Action and Reaction as Gillingham Maintain Dream of Promotion Glory

Action

Gillingham kept alive their Coca Cola League Two promotion hopes with an easy 2-0 win over the famous Accrington Stanley, at the Fraser Eagle stadium on Saturday.

The win keeps the Gills right on track to at least secure a playoff position come the end of the season, as they maintained seventh place, a point above eighth placed Shrewsbury Town and with a game in-hand.

The much fancied away side had the better of the opening exchanges, most notably in the 17th minute, when Dennis Oli had a shot deflected for a corner after good build-up play from both Simeon Jackson and Mark McCammon.

And from that notable chance, Gillingham scored. Simeon "Jacko" Jackson secured his 15th goal of the season, after finishing off a goal-ward volley by centre-back Simon King, following John Nutter's in-swinging corner.

The home side had a few decent chances themselves, before and after the interval, but were punished for not taking any of them when Dennis Oli made it two on 67 minutes.

Adam Miller, yet another Gills player attracting interest from higher league teams, carried the ball out wide, before cutting inside and playing in a cross for Oli to finish, though his shot appeared to take a hefty deflection en route to goal.

The home side turned on the pressure in the closing stages, in desperate pursuit of at least a consolation, but it was not to be for Stanley, as they just could not find the clear cut shot on goal.

So a well deserved victory in the end for the mighty Gills; a result that now means they go marching on in pursuit of bringing much hoped promotion glory to the 1.7 million inhabitants in the south eastern county of Kent.

Reaction

After the away win at Accrington Stanley, Gillingham Manager Mark Stimson was pleased after his side "battled" their way to victory, especially against the former non-league teams in League Two.

Speaking to the Kent Messenger, Stimmo said, "At this level if you don't battle you don't get anything, and you have to make sure you are up for that fight first, especially at places like Accrington."

"We did that. We dug in, showed a little bit of quality a couple of times, but not a lot because it wasn't needed. If we do have to show that then I'm sure we're capable of doing that."

The Gills boss also warned that his players need to continue their current form if they are to build on their recent away wins.

He added, "It's another win for the team and it will only give the players confidence which we can take into the two home games, because they are going to be big, and what we don't want to do is not collect any points now after doing well on our travels."