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| Mark Wright goes for goal. |
Gillingham 11: 1 Julian, 2 Fuller (C), 3 Nutter, 4 Weston, 6 Richards, 7 Maher, 10 Mcdonald, 15 Lawrence, 18 Jackman, 27 Akinfenwa, 28 Payne.
Shrewsbury Town were looking to make it 5 wins in February with this npower League 2 fixture against Gillingham who lied in 7th prior to the game with 47 points, 4 behind Town in 3rd. A victory would have see Town go 7 points clear of their opponents and a climb even further up the table- subject to other results.
The game started with a very early opportunity for the home side, Gillingham conceding a corner inside 40 seconds, Mark Wright crossed the ball in from the corner, to find Shane-Cansdell Sheriff who knocked it on with his head only to see it go out for a goalkick. Town had another chance when Lionel Ainsworth went on a powerful run down the left-hand side looking to get the ball in the danger area- Gillingham captain Barry Fuller defended it well shrugging off the Town winger playing up front for this one, winning a goal kick for his side. In the 8th minute Wright went on a run attempting to tease the defenders, he managed to get a decent shot in, just hitting the side netting. It was a reasonably tight game, neither side dominating at this moment, very few chances being created and very even. Gillingham had their first major chance, Stefan Payne seeing his half volley miss the target and go into the visiting supporters. A minute later Shrewsbury almost grabbed a goal with some good play. Wright played in a wonderful looping ball over the Gills to find Matt Harrold who managed to make contact with the ball but Gillingham keeper Alan Julian collected it easily. Right-back Jermaine Grandison was getting involved on the right hand side, with a few fancy stepovers but his end product was a cross which went wide of the target. Gillingham were then offered their best chance of the first half when Adebayo Akinfenwa was one on one with Ben Smith, the strikers touch, like on many other occasions in the game, was poor. He hit the ball too late, and it was a decent save from Smith, but a wasted opportunity for Gillingham to take the lead. Towards the end of the first half Stefan Payne took a long throw., the resulting shot going close but out for a goalkick. Then Ben Smith didn't deal with a passback very well, and Gillingham's attack earned them a corner right at the end of the first half. Jackman's delivery almost ended up going in, but Smith made a very good punch, convincingly clearing the danger. That brought an end to the first half.
Half-Time: 0-0
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| Grandison goes on a run. |
Neither side made any changes for the beginning of the second half, and the final 45 minute period began. Four minutes in to this, Town won a free-kick, Jon Taylor played it in- Town captain Ian Sharps attacked it but the Gillingham defence cleared it well. Moments later Danny Jackman had a glorious effort on goal, his shot brilliantly executed from long range, just hitting the top of the net. In the 54th minute Graham turner made his first change of the game bringing on James Collins for Lionel Ainsworth. In the 56th minute there was an incident on the left hand side where Matt Harrold appeared to have been struck by Matt Lawrence of Gillingham, the referee didn't award a free-kick and no punishment was given to the offender much to the anger of the home supporters who were certainly not happy about the decision. Shrewsbury started to increase the pressure and the second half improved with more chances, the atmosphere raising in the Greenhous Meadow. Then Town won a corner which was poorly delivered by Wright. However the ball fell to Grandison who quickly crossed it in, Harrold got a header, Sharps knocked it on and it fell to Jon Taylor who's volley was just off target from close range. The flag appeared to be up for offside anyway but a decent move from the hosts. Gillingham were under the cosh and conceded another corner, Wright with a better ball in this time finding Harrold at the back post who headed it wide. 3 minutes later Shrewsbury had another corner, it fell to Taylor who took on the defender edging past him, he kept balance and put in a great cross which was unfortunately cleared. The 72nd minute saw Gillingham have a rare chance in the second half with a long throw in search of Kevin Maher who hit his half volley wide. With about 15 minutes to go Gillingham boss Andy Hessenthaler made a double substitution with Jackman and Weston being replaced by Barcham and Oli. Shrewsbury were really dominating in the final third, and had the better of possession creating more chances but lacking that final cutting edge required to claim a win. It was in the 90th minute when the main action of the game actually happened. Ian Sharps got on the wrong side of Cody Mdonald allowing the striker to go on a run towards goal. However he was halted as Sharps being the last man brought him down just outside of the box. It was inevitable that the centre back would receive a red card for his foul despite his efforts to try and hide from the referee. Much to the delight of the travelling fans, the referee showed Sharps the red card, and the former Rotherham United defender walked off the pitch with clear disappointment on his face. The free kick as a consequence of Sharps' foul was superbly saved by Ben Smith off John Nutter's testing effort. The corner was then cleared and Shrewsbury were on the counter attack, Mat Sadler had the ball running to the box, he laid off Wright to his left who's effort to find the far corner went horribly off target and a major chance for Town to find a last-gaps winner in very dramatic fashion was wasted. In the 92nd minute Connor Goldson came on to replace Jon Taylor. The referee blew his final whistle and the game came to an end.
Overall it wasn't a fantastic spectacle and an average performance from Town, they lacked fire power up front, but the defence were solid and dealt with the pace of Mcdonald and the physical presence of Akinfenwa. A point nonetheless and still unbeaten to end a very successful month for Graham Turner's men. 4 wins and 1 draw with 11 goals scored and 1 conceded. After the game Graham Turner said ' I was disappointed with the first half but the second half was better and we created 1 or 2 good situations' When questioned on the sending off of Ian Sharps he replied 'Contact was made and i've got no problems with that but some incidents could have gone our way'. Ian Sharps was also interviewed and said 'I'm annoyed with my self, it was some bad defending to get into that position. I tried to hide a bit, but the referee made the right decision'. On the actual game itself Sharps said 'It was a decent reaction in the second half''.
After this result Town drop to fourth and Gillingham remain in seventh position, the next game for Salop is against Bury at the Greenhous Meadow this Tuesday night coming up in the re-arrranged fixture after the match was called off on Boxing Day last year. It will be a very important game for them, a victory would be very welcoming.
Other results from League 2:
Accrington Stanley 1-0 Torquay United
Aldershot Town 1-2 Port vale
Barnet 4-2 Lincoln City
Bradford 3-2 Stockport
Burton Albion 2-4 Rotherham United
Bury 3-1 Crewe Alexandra
Chesterfield 0-2 Morecambe
Macclesfield 0-1 Wycombe
Oxford United 0-2 Hereford
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