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Gills drawing on glimpses of hope

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY: Paul Smith's injury time header against Preston gave Gills an undeserved point
DAYLIGHT ROBBERY: Paul Smith's injury time header against Preston gave Gills an undeserved point

AFTER a brief spell back in the dreaded drop zone our well-earned point at QPR on Tuesday night has taken us above Brighton and put our safety in our own hands once again.

If someone had offered me two 1-1 draws from our games this week I would have snapped their hand right off, so all in all it's been a pretty good week.

But that said, our game at Deepdale was anything but good before our stoppage time robbery. We were outplayed in every department, and, as the clock ticked down, I thought to myself that it was the least excited I had ever been at a Gills game.

However, there was a twist in the tale as Paul Smith's stoppage time header, our only shot on target, looped into the net and won us a barely deserved point.

It really felt like our black shirts needed some white hoops and all our players be equipped with swag bags as we left the pitch with the cheers of more than 500 Gills fans ringing in their ears.

Even the fact that we slipped back into the bottom three couldn't take the shine off the result, and it certainly made the long journey home seem much shorter.

The performance at QPR on Tuesday was certainly much improved and we did well to hold onto our point under a fair amount of pressure in the second half.

We probably shaded the first half but once Nyron Nosworthy got caught in possession and Paul Furlong equalised, Rangers turned it up a notch, but aside from one melee in front of the far goal, the lads managed to keep it fairly stress-free for the Gills' biggest away following of the season.

There are now five games to go, and we have the massive advantage that three of those clashes are at Priestfield - and we have a good chance of recording maximum points in all three of them.

The first comes on Saturday when we face Stan's old club Burnley who, of course, include former Gills star Ade Akinbiyi in their squad, and it would be great if we could get a big crowd in for the game.

The game is in the lowest pricing category, which means tickets cost as little as £10 for adults, so hopefully plenty of fans will turn up and help roar us even closer to securing our Championship status.

* You can keep up to date with all the action on kmfm if you're not going to the Priestfield on Saturday.

Hear regular live updates on 'Sportswatch' with Simon Watts from 2pm.

Frequencies:

100.4 and 107.9 FM in Medway;
96.2 and 101.6 FM in West Kent;
106 FM in Canterbury;
107.2 FM in Thanet;
96.4 FM and 106.8 FM in Shepway and Whitecliffs Country;
and on Kent Online.

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