Gillingham 2 - 0 Crawley Town

GILLINGHAM needed extra time to see off Conference side Crawley Town in the LDV Vans first round tie.

Danny Jackman and debutant Frannie Collin netted the winning goals in the 2-0 win to put the Gills into the next round.

Jackman had put the Gills ahead with four minutes of extra time gone to finally quash the spirited Crawley effort and 18-year-old Collin struck to seal the victory.

Both sides ended the clash with 10 men, when Crawley’s Steve Burton and Gills captain Leon Johnson were both dismissed in the second half of normal time. The Gills man will feel harshly treated after being shown a straight red for a late challenge.

Manager Neale Cooper made several changes as expected, although the inclusion of Tony Bullock in goal, making his senior debut, was the biggest surprise.

Johnson was handed the captain’s arm-band, a reward for some impressive performances since returning to the squad, with Richard Rose joining him in the centre of defence.

Further changes saw Danny Spiller and Steven Hislop line-up in attack, Mark Saunders started in the middle and Jon Wallis slotted in at right-back.

The numerous changes did nothing to help the flow of Gills’ game, as the first half struggled to come to life.

Neither team had any real chances of note in the first period, with Gills’ best effort coming from an early blocked shot from Hislop and a long-range shot by Saunders.

Crawley rarely tested Bullock in the Gills goal, who had a comfortable half.

Cooper decided to liven things up early in the second half with the introduction of Frannie Collin, making his first team debut on 55 minutes.

The substitution came as Crawley had two great opportunities to take the lead, firstly Bullock superbly blocked Wormwull’s powerful strike and minutes later the ‘keeper was on hand to deflect Daryl Clare’s shot, with Johnson clearing the ball as Steve Burton looked to pounce.

Burton’s game was over minutes later when he was sent-off for flooring Williams after the ball had been cleared, leaving referee Andy Woolmer with little option but to dismiss the Crawley striker.

Gillingham were unable to make the extra man count and with fifteen minutes remaining the referee decided to level things up, when he surprisingly showed a straight red to Johnson, after the defender had miss-timed a challenge on Jamie Cade.

Crawley gave Gills a scare with five minutes to go, when Clare headed past Bullock, but the linesman’s flag correctly ruled out the effort with the visitors having two men in off-side positions.

Gillingham survived a few scares before the tie went to extra time.

And within four minutes the goal finally came when Neil Harris latched onto Jon Wallis’ ball down the wing, staying on side, before crossing for Jackman who slammed the ball past Phil Smith.

Clare had a chance of equalising two minutes later but Bullock got down well, saving low after the forward had broken clear but was cursing himself after missing a golden opportunity.

Collin calmly tucked the ball under the keeper to make it 2-0 and seal the victory in the second period of extra-time after Jarvis had unhinged the defence.

Gillingham: Bullock, Wallis, Williams, Hessenthaler (Jackman 75), Johnson, Rose, Crofts, Saunders, Hislop (Collin 55), Spiller (Harris 75), Jarvis.
Subs Not Used: Crichton, Corneille.
Attendance: 1,988.