half on I Follow on mute, because the commentary was ahead of the play and that was a bit off-putting, and whilst that has happened in other matches this season, it hasn’t been ahead of the play for the entire first half, I was hoping that the commentary links up with the passage of play much better in the second half, And as far as any substitutions go, I was not expecting a half time substitution from Gillingham, And I think Steve Evans will send the same eleven out on to the pitch demanding for a much better performance in the second half.

SECOND HALF:

Fifty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra should have taken the lead, Vadaine Oliver cannot retain possession of the ball and Omar Beckles passes the ball back to Luke Offord, And Luke Offord passes the ball forwards to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball square to Harry Pickering, And Harry Pickering passes the ball out-wide to Charlie Kirk, who plays a first time pass forwards towards Callum Ainley, And Callum Ainley manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Ryan Wintle, And Ryan Wintle passes the ball out-wide to Harry Pickering first time, And Harry Pickering takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a low dangerous cross inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Mikael Mandron’s first time shot towards goal hits the inside of the post and the ball ricochets very kindly into Joe Lumley’s grateful arms and Gillingham survive - BUT CREWE ALEXANDRA REALLY SHOULD HAVE OPENED THE SCORING WITH THAT GOAL-SCORING OPPORTUNITY!!!!!!! - And as soon as the ball goes out of play, Gillingham make there first substitution of the match with John Akinde coming on to replace Trae Coyle, And John Akinde and Vadaine Oliver up-front suggests straight-away that Gillingham want to get the ball forwards quickly and hoping that the physical presence of Oliver and Akinde in attack can cause Crewe Alexandra problems defensively.

Fifty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham create a rare goal-scoring opportunity, Ryan Jackson goes on a driving run down the right side of the pitch in possession of the ball, And Ryan Jackson manages to retain possession of the ball, cuts back and pass the ball short to Kyle Dempsey, And Kyle Dempsey gets the ball under control before creating some space for himself to get a shot off on goal which is saved by Will Jasskelainen - And this effort on goal gives Gillingham something to build on.

And something to build on is precisely what happened, Because Gillingham manage to open the scoring after Fifty Eight Minutes, Omar Beckles kicks the ball long down-field for Crewe Alexandra and Robbie McKenzie headers the ball forwards for Gillingham back into Crewe Alexandra’s half of the pitch and Ryan Wintle wins the aerial challenge up against Vadaine Oliver and Callum Ainley and Kyle Dempsey both compete for loose ball in central midfield, and Kyle Dempsey passes the ball back to Jack Tucker, who takes one touch to control the ball and another touch to pick out Jordan Graham with a diagonal cross-field cross pass, and Jordan Graham does brilliantly to get the ball under control down the left side of the pitch in Crewe Alexandra’s Final Third, And Jordan Graham takes on Perry Ng and runs towards the byline before whipping in a sensational in-swinging cross towards the far side of Crewe Alexandra’s Penalty Area and John Akinde’s Header is on target and Will Jasskelainen cannot prevent the ball from crossing the goal-line, and finally, Gillingham have scored a goal and Gillingham have taken the lead - CREWE ALEXANDRA 0-1 GILLINGHAM.

Now Will Jasskelainen should have done better to prevent John Akinde from scoring, But having gone five and a half games without scoring a goal, I don’t think anyone cares how Gillingham scored just as long as we stuck the ball into the back of the net, and that is precisely what Gillingham have done, also, It’s great to see John Akinde score his first goal of the season and finally get his name on the score-sheet having not scored for Gillingham since that 3-2 away win against Blackpool back in The 2019 / 2020 Season.

Gillingham have switched our formation to A 4-4-2 Diamond Midfield, the back five is still the same (Joe Lumley, Ryan Jackson, Jack Tucker, Connor Ogilvie, Zech Medley) But Robbie McKenzie is sitting in-front of the back four, Kyle Dempsey and Tom O’Connor are playing in central midfield, With Jordan Graham given a free role behind Vadaine Oliver and John Akinde.

Sixty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra create a very good goal-scoring opportunity to equalise just five minutes after going behind to John Akinde’s goal, Ryan Wintle runs forwards in possession of the ball up towards the halfway line, And Ryan Wintle retains possession of the ball for Crewe Alexandra and passes the ball back towards Perry Ng, who plays a first time pass inside centrally towards Callum Ainley, who takes a few touches in possession of the ball before switching play to Charlie Kirk down the left side of the pitch, And Charlie Kirk goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball all the way down the left side of the pitch, And Charlie Kirk back-heals the ball towards Harry Pickering just outside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Harry Pickering evades the attempted challenge from Ryan Jackson and Harry Pickering manages to work his way in possession of the ball inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and lay the ball off to Callum Ainley, And Callum Ainley’s first time shot towards goal flashes just wide of the far right post with Joe Lumley well and truly beaten - Crewe Alexandra are dominating possession of the ball, which is to be expected, but they have yet to get themselves on the score-sheet - But if Crewe Alexandra continue to create quality goal-scoring opportunities then it feels like it is only a matter of time before they do score the equaliser.

Sixty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham had a fantastic opportunity to extend there lead to 2-0 and give The Gills some much needed breathing space, Gillingham have a throw on in there own defensive final third down the right side of the pitch, And Ryan Jackson hurls a long throw down the line and Vadaine Oliver flicks the ball on towards Jordan Graham, who skilfully manages to take the ball past Luke Offord and run down the right flank in possession of the ball and Jordan Graham continue’s his run down the right side of the pitch, And Jordan Graham manages to retain possession of the ball despite being closely marked by Ryan Wintle, And Jordan Graham cuts back on himself and then works his way towards the byline, and Jordan Graham whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post, And Tom O’Connor’s looping header hits the roof of the net rather then the back of the net - AND THAT WAS THE CHANCE FOR GILLINGHAM TO DOUBLE THERE LEAD TO 2-0!!!!!!!!!!!

Sixty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra make there first substitution of the game as Owen Dale comes on for Daniel Powell, And In The Seventy First Minute Of The Match, Gillingham make there second substitution of the game as Dominic Samuel comes on to replace Vadaine Oliver, And Crewe Alexandra make there second substitution of the game as Oliver Finney comes on to replace Callum Ainley, And In The Seventy Eighth Minute Of The Match, Crewe Alexandra create a very good goal-scoring opportunity to try and score the equaliser, Luke Pickering manages to whip in a low cross across the face of goal and the ball deflects back to Ryan Wintle, who fails to hit the target with a first time fiercely driven effort towards goal, and this goal-scoring opportunity came after a dominating passage of possession for Crewe Alexandra.

Eighty Three Minutes Into The Match, And John Akinde is penalised for his challenge on Tom Lowery, And the resulting free kick is taken very quickly with Perry Ng passing the ball square to Luke Offord, who passes the ball forwards to Harry Pickering, And Harry Pickering takes a touch to control the ball before passing the forwards out-wide to Charlie Kirk, And Charlie Kirk takes a touch to control the ball before waiting around for passing options and passing the ball centrally to Tom Lowery, who takes a touch to control the ball, And Tom Lowery passes the ball forwards towards Perry Ng right on the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area in a right / central area of the pitch, And Perry Ng gets the ball under control before threading the ball through to Owen Dale on the over-lap, And Owen Dale fires a first time cross across the face of goal and Oliver Finney’s shot towards goal is brilliantly saved by Joe Lumley and Jack Tucker gets the faintest of touches on to the second ball to prevent Oliver Finney from scoring the re-bound and Robbie McKenzie manages to get the ball clear and out-side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area - Now if Oliver Finney hit his shot towards goal either side of Joe Lumley, then Crewe Alexandra equalise, But that is still a remarkable save from Joe Lumley to preserve Gillingham’s slender 1-0 lead.

Eighty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Crewe Alexandra make there third and final substitution as Offrande Zanzala comes on to replace Tom Lowery, But there is still some defending for Gillingham to do from the resulting corner kick, And Joe Lumley saves a second cross from A Crewe Alexandra Player, Then Joe Lumley strikes the ball on the half-volley towards Jordan Graham with a exceptional pass down the line, Joe Lumley has been exceptional between the sticks for Gillingham against Crewe Alexandra in a match where Gillingham have needed a inspired goalkeeping performance.

Eighty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Matty Willock comes on to replace Tom O’Connor as Gillingham look to see out the rest of this match, But just as we are reaching The Ninetieth Minus Of The Match, Oliver Finney has seen his shot towards goal flashed just wide of the far post, And Mikael Mandron was involved in the build up to this goal-scoring opportunity, and can Gillingham hang on for three valuable points ???

Four minutes of additional time were shown by The Fourth Official, But with Matty Willock’s substitution, Oliver Finney’s shot going wide and Joe Lumley taking his time over the resulting goal-kick, more time has been added on, And the final noteworthy moment of the match see’s Perry Ng’s long kick down-field headed down the line by Kyle Dempsey and John Akinde is chasing a loose ball and Perry Ng has to pass the ball back to Will Jasskelainen, And Will Jasskelainen doesn’t have any time left to kick the ball long down-field, and after a horrendous run of five league defeats in a row, and five matches where Gillingham have failed to score, finally, Gillingham end this dreadful run with a win, a clean sheet, and most importantly, three points in a match where Gillingham had to win.

FULL TIME: CREWE ALEXANDRA 0-1 GILLINGHAM

I uploaded the following comments on to Facebook and Twitter after the full time whistle,,,,,, FULL TIME: CREWE 0-1 GILLINGHAM - This was a backs against the wall display from Gillingham in a match where Gills were second best and Crewe will be wondering how or why they didn't get a point out of this match at the very least. Gills will gladly take the three points tonight, Great to see Akinde get his first goal of the season for Gillingham, hopefully, this goal can be the springboard for Akinde to get on the score-sheet on a more regular basis, the back four of Jackson, Tucker, Ogilvie and Medley were all superb, But Lumley was out-standing in goal, Switching the formation to a diamond and two strikers playing more centrally gave Gills more of a threat in the final third, O'Connor was unlucky not to header the ball into the back of the net for 2-0, How Mandron didn't score when his effort on goal hit the post, I have no idea, After the last five defeats where Gillingham have failed to stick the ball into the back of the net, It makes for a pleasant change to be celebrating a hard fought 1-0 win for Gillingham Tonight, Not the best performance, and a lot to work on, But three vital points for The Gills.

Make no mistake, this wasn’t a fantastic performance from Gillingham and had it not been for the exceptional performance from Joe Lumley in-between the sticks for Gillingham then Crewe Alexandra could have quite easily won this match 4-1 or 5-1, But what we can do as Gillingham Supporters is enjoy that winning feeling having seen Gillingham lose the last five league games against MK Dons, Portsmouth, Fleetwood Town, Ipswich Town and Sunderland, I think it is important to celebrate The 1-0 win against Crewe Alexandra, Because A 1-0 Away Win, A Clean Sheet and three points are positive talking points, even though it is also important to recognise that Gillingham were very fortunate to win 1-0 against Crewe Alexandra.

I think switching the formation to A 4-4-2 Diamond Midfield with John Akinde and Vadaine Oliver in attack worked very effectively for Gillingham, And I just wonder if Gillingham should go back to the diamond midfield which worked so successfully for The Gills Last Season ??? - especially when taking into consideration that Gillingham do not have many pacey wide players and the lack of a defensive midfielder in-front of the back four leaves Gillingham very exposed, whilst it is important to mention that Crewe Alexandra created goal-scoring opportunities after Gillingham switched formations, Gillingham were not conceding the goal-scoring opportunities we saw from Crewe Alexandra in the first half.

John Akinde scoring his first goal for Gillingham in The 2020 / 2021 Season is a huge positive, and I am hoping that goal from John Akinde is the springboard for John Akinde to score more goals for The Gills, And Gillingham can now switch there attentions to two cup matches against Woking and Arsenal’s U21’s In The FA Cup and Football League Trophy respectively, obviously The FA Cup Game is more important, But it would be great to see Gillingham win both matches against Woking and Arsenal’s U21’s, which will not only see Gillingham progress further in both cup competitions, But Gillingham can take some confidence and momentum into the league fixtures against Lincoln City, Charlton Athletic and AFC Wimbledon, which are the three league games that Gillingham have got coming up for the rest of November.

As for other player performances, Jack Tucker and Connor Ogilvie were exceptional as Gillingham’s Centre Back Pairing, Jordan Graham whipped in two quality crosses, one which John Akinde scored, and the second cross that Tom O’Connor headed over the crossbar, But The Man Of The Match Award goes to Joe Lumley, who fully earned that clean sheet for Gillingham, And Joe Lumley returns to QPR having done a exceptional job filling in for Jack Bonham, who should be back available for selection for Gillingham V Woking at the weekend.

Again, this is a unconvincing win, it is a fortuitous win for The Gills, But a win, a clean sheet and three points is something for Gillingham to build on, and sometimes you need that one lucky result to go in your favour to go on a excellent run, and let’s hope that Gillingham can build on this win against Crewe Alexandra with a win against Woking in The First Round Of The FA Cup At The Weekend - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#CreweAlexandra #Gillingham #Football #LeagueOne

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