Gillingham defender Barry Fuller opened his account for the club in the 3-3 draw with Doncaster
Published: 08:20, 22 October 2018
Updated: 08:21, 22 October 2018
Barry Fuller scored his first Gillingham goal in 161 appearances on Saturday but would have given it up for three points at Doncaster.
His strike was worth the wait, firing in on the half volley from 35 yards, but his pleasure at scoring was muted as the Gills conceded late on as the game finished 3-3.
He said: “It was nice to get on the scoresheet and put us 1-0 up but I would have given that away for three points.
“I know they are flying high towards the top of the league but when you score so late (Max Ehmer put them 3-2 up after 88 minutes), you have to see the game out.
“When you are down the bottom you don’t get that luck and after a bit of a deflection it goes in to make it 3-3. It felt like we had lost.
“Everyone was down afterwards and disappointed.
“The positive is that we’ve got a point on the table, away from home and probably against a top six team, something I am sure a lot of people would have taken before the game but after getting that late goal and then conceding a deflected goal it’s a real kick in the stomach.”
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His early strike put Gillingham infront and the goal was a long time coming, having never scored for the club before.
Describing the goal, he said: “I wanted the ball played to me initially from the free-kick and then I would have taken a touch and bent it into the corner, but they decided to cross it.
"It was headed out and as soon as I took a touch I went to shoot and just had to hit the target, lucky enough it stayed low and snuck into the bottom corner. For me, nine times out of 10 they end up in row z.
“I have probably not scored a better one in a competitive game, I am pleased to score but just a little disappointed we didn’t come away with three points.”
Fuller knows the players have to pick themselves up from the late blow ahead of the game at basement side Plymouth on Tuesday night.
“We will take positives, once it sinks in,” said the 34-year-old.
“Emotions are high after the final whistle, everyone is frustrated and down.
“Once we have dissected it and watched it back, we can see where we can improve, but any game when you concede after just going ahead with a minute of us scoring, it is a real kick in the teeth.
“We have to be mentally strong enough to deal with that going into Tuesday’s game.
“It is massive, they are down there as well and not in great form. If we can get three points there then we will look back at this one and think this is a great one and we can come away from the two games with four points. We would have bitten someone’s hand off it they offered us that before. We will go there confident that we can get the result.”
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Luke Cawdell