Game 7: Gillingham Town 3.1 Radstock Town (Western 1)

Game 7: Gillingham Town 3.1 Radstock Town (Western 1) 28.08.21

I took the train down to Gillingham and walked past the old ground at Hardings Lane to the new ground at Woodwater Lane. The ground has allowed the club to re-join the Western League although they can’t play evening games while they wait for their floodlight system to get through Customs from Spain.

After a minutes silence for a member of the coaching staff who passed away recently, the game kicked off. Both teams created a few half chances but the defences got back to clear the ball. Gillingham had a tall centre back and there was an amusing moment when he towered a foot over his marker at a corner before Radstock switched the cover around.

As the half went on Gillingham were having the best of the play and were unlucky to hit the post from a close range shot. The Radstock manager was shouting at his players not to lose their heads but they were lucky not to go down to ten men when their rightback ran ten yards to shove a home player who had fouled one of his team mates. A couple of minutes before half time Radstock kept their heads to take the lead with a great low shot that flew past the keeper.

Radstock improved after the break but were lacking the final ball from good positions. They had a couple of crosses that went across the goalmouth but the blue shirts were too far away to get a touch on the ball and divert it in. This proved to be costly when Gillingham won a penalty moments later when one of the players was taken out by the keeper. The penalty was hit low with enough power and precision to beat the keeper even though he dived the right way.

Three minutes later Gillingham took the lead with a superb goal. They won the ball on the left and one of their players ran towards the goal, passing the ball to a team mate on the edge of the area. He continued his run and stayed onside as the ball was lobbed over the defence, allowing him to head the ball past the keeper.

From the kickoff Gillingham won the ball back and got it forward quickly. While the first shot was blocked by the keeper he had no chance to stop the rebound from being hit past him. An incredible five minutes of play that turned the game around. We almost saw a fourth home goal in injury time but Gillingham hit the bar from close in when it looked easier to score.

Game 18: Corfe Castle 0.3 Gillingham Town (Dorset Premier)

Game 18: Corfe Castle 0.3 Gillingham Town (Dorset Premier) 30.03.19

After a morning in Swanage, caught the train up to Corfe Castle to see Flying Scotsman and then wander through the village to the Fortress, home of Corfe Castle FC. It was a lovely sunny afternoon with the birds singing and a great view of the castle. Corfe have been struggling but should have enough points to stay in the division while visitors Gillingham Town are comfortably in the top half of the table.

The first half action was end to end with both teams creating chances. Gillingham were caught offside in good positions several times throughout the half and had a goal disallowed as a result. Shortly after that Corfe won a corner and a glancing header was on target but cleared off the line by a defender. Gillingham were causing problems down the right wing as their players had a lot more pace than the home left back. They won a couple of corners as a result but couldn’t covert the chances these created. Corfe were playing well on the counter and came close to a goal when a player beat the offside trap and tried to lob the keeper as they came off their line, only to see the ball drop just over the bar. The deadlock was finally broken just after the half hour. Gillingham crossed the ball from the right to the far post, the ball was then headed back into the middle of goal and a Gillingham player headed the ball in.

Gillingham Town started the second half quickly and the Corfe Castle keeper had to be alert to clear the ball over the bar from a long range effort. Five minutes into the half they added a second goal with a great shot that beat the home keeper at his near post. Three minutes later the same player got a second goal when a free kick set him up to chip the ball over the keeper. Corfe tried to get back into the match but their shooting was rather wild and didn’t trouble the visiting keeper. Just before the end of the match a Corfe player was sent to the sin bin for dissent, the first time that I’ve seen that in a match.