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A relentless defensive performance from Max Ehmer wasn’t over at the final whistle as the stand-in captain gave his backing to team-mate Jack Tucker.
Gillingham were up against it all afternoon on Saturday against Sunderland but looked to be holding out for a well-earned point before Tucker was beaten to a cross in the 95th minute.
It was a big blow for relegation-threatened Gills, but Ehmer was quick to praise Tucker’s efforts prior to the decisive moment of the game.
“The boys were devastated,” said Ehmer, speaking after the loss.
“It was a tough one to take because for 95 out of the 96 minutes we were keeping them at bay and then it is one small lapse of concentration, but fair play to Jack Tucker, he has cleared some unbelievable balls across the box (in the game).”
Moments before the goal Tucker produced a great block to deny Ross Stewart a tap-in. Prior to that the young defender had been making blocks and knocking balls out of the box for fun.
But Ehmer said: “It is the harsh reality of football really, you do all of those blocks and then one moment when he gets blindsided by their striker and he (Nathan Broadhead) heads it in, being a defender I know how that hurts, we just have to get around Jack and he will come good for us next week, as he always does, because he was unbelievable for us, it was just one small error has cost us but we are right there behind him.
“Some of Jack’s blocks and clearances were unbelievable but then it is that moment and for the 96 minutes of the game we need to make sure we are all switched on 100%. It is a good ball, to be fair, it was good movement and he has caught Jack on the wrong side, he managed to put it in the net but the firepower they have in that team, for us to be withstanding it for that long was a credit to everyone at the club.
“It is a little setback but we get ready for the next one now, we have five massive games coming up and they are all winnable and we have to make sure we approach them properly.”
Gillingham were up against it before the game with injury problems continuing. Ehmer captained the side as Stuart O’Keefe was missing. It meant second year youth team scholar Josh Chambers made his first start.
Ehmer commented: “It was such a mature, proper performance from him, this is where we are at, hopefully we can get a couple more back (from injury) by next weekend, to add to the group. It was a tough one to take but it was a proper performance, with desire, heart and everything.
“There were plenty of positives to take out of the game, the performance, desire, the work-rate, everything like that, in an ideal world we would have created more chances but when you are away to Sunderland, the size of the club, they are always going to be on top at points in the game and we rode that well, but we got sucker-punched in the last minute.”
Gillingham face another team gunning for the play-off places this Saturday when Wycombe head to Priestfield.
Ehmer said: “We played Wycombe earlier in the season and it was a tough game, but with the set-up we have got now we are a much harder team to play against. We will have a gameplan to make sure we get a positive result.”
Gillingham may be lacking firepower but defensively they have certainly improved which has helped them get points on the board. They are now two points clear of the bottom four.
Commenting on the new-found defensive resolve, Ehmer said: “It is down to the work we put in at the training ground and on the defensive side of things with (assistant manager) David Livermore and the gaffer. Everyone knows their roles within that system.
“First half (at Sunderland) we got it a tiny bit wrong where we let (Patrick) Roberts have too much of the ball and I told David Tutonda to go in more aggressive on his first touch and after we nullified that I think he was coming back and crossing it occasionally but he wasn’t doing a great deal with it, him and Alex Pritchard were their players, we had to make sure we stopped their service and stop them servicing the others.”
It was relentless from the home side, with Ehmer adding: “It was tough and you have to stay mentally switched on, you are sliding across the pitch and making sure you are in the right position, those games you have to make sure everyone is positioned right and make sure you are switched on.”
