Match Report Gillingham v. Yeovil


JP sent off

By Alex O'Loughlin
November 24 2009

Yeovil travelled to Kent to play strong home side Gillingham.....

Whilst the Huish Park pitch recovered from the deluge last Saturday, Yeovil travelled to the Priestfield Stadium to play Gillingham under the floodlights. 

Yeovil began with the same starting line-up who faced Charlton at the weekend, whilst Gillingham re-called Simeon Jackson after his return from international duty. The first minutes were dominated by the Gills with Andy Barcham watching his shot be saved well by Alex McCarthy.

Things didn't get better for the Glovers when Mark Bentley nodded down a corner to Curtis Weston who drew another good save from McCarthy.

 On the 10th minute the inevitable happened when the lively Febian Brandy was felled by a combination of Steven Caulker and Stefan Stam resulting in a penalty to Gillingham.

Canada international Simeon Jackson stepped up and finished emphatically with a well controlled chip straight down the middle past the diving McCarthy. 1-0.  

Despite Gillingham having the worst away record in all four of the football leagues, their home form is impressive gaining most of their 18 points from home games.

Following the trend, the next chance again fell to Gillingham when some one touch football led to Jackson shooting goal wards which again was saved excellently by the impressive McCarthy.

With the Glovers struggling to keep the ball, Andy Barcham cut in from the left wing before curling a shot goal wards which McCarthy got to brilliantly.

With 24 minutes played, Terry Skiverton made a bold change replacing Scott Murray with target man Sam Williams.

After the introduction of Sam Williams, Yeovil had more of a presence physically and soon improved with chances falling Caulker and Stam's way after some good work from Williams.

Approaching half time, Danny Hutchins swung in a dangerous cross which seemed destined for Jon Obika's head but Gills 'keeper Simon Royce got their first.

Half Time: Gillingham 1-0 Yeovil Town

Gillingham began with the same endeavour and eagerness as the first half and soon had a chance when Brandy had a head blocked by captain Craig Alcock.

Yeovil replied well with a brilliant cross from Andy Welsh which found Stefan Stam who looked disappointed to not put his head on target.

Soon after some good work from Ryan Mason and Jean-Paul Kalala led to Shaun MacDonald lashing a shot from the edge of the box which Gillingham defender Josh Gowling blocked emphatically.

The introduction of Sam Williams turned out to be a stroke of genius from Skiverton as the target man allowed Yeovil to get into the game.

Andy Welsh was then replaced by Dean Bowditch with Yeovil looking to find an equaliser.

The second half became a much closer affair with no real chances falling to either side and set pieces seeing the most likely means of the next goal.

It was from a set-piece that Gillingham nearly doubled their lead when a Mark Bentley free-kick seemed in but for Alex McCarthy who again rescued Yeovil with a brilliant save.

As the half progressed, Yeovil became more influential on the game and very nearly grabbed an equaliser when a well worked set piece ended with Sam Williams having his headed effort tipped over the bar.

With Jon Obika struggling on the right wing, he was replaced by the pacey Gavin Tomlin who looked to help grab an equalising goal.

But as Yeovil began to gain control of the game, Yeovil were reduced to 10 men after JP Kalala received a second yellow for what seemed a stamp on Kevin Maher which seemed debatable.

 With Gillingham keeping possession well, the Glovers became more desperate and Ryan Mason wasted a rare chance with a speculative 30 yard shot.

As the clock ticked down, Terry Skiverton made yet another bold move by changing his formation to 4-2-3 with Tomlin pushing upfront with Williams and Bowditch.  

As legs tired, Gillingham replaced the impressive Fabien Brandy with Dennis Oli hoping to play out the game.

With Yeovil committing players forward, the Gills nearly grabbed a second when Andy Barcham finally beat McCarthy but Danny Hutchins cleared well off the line.

That effort turned out to be the final act of the game with Yeovil losing 1-0 to a Gillingham side which seem very hard to beat at home. However, Terry Skiverton won't be happy with the first 25 minutes of the match which ultimately cost Yeovil the match.  

 

 

 

 

 

  

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