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fan-of-mulligan · 4 years

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FOM BLOG: GILLINGHAM 1-1 COVENTRY CITY (GILLINGHAM WIN 5-4 ON PENALTIES) - LEAGUE CUP SECOND ROUND

My Thoughts On Gillingham V Coventry City In The Second Round Of The League Cup

Earlier on in the day, I had uploaded the clip of Gillingham’s Famous 1-0 win against Coventry City at Highfield Road back in The 1996 / 1997 Season when Neil Smith scored the only goal of the game to knock Coventry City out of The League Cup, and this was back when Coventry City were A Premier League Side As Well (And if you want to watch highlights of that famous win, then here is the link… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXGUvvEEXJc&feature=emb_logo) - This match was the last time that Gillingham and Coventry City meet in The League Cup, and I was hoping that Gillingham can replicate that win against Coventry City and reach The Third Round Of The League Cup, where Gillingham will play against Wolves or Stoke City Away - And we now know that Gillingham will be playing against Stoke City In The Third Round Of The League Cup.

This match was also Gillingham’s Fourth Home Match in a row, With Gillingham having started the season with The League Cup First Round Tie Against Southend United, before winning 2-1 against Crawley Town In The Opening Group Stage Match Of The Football League Trophy, And Gillingham also lost the opening League One Fixture of the season with A 2-0 Home Defeat Against Hull City, And I was hoping that Gillingham would respond from that disappointing defeat and win against Coventry City to reach The Third Round Of The League Cup - It is also worth nothing that this is the first time in Gillingham’s History where Gillingham have played four successive home fixtures in a row, It’s just a shame that us supporters cannot be inside Priestfield Stadium to watch Gillingham Play.

Eventually, Gillingham’s Team News Appeared On Social Media, And Gillingham Lined Up As Follows….. Jack Bonham, Ryan Jackson, Christian Maghoma, Jack Tucker, Connor Ogilvie, Scott Robertson, Matty Willock, Stuart O’Keefe, Alex MacDonald, Jordan Graham, Vadaine Oliver SUBS: Joe Walsh (GK), Zech Medley, Robbie McKenzie, Jacob Mellis, Henry Woods, Trae Coyle, John Akinde - I had put my team-sheet online earlier, And I thought Gillingham were going to line up with a back five with Ryan Jackson and Connor Ogilvie as wing backs, And that clearly was not the case, Because Gillingham will either line up with A 4-3-3 Formation with Jordan Graham and Alex MacDonald on the flanks, and Vadaine Oliver as the central striker, Or, Gillingham lined up with A 4-4-2 Diamond Midfield Formation - And when the teams did eventually line up before kick off, we found out that Gillingham were in-fact lining up with a diamond midfield formation.

Steve Evans has been down-playing the importance of the cup matches in his pre-match press conference, And perhaps the financial incentive of a good cup run in The League Cup is not there for this season because supporters cannot be there inside football stadiums to watch the game live, and it is from gate revenue from where teams make the most revenue in this competition, But after putting in such a disappointing performance against Hull City and Gillingham lost 2-0 in the opening league game of the season, then it is important that Gillingham respond with a much improved performance against Coventry City, and winning against Coventry City In The Second Round Of The League Cup would be a massive confidence boost for the players, Because Coventry City are A Championship Club after all, and winning against Higher League Opposition In A Cup Match, could well give the players a lift heading into The League One Match Against Wigan Athletic On Saturday.

MATCH DETAILS (FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS)

Coventry City almost take the lead in the tenth minute of the match, Michael Rose passes the ball inside to Ben Sheaf in a central area of the pitch just on the halfway line, And Ben Sheaf passes the ball back to Declan Drysdale, who gets the ball under control and passes the ball forwards to Josh Eccles, and Josh Eccles lays the ball off to Will Bapaga, Who passes the ball back to Ben Sheaf, And Ben Sheaf gets the ball under control before passing the ball out-wide to Fankaty Dabo, And Fankaty Dabo uses his pace down the right side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Left - to take on Connor Ogilvie, And Fankaty Dabo fires a low cross across Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Tyler Walker mis-kicks his shot, and Scott Robertson manages to put in a block tackle before Tyler Walker is penalised for his challenge on Connor Ogilvie.

Fourteen Minutes Into The Match, And Coventry City really should have opened the scoring, Declan Drysdale passes the ball square to Michael Rose, who takes one touch to control the ball, and another touch to thread through a fantastic through-ball through to Amadou Bakayoko, and Amadou Bakayoko is through on goal inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Amadou Bakayoko takes one touch to control the ball before trying to pick out the bottom left corner of the net with his effort on goal, And Jack Bonham gets the faintest of touches on the ball to divert the ball around the post at the expense of conceding a corner kick, If you were A Coventry City Supporter watching that goal-scoring opportunity, you will be expecting Amadou Bakayoko to stick the ball into the back of the net for 1-0, But from A Gillingham Point Of View, Christian Maghoma and Jack Tucker should have done much better and both defenders should have been more alert to prevent Amadou Bakayoko from getting on the end of Michael Rose’s Through-Ball, And from the resulting corner kick, Gillingham came close to conceding again, As Will Bapaga’s driven effort towards goal from the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area hits Vadaine Oliver, And Jack Bonham has to dive on to the loose ball to make a very important save for The Gills.

And In The Eighteenth Minute Of The Match, Gillingham have not learned there lesson from the missed goal-scoring opportunity from Amadou Bakayoko, Because Coventry City really should have scored again, Brandon Mason has possession of the ball in Coventry City’s own final third, And Brandon Mason passes the ball forwards towards Will Bapaga in Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Will Bapaga takes one touch to control the ball and after touch to thread through the perfect through-ball through to Tyler Walker, And Tyler Walker is through one on one with Jack Bonham and Tyler Walker tries to pick out the bottom left corner of the net with a first time finish, but Tyler Walker’s Effort on goal hits the base of the post and the ball ricochets straight back into Jack Bonham’s Hands, So not only were we fortunate that Tyler Walker saw his effort on goal hit the post, but we were also fortunate that the ball ricocheted back towards Jack Bonham and there was no re-bound for Coventry City to open the scoring.

Twenty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham have bene awarded a free kick, Stuart O’Keefe has possession of the ball for The Gills down the left side of the pitch, And Stuart O’Keefe passes the ball back to Connor Ogilvie, who takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down-field towards Vadaine Oliver, And Vadaine Oliver is pushed in the back by Jordan Thompson, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick twenty five yards from goal, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Jordan Graham has curled the ball over Coventry City’s Defensive Wall, And Jordan Graham has curled the ball over the crossbar as well - A Chance For Gillingham to take the lead against Coventry City, Which would have been a goal against the run of play - Because Tyler Walker and Amadou Bakayoko should have both scored there goal-scoring opportunities for Coventry City, and had they done so, then 2-0 for the visitor’s would have given Gillingham a real uphill battle to try and level this match up at 2-2.

Thirty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Stuart O’Keefe is penalised for his challenge on Fankaty Dabo down the left side of the pitch just in Gillingham’s Half, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Ben Sheaf whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross right into the heart of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And the ball bounces up off the turf and the ball ricochets off Jordan Thompson and back across the face of goal and Tyler Walker’s Header towards goal does hit Jack Tucker on the arm and Jack Bonham does in-fact dive on to the loose ball and Coventry City have there penalty appeals for hand-ball turned down by Referee Craig Hicks - And Coventry City maybe had a case for a penalty kick there - But also, It has to be mentioned that Gillingham could and perhaps should have defended that free kick much better then we did, Gillingham shouldn’t be allowing the ball to ricochet back towards Tyler Walker and there have been small lapses of concentration which thankfully have not been capitalised on from the visitor’s.

However, Forty One Minutes Into The Match, And Amadou Bakayoko’s late challenge on Stuart O’Keefe is reckless, and you can tell from the way Stuart O’Keefe fell to the floor and how he was screaming in agony that this injury was not looking good for Stuart O’Keefe, who had to be stretchered off the pitch and taken to hospital, And Amadou Bakayoko was booked for that challenge on Stuart O’Keefe, and there was a long stoppage in play whilst Stuart O’Keefe was being given initial treatment, before being taken off the pitch and taken to hospital, Jacob Mellis will come on to replace Stuart O’Keefe, and that injury does not look good at all, At the time, we were hoping that Stuart O’Keefe’s Injury looked worse then it was and we were hoping for a speedy recovery for Stuart O’Keefe, whilst at the same-time, hoping that Gillingham can progress into The Third Round Of The League Cup with a win against Coventry City.

Jordan Graham also went down injured requiring treatment for The Gills in stoppage time, thankfully, Jordan Graham was OK to continue playing for The Gills, and after seven additional minutes of stoppage time, half time at Priestfield Stadium Is Gillingham 0-0 Coventry City, And I wrote the following comments on Twitter At Half Time, HT: GILLINGHAM 0-0 COVENTRY - Bakayoko has seen his effort on goal turned around the post by Bonham and Walker has seen his effort on goal hit the post for the visitor's, Vadaine Oliver has been exceptional for Gillingham in the first half, constantly winning the aerial battle. Jordan Graham has failed to hit the target from a free kick, Scott Robertson looks like he is only going to get better the more matches he plays for Gillingham. But the main concern has to be Stuart O'Keefe's Injury, that injury looks really bad with O'Keefe stretchered off.

SECOND HALF (HIGHLIGHTS)

Fifty Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Maxime Biamou replaces Will Bapaga because Will Bapaga picked up a shoulder injury, And this enforced substituted turned into a inspired substitution, Because It is Maxime Biamou who opens the scoring for Coventry City just past the hour mark, Brandon Mason runs forwards in possession of the ball down the left side of the pitch, and passes the ball forwards to Tyler Walker, who gets the ball under control and passes the ball back to Josh Eccles, And Josh Eccles takes a few touches in possession of the ball before managing to pick out Brandon Mason with a accurate pass down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Brandon Mason manages to whip in a sensational in-swinging cross and Maxime Biamou manages to header the ball into the far right corner of the net, and there is nothing that Jack Bonham can do about that, great cross from Brandon Mason and a great header from Maxime Biamou.

You have to say that Gillingham have been fortunate that Amadou Bakayoko and Tyler Walker both did not take there chances in the first half, Because although Gillingham are 1-0 down and it is disappointing that Gillingham have just conceded the opening goal of the game, we are still in this cup tie, And after conceding that goal, Steve Evans was quick to make Gillingham’s Second Substitution Of The Match, With Robbie McKenzie coming on to replace Alex MacDonald, It appears that Robbie McKenzie will be playing at the base of the diamond midfield, And Scott Robertson will be pushed forwards into central midfield.

And Scott Robertson moving further forwards into central midfield, almost see’s Gillingham score the equaliser In The Sixty Fourth Minute, Scott Robertson manages to pass the ball forwards to Jacob Mellis in Coventry City’s Final Third In A Central Area On The Pitch, And Jacob Mellis flicks the ball back into Scott Robertson’s Path with a back-heal, And Ben Sheaf looked liked he had intercepted the ball and the chance had gone, But Scott Robertson manages to regain possession of the ball with a interception of his own before firing a fiercely driven effort towards goal from the edge of Coventry City’s Penalty Area, And Scott Robertson’s driven effort towards goal flashes just wide of the far left post with Tom Billson well and truly beaten, and Gillingham would have equalised had that effort from Scott Robertson been on target.

Sixty Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Coventry City really should have scored again, which would have surely secured The Championship Club safe passage into The Third Round Of The League Cup, Josh Eccles was seeing more possession of the ball in central midfield, And Josh Eccles manages to pick out Fankaty Dabo with a accurate cross-field pass towards the right side of the pitch - Gillingham’s Left - And Fankaty Dabo passes the ball down the line towards Amadou Bakayoko, who gets the ball under control and Amadou Bakayoko fires a low cross across Gillingham’s Penalty Area towards the near post and Tyler Walker’s Snap-Shot Effort goes into the side netting, and that really was the chance for Coventry City to make the score-line 2-0.

OTHER MATCH INCIDENTS WHICH WERE NOT SHOWN ON EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS

FIRST HALF

First Minute Of The Match Almost See’s Coventry City Open the scoring, as Fankaty Dabo manages to pick out Will Bapaga with a dangerous in-swinging cross, and thankfully, Will Bapaga cannot direct his volley on target and that was a huge let off for The Gills, Coventry City were lining up with three centre backs and Fankaty Dabo was playing as A Left Wing Back For Coventry City, And you can tell from the opening minute of the match that Fankaty Dabo has free licence to attack down Coventry City’s Left Flank For The Visitor’s.

In The Third Minute Of The Match, And Coventry City were looking to open the scoring in the same minute that Hull City opened the scoring in for Saturday’s League Fixture, Again, Fankaty Dabo has managed to take on Connor Ogilvie and whip in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick, and although Amadou Bakayoko does in-fact manage to win the aerial battle at the far post, Amadou Bakayoko can only header the ball out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

Twelve Minutes Into The Match, Fankaty Dabo tries to pick out Tyler Walker with a long diagonal cross-field cross pass and Christian Maghoma manages to header the ball clear and away from danger - But The Coventry City Striker was flagged for offside, Brandon Mason is penalised for his challenge on Matty Willock In The Nineteenth Minute Of The Match, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Scott Robertson whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jack Tucker’s Header was on target and saved by Goalkeeper Tom Billson - Who was making his debut in goal for Coventry City in this League Cup Second Round Match.

Twenty Five Minutes Into The Match, And Will Bapaga had gone to ground to try and win a free kick for Coventry City, Only For Gillingham to be awarded a free kick because Will Bapaga had dived to try and win a free kick for Coventry City, However, Will Bapaga was booked just minutes earlier for his challenge on Scott Robertson, and Referee Craig Hicks perhaps could have shown Craig Hicks A Second Yellow Card for simulation there.

Jordan Graham almost manages to pick out Vadaine Oliver with a dangerous in-swinging cross which is saved by Tom Billson, It has to be mentioned that Vadaine Oliver’s Performance in the first half was exceptional, Because Vadaine Oliver was constantly winning the aerial battle, brining players into play, Vadaine Oliver won the free kick which Jordan Graham came close to scoring from, and he has lead the line brilliantly for The Gills.

SECOND HALF

The first noteworthy moment of The Second Half See’s Scott Robertson almost pick out Vadaine Oliver with a long pass which is slightly over-hit and the ball runs all the way through to Tom Billson In The Coventry City Goal, Scott Robertson is then penalised and booked for his challenge on Will Bapaga right on the very edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and this free kick is central and precisely where you want the free kick to be if your looking to open the scoring, thankfully, Ben Sheaf’s Curling Effort towards goal is straight at Jack Bonham and exactly where Jack Bonham wanted the ball to be for Bonham to make a comfortable save, either side of The Gillingham Goalkeeper and Ben Sheaf would have opened the scoring for Coventry City.

When play resumed, Fankaty Dabo is then penalised for his foul on Connor Ogilvie down the left side of the pitch in Coventry City’s Final Third, And having almost conceded at one end of the pitch, Gillingham have the chance to open the scoring from this free kick, and from the resulting free kick, Jordan Graham whips in a sensational in-swinging cross and Christian Maghoma fails to hit the target with a glancing header, and had Christian Maghoma managed to header the ball on target then Gillingham would have taken the lead - Christian Maghoma and Vadaine Oliver had appealed for A Gillingham Corner Kick, Because they both thought that the final touch came off A Coventry City Player, But A Goal-Kick was awarded instead.

Fifty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham had the chance to open the scoring, Scott Robertson tries to pick out the bottom left corner of the net with his fiercely driven effort towards goal, And Scott Robertson’s Low Effort On Goal just goes wide of Coventry City’s Far Left Post, although it has to be mentioned that Tom Billson probably had that effort on goal covered if Scott Robertson had managed to hit the target.

Sixty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Ben Sheaf tee’s up Josh Eccles to try his luck from twenty yards out, But Josh Eccles driven effort towards the bottom left corner of the net fails to hit the target by some considerable distance, Connor Ogilvie then goes down with a injury and requires some treatment, And we were perhaps expecting Connor Ogilvie to be substituted, But Trae Coyle comes on to replace Matty Willock In The Seventy Second Minute, So we are perhaps anticipating that Connor Ogilvie will be OK to continue playing, But also, Gillingham look like they have switched formations to A 4-3-3 Formation, With McKenzie, Robertson and Mellis In Midfield, Graham On The Right, Coyle On The Left, And Oliver as the isolated striker, Graham and Oliver linked up superbly well in the first half, But that just has not been the case for The Second Half.

In The Seventy Third Minute Of The Match, Coventry City really should have scored, As Brandon Mason fires in a low cross across the face of goal, and neither Tyler Walker or Maxime Biamou can get a telling connection on the ball to stick the ball into the back of the net, And Gillingham are still in this cup tie with a slender 1-0 deficit, All Gillingham need is one chance to stick the ball into the back of the net, and if Gillingham can do that, then The Gills will be back on level terms.

Seventy Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Scott Robertson was very harshly penalised for a challenge on Michael Rose, And this free kick awarded in Coventry City’s Favour was very soft indeed, and from the resulting free kick, Ben Sheaf’s dangerous in-swinging cross is routinely saved by Jack Bonham, And in the same minute, Amadou Bakayoko is penalised for a very reckless challenge on Connor Ogilvie, As Connor Ogilvie goes on a sprinting run down the left side of the pitch, And Amadou Bakayoko can consider himself very lucky not to have been sent off for a second bookable offence for conceding that free kick, Coventry City then make there second substitution of the match as Jack Burroughs comes on to replace Fankaty Dabo, And Coventry City are now looking to see out the rest of this match and look to scrap through with A 1-0 Win - Unless Gillingham can do something to change that with ten minutes and stoppage time remaining.

Brandon Mason is then penalised and booked for a foul on Jordan Graham, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in a very decent position down the right side of the pitch in Coventry City’s Final Third, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Jordan Graham whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Michael Rose manages to header the ball clear and away from danger, And Trae Coyle manages to keep the ball play down the left flank, And Trae Coyle passes the ball back to Connor Ogilvie, who takes a touch to control the ball, and Connor Ogilvie’s Long Ball Towards Vadaine Oliver is saved by Tom Billson In The Coventry City Goal, Two Minutes Later, And In The Eighty Third Minute Of The Match, Scott Robertson tries to pick out Vadaine Oliver with a long ball and again Tom Billson is in the right place at the right time to save the long ball in The Coventry City Goal.

Eighty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Christian Maghoma goes down injured and requires treatment, Thankfully, Christian Maghoma Is OK to continue playing, But Gillingham have a few players out there on the pitch in Jordan Graham, Scott Robertson, Connor Ogilvie and Christian Maghoma who have picked up a few knocks and each player has required treatment in this match as well.

Eighty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Vadaine Oliver receives possession of the ball thirty yards from goal, And Vadaine Oliver turns and runs forwards towards goal in possession of the ball, And Vadaine Oliver’s driven effort towards goal fails to hit the target by some considerable distance, But that was a shot that Vadaine Oliver had to take on, If that effort on goal from Oliver was the equaliser, we would be praising him for a fantastic strike, Unfortunately, It is looking increasingly likely that Gillingham will lose this League Cup Second Round Tie.

But In The Ninetieth Minute, Scott Robertson was fouled by Josh Eccles just outside Coventry City’s Penalty Area, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick within shooting territory here, COME ON JORDAN GRAHAM!!!! Was My Response, As I was anticipating a late equaliser from Jordan Graham from this free kick, But much to my and every Gillingham Supporters Irritation, The Gills completely wasted that free kick by not taking the shot on, And I thought that was it.

But In The Ninety Fourth Minute Of The Match, Gillingham do in-fact manage to create one final goal-scoring opportunity, Jacob Mellis passes the ball square to Ryan Jackson in a right / central area of the pitch in Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Ryan Jackson runs forwards in possession of the ball, and Ryan Jackson takes a very heavy touch, But Ryan Jackson gets a lucky ricochet off Brandon Mason, And Ryan Jackson still has possession of the ball in Coventry City’s Final Third, And Ryan Jackson could thread the ball through to Jordan Graham, But Ryan Jackson whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and Michael Rose has been penalised for shirt-pulling Vadaine Oliver’s Shirt - AND REFEREE CRAIG HICKS POINTS TO THE PENALTY SPOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And up steps Jordan Graham to take the resulting penalty kick for The Gills, “COME ON GRAHAM, COME ON” Was My Response, And Jordan Graham smashes the ball into the far left corner of the net with Tom Billson diving to the opposite side of the goal, AND GILLINGHAM HAVE EQUALISED DEEP INTO STOPPAGE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!, And let’s give full credit to Jordan Graham for that penalty kick, Because that was a huge penalty in the final moments of this League Cup Second Round Tie, And Gillingham have taken this League Cup Second Round Tie To Penalties.

Whatever happens in this penalty shoot-out now, Well Done Gillingham for not going out of this competition on a low note, Not scoring for two matches in a row would be particularly concerning and Gillingham have at least avoided defeat against Coventry City, But penalties are a lottery and anything can happen when it comes to penalty kicks, If Gillingham don’t score a penalty in this penalty shoot-out, at least let it be the case that Tom Billson has made a save, rather then smashing the ball wide or over the crossbar, Interestingly, both teams are heading towards The Brian Moore Stand for this penalty shoot-out, And Coventry City are the team to go first, And there could well be some psychological pressure put on The Gills here, Because If Coventry City Score, Then Gillingham have to score just to remain at level pegging.

PENALTY KICKS

1-0 - Coventry City - Tyler Walker accurately places the ball into the bottom right corner, with Jack Bonham diving to the opposite side of the goal.

1-1 - Gillingham - Connor Ogilvie places the ball into the bottom right corner of the net, no chance for Tom Billson,

2-1 Coventry City - Maxime Biamou places the ball into a more central / right position of the goal with Jack Bonham diving to the opposite side of the goal.

2-2 - Gillingham - Jordan Graham whips the ball into the far right corner of the net with Tom Billson diving to the opposite side of the goal - So pleasing to see Jordan Graham score from the penalty spot, with Jordan Graham scoring that late equaliser for Gillingham in second half stoppage time.

3-2 - Coventry City - Ben Sheaf accurately places the ball into the far left corner of the net, And Jack Bonham dived the right way and almost saved Ben Sheaf’s Penalty Kick.

3-3 Gillingham - Scott Robertson shows unbelievable composure to dink the ball down the centre of the goal with Tom Billson diving towards the bottom right corner, Great Penalty From Scott Robertson.

3-3 Coventry City - MISS!!!!! - Michael Rose has smashed the ball over the crossbar and Jack Bonham was not required to make a save - A Opportunity has opened up for Gillingham to reach The Third Round Of The League Cup.

3-4 Gillingham - Jacob Mellis has just smashed the ball into the top left corner of the net and there is absolutely nothing that Tom Billson could have done about that - Fantastic Penalty Kick From Jacob Mellis, and the best penalty kick in this penalty shoot-out.

4-4 Coventry City - Josh Eccles had to score for Coventry City, And Josh Eccles replicates Jacob Mellis’s Penalty Kick and picks out the top left corner of the net, Jack Bonham had dived the right way, but could not prevent Josh Eccles from scoring to keep Coventry City in this penalty shoot-out.

5-4 Gillingham - Trae Coyle smashes the ball into the far left corner of the net to send Gillingham through into The Third Round Of The League Cup, And Gillingham have won on penalties against A Very Good Coventry City Side, and we can celebrate Gillingham continuing there progress in The League Cup, And not only are Gillingham through, But Gillingham are through having scored five penalty kicks out of five.

POST MATCH THOUGHTS

I had uploaded the following tweets on to Twitter after the penalty shoot-out had been concluded,,,, FT: GILLINGHAM 1-1 COVENTRY (Gillingham win 5-4 on penalties) Five brilliantly taken spot kicks from Ogilvie Graham Robertson Mellis & Coyle see Gillingham progress into The Third Round Of The League Cup, Also, I have to praise Graham's penalty in stoppage time for the equaliser. I hope we hear some good news regarding Stuart O'Keefe's Injury (Although, I am fearing bad news) A lot of players looked leggy in the latter stages of the second half as we try and cope with four matches played in a short period of time. Excellent Result for The Gills Tonight.

The last time Gillingham had won on penalties (If you exclude the penalty shoot-out wins against Tonbridge Angels and Phoenix Sports In The Kent Senior Cup) Was back in The 2014 / 2015 Season When Gillingham drew 3-3 against Colchester United And Gillingham won 4-2 on penalties against Colchester United In The Football League Trophy, Stuart Nelson scored the winning penalty, and he was then left behind as The Team Coach forgot about him whilst Stuart Nelson was participating in A Post Match Interview, And Stuart Nelson needed to be given a lift (Here Is A Link To The Full Story - https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/stranded-gills-hero-gets-a-24821/

All five of Gillingham’s Penalties In The Penalty Shoot-Out were well taken penalty kicks in a high pressurised scenario, And I cannot remember the last time Gillingham scored five penalties out of five, It’s just such a shame that we as supporters cannot go to Stoke City Away For The League Cup Third Round Tie, Because I haven’t been to Stoke City’s Stadium Before and it would have been great to tick off a new stadium as well, and the winners of Stoke City V Gillingham will travel to Aston Villa V Bristol City, As The Fourth Round Of The League Cup Was Drawn On Thursday Night, Again, the possibility of Gillingham playing against Aston Villa at Villa Park with that match being played under the floodlights, that would have been an incredible game to go to, assuming that Gillingham win against Stoke City and Aston Villa win against Bristol City of course.

And with Scott Robertson making his first starting appearance for Gillingham against Coventry City, You can see why Scott Robertson is highly regarded at Celtic, Excellent Performance in Robertson’s First Start For The Gills and he is only going to get better and better the more matches he plays, And Scott Robertson is going to play more matches for Gillingham This Season, Because we unfortunately heard the news that we didn’t want to hear, but it was injury news that Gillingham were expecting, Because Stuart O’Keefe is going to miss the entire 2020 / 2021 Season with a broken leg and ligament damage. - Link Is Here: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/sport/injured-midfielder-faces-lengthy-spell-in-rehab-233956/ - And With Kyle Dempsey out injured, then we have to hope that Scott Robertson can put in that type of performance he put in against Coventry City on a more consistent basis.

I also thought that Jordan Graham and Vadaine Oliver worked well as a front two, And Vadaine Oliver was exceptional against Coventry City, Oliver won every header, he brought other players into play, And Vadaine Oliver was fouled deep into stoppage time for Jordan Graham to score Gillingham’s Equaliser From The Penalty Spot, And based from what I saw in that performance, Vadaine Oliver has to start for Gillingham against Wigan Athletic, And John Akinde has to earn his spot back in The Starting Line Up, Because Vadaine Oliver was exceptional against Coventry City.

As for prize money in The League Cup, It’s £5,000 Round 1, £7,000 Round 2, And £10,000 for winning in The Third Round, But we are missing out on gate revenue, Gillingham would have collected two lots of 45% of gate revenue for the matches against Southend United and Coventry City, And we would have got more gate revenue for the third round as well, whether the prize money is the same for this season, I am not entirely sure, But no supporters inside football stadiums means that we miss out on the revenue you normally get for a decent cup run in The League Cup.

I wanted to see Gillingham respond from that disappointing 2-0 defeat against Hull City on the opening day of The League One Season by putting in a performance and getting a result against Coventry City, and that is precisely what Gillingham have done, and two home wins, a penalty shoot-out win against Coventry City, And A 2-0 Defeat Against Hull City is a very respectable start to Gillingham’s Home Form For The 2020 / 2021 Season, Hopefully, Gillingham can pick up there first win in there opening away league game of the season against Wigan Athletic, Because Away Wins were few and far between for Gillingham Last Season, And A Win Against Wigan Athletic would be a great way for Gillingham to kick-start there Away Form for this season - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#Gillingham #CoventryCity #LeagueCup #JordanGraham

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