Dominant Gills leave it late to grab win
Published: 14:20, 30 August 2008
Gillingham 1 Accrington Stanley 0
Dennis Oli struck late to hand Gillingham a deserved victory against Accrington Stanley at Priestfield.
Oli?s strike secured the Gills? first points on home turf and it was the club?s first goal at home this season.
The Gills completely dominated the match but they left it late to capitalise on their pressure when Oli fired in on 75 minutes.
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Simeon Jackson came closest to scoring in the first half, when he burst through from the right flank, but his shot missed the target.
Mark McCammon had earlier had an effort scooped off the line by keeper Kenny Arthur and the big striker put another effort over the bar, this time as he connected with John Nutter?s corner kick.
Accrington threatened briefly and Jamie Clarke had a great chance from just five yards put, but the combined forces of Garry Richards and Barry Fuller stopped the striker from getting a shot away.
The Gills maintained the pressure at the start of the second half and Jackson came close again, as he wrestled his way to the ball inside the area, but saw keeper Arthur save.
Gary Mulligan, on as a second half substitute, headed just over from a Nutter corner and had the ball in the back of the net minutes later, only for referee David Phillips to signal a foul against Jackson.
Richards was next to come close, as he headed over from a yard out, after Mulligan had turned Nutter?s corner kick goalwards.
Accrington were virtual spectators but Paul Mullin?s headed effort, which went just a foot wide, was a reminder that Gillingham remained in danger of throwing away all of their hard work.
Andrew Crofts had a header tipped wide by Arthur, Mulligan twice missed by inches before the goal finally came when Oli turned in Charlie Daniels? cross.
Gills assistant manager Scott Barrett said: "It was one of those games like we?ve already seen this season, where we create chance after chance and it didn?t look like it would be our day.
"I can?t believe we?ve come up against another goalkeeper who has been excellent. He must be distraught that he hasn?t kept a clean sheet but in the end everyone in the stadium will agree that the result was right.
"I would love to see the stats for possession and goal attempts and all that as we dominated it. Credit to the boys they kept going to the wire and got their just rewards."
Tell us what you thought of Saturday's performance on the Gillingham SpeakOut section below.
Gills:Royce, Fuller, Nutter, King (Bentley 82mins), Richards, Daniels, Weston (Miller 77mins), Crofts, Oli, McCammon (Mulligan 55mins), Jackson. Subs not used: Berry, Julian.
Accrington:Arthur, Cavanagh, King, Murdock (Murphy 76mins), Proctor (Williams 64mins), Miles, Clarke, P Mullin, Edwards, Ryan (Worrell 60mins), J Mullin. Subs not used: Dunbavin, Onibuje
Attendance: 4,733
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Luke Cawdell