Honours Even As the Gills Gain Deserved Point Against Brentford

Honours were even at KRBS Priestfield, as Gillingham drew 1-1 with Brentford in an exciting game filled with controversial decisions.

It was the visitors who scored first, as a comical moment from November Player of the Month Simon King gifted Brentford the lead. However, Gillingham responded well in the second half, and got the equaliser through star striker Simeon Jackson.

After a largely un-entertaining opening half hour, Brentford took the lead through Charlie MacDonald. John Nutter’s weak header fell kindly to Nathan Elder, who crossed a ball in from the right that appeared to go to no-one but Simon King.

The season’s record attendance at Priestfield were expecting the ball to be cleared, that was until it rolled past the defender and straight into the path of MacDonald; the striker scoring probably the easiest goal of his career.

The Bees continued to dominate after their goal, which meant Gillingham were reduced to very little shots on goal for the remainder of the half.

After the re-start, Gillingham came out a different team, creating several chances and dominating the opening exchanges.

And their hard work paid off on the hour mark, as Canadian U-20 international Simeon Jackson got his 11th goal of the season. Nutter’s free-kick from the left was flicked goalward by Mark Bentley, before being turned in by Jackson.

The game then took a bizarre twist on 69 minutes, as a foul on Mark Bentley turned into a 20 man fight, with handbags flying everywhere. After the dust settled, Gills captain Barry Fuller received a yellow card, while Brentford forward Nathan Elder saw red for a push on Simon King.

Gillingham took advantage of having the extra man, and had several opportunities to get a winner. Had it not been for some excellent saves from talented young keeper Ben Hamer, the Gills surely would’ve won.

In the 88th minute, the game took yet another crazy twist. After a fairly routine challenge by Barry Fuller, referee Oliver Langford decided to even out the numbers on the pitch, and gave the Gills’ captain a straight red card for a tackle on Sam Wood. Apparently it was for ‘serious foul play’.

The numbers on the pitch were even, and they would soon be off it as well, as neither team scored in the remainder of the five minutes of time added on. The game finished with 10 men-a-side, and 1 goal-a-side, as Gillingham secured a deserved point to lift them up into eighth, and extend their unbeaten home run to eight games.