Excellent News and there were 3000 at Dover for the Gills, Expect a huge Gills following. Thanks to Ronnie for sending his first team and Well done to Neil and Barrie for getting another great friendly.
They crushed Dover 4-1 so if we can keep them within sight and put on a respectable performance that will be great.
0-0 approaching HT, hmmm promising Gills squad destroyed Dover weeks ago.... And they will have gained fitness since then. 1-0 or 2-0 loss will be fine. If we score i'll faint.
Welling played well and took the game seriousyl.We were definitely holding back for next weekend and not quite all guns blazing. to say we were crap is harsh. We could've played better and gone for it more but clearly thinking of next saturday.
My one concern was that when Sodje went off for the last 5 we played Bentley and King at centre-half and left-back respectively. This made no sense. We should've put King at centre-half and Brown left-back with either Cogan or Benno on the left.
Pugh excites me and deserves to be third choice forward. Looked sharp when he came on. Stillie did ok but always hard to tell how a keeeper is from pre-season games.
Sodje's goal was a thumping header abotu 30 secs after they took the lead thru a sliced own goal. Brown walked the ball home after rounding the keeper. Their equaliser was a lobbed header after we failed to clear. But as I said Welling looked better than they did last year.
I was very impressed by the performance the Wings gave today and I now believe that Lloyd will be flying now after getting his first goal. You could see how much it meant to him after he scored when he ran over to Neil and hugged him. Omari Coleman once again looked bright up front I thought and put himself about. Muku was his usual self with a number of bright runs down the flank and he should be a huge asset after signing a one-year deal. If Robbie Ryan is injured next week, which I presume he was today, I would expect the back four to stay the same with Mooro suspended. Today we played very well and hopefully can do as well next week and get the win against Bognor.
Some puzzling things though, Leon played centre half, Muto had two different boots and I will be the first to admit that I didnt think that Lloyd had a goal in him but pleased to be proved wrong.
Coleman put himself about a lot but I feel that he will pick up a lot of yellow cards and this may cost. Dont know who the 20 and 21 were but they both looked handy. Who is Lewis no 7?
Also met John from Sidcup, nice bloke, been speaking to him for years but never knew his name.
Must admit if I was a Gills supporter I would be a tad concerned.
I was really pleased with the game, well done wings! The striker issue will go on and on I suspect but my main gripes last year was that we were not playing one touch football, were not creating enough chances for our strikers, were not clever enough at the back and we had one or two players who did not put the work rate in to deserve a round of applause.
This year we seem to have all of that, what is missing is the Kedwell figure, but as you can see from the game - if we can deliver sensible build up play, somehow the ball will go in off any old SODje.
I'm prepared to cheer and clap Blackman all the way if he keeps puting himself about like he does (ok sometimes in the wrong places) but I hate laziness and that is why Che Stadhart used to do my head in!
Our No 7 hit an amazing shot yesterday which produced the Gills save of the day and all our wingers seem to...go down the wing and take on that last man. We might not have the killer instinct at the moment, but Neil has impressed me by just asking the players to do what they do, and do it with maximum effort.
I couldn't help but shout out yesterday "Come on wings...you can't play like this against Bognor as you will get punished"! Gills may have held back a bit but I'm sorry that is no excuses for wandering passes and crosses.
I managed to speak to Steve May before the game and he said that he thought he had a decent game against West Ham............I wasn't there, so I can't comment. He definitely wasn't suited to left back, as proved by his mistake that gave away one of their goals. When he reverted to right back, I thought that he played far better and could be one to watch for the future. Also managed to speak to Neil Smith and he sounded like a nice guy, positive and focused on his approach to the club. He told me that Muku had signed that morning and was really pleased. Muku had some great spells on both flanks, but looked tired by mid way through the second half. The rest of the team played well, but still need time to gel as a unit. Chippy Carpenter, Coleman, James and Keevil were solid and looked good. Leon had an indifferent game, as did Mooro, but both always give 100 % and that's what we need. I'm glad that Blackman scored a goal ( and what a great header ) hopefully now, he'll go on to prove us all wrong and get 20 + He was substituted by Harpic......sorry, Harper, who looked out of his depth. ( I read now that he has signed for Tonbridge ) Good luck to them. Gillingham brought a good side and played some good ground football...but hey, we contained them and nearly scored the decisive 3rd goal to win. Sodje scored two good goals ( one each ), Lomas looked tired, but still managed to whinge at every opportunity and Ian Cox played well. But we still held them I look forward to seeing Robbie Ryan when he's fit, should be a good addition to the squad. After a game like this, I hope that we can play to this standard and better for the rest of the season. Shame about the attendance though. I also managed to speak to Sidcup Graham on the day............nice guy.