An excellent win for the Stags at the Priestfield Stadium. I sat on the halfway line in the Medway Stand as I wanted to get a decent view of the game. It was very hot as we bathed in the sunshine. The bloke next to me ended up with a very red face. The Stags were brilliant in the 1st half and could easily have been 5-0 up at half time. We did not create as many chances in the 2nd half but we coped easily with Gillingham's attacks and managed the game well to come away with their second away win and third clean sheet of the season. It was very hard to pick a MOM as they all played really well.
Christy Pym did not have a save to make and "Triple H", (c) Gareth Jellyman, were rock solid at the back. Oli Hawkins and Elliott Hewitt won everything in the air. Riley Harbottle probably had the toughest game of the three as Mika Mandron kept pulling off on to him did win some of the contested headers against him. Harbottle also had to commit a few fouls to stop Gillingham attacks and was perhaps lucky not to pick up a yellow card in the 1st half. He did pick up a yellow card for another foul in the 65th minute and was then replaced by the calm James Perch.
Kellan Gordon and Stephen McLaughlin both bombed forward at wing back. They both could have scored in the 1st half. Nigel Clough was screaming at Kellan Gordon early on to get higher up the pitch and he was rewarded with an assist for Lucas Akins' goal. He also very amusingly shouted "Kellan. Where do you think you are going?" when Kellan Gordon was wandering up the pitch when we were defending a Gillingham corner. He waved Kellan back to mark a Gillingham player on the edge of the area. However Kellan did then win the ball high up the pitch on the left after we had been defending another Gillingham set piece. He ran through on goal and looked like he could score but he ended up winning a corner. We also had another Kellan Gordon comedy moment in the 2nd half when he was caught late and rolled off the pitch holding his ankle. He then realised what he had done and rolled back on to the pitch which really annoyed the Gillingham fans.
George Maris, Anthony Hartigan and Ollie Clarke were very good in midfield. Maris' passing and link play was very good and he put in a couple of lovely crosses from the left. He also played in Macca on the left who should have scored. Anthony Hartigan's ball to George Lapslie for the second ball was exceptional and Ollie Clarke ran his socks off and constantly closed down the Gills players on the ball. George Maris and Ollie Clarke also won a lot of balls in the air when the ball was bouncing around in midfield. It was Ollie Clarke who won the header that resulted in the 2nd goal. Neil Harris shouted out in the 2nd half "Win the 2nd ball!". A Gillingham fan shouted back "It would be nice to win a 1st ball."
Lucas Akins was superb up front. He could have had and he deserved a hat-trick. George Lapslie was his usual non-stop self and chased everything which won us the penalty and he scored a good 2nd goal. It's nice to see him getting a good run in the side. He's clearly loving it again after seeming a bit down earlier this season. No doubt his family would have come along to watch. Lucas Akins also seems to have found his best position as the lone striker up front in the same way that Rhys Oates did last season.
Alex MacDonald came on as a sub for Gillingham. He played a poor ball that went straight to Christy Pym and a Gillingham fan said "We've not missed Macca's feet have we?" His mate replied "No but we've missed him running around like a headless chicken." He took a decent free kick at the end that was headed over the bar which was Gillingham's best set piece.
I shook Nigel Clough's hand as he walked back to the dressing room and said "Well done". Nigel replied, "Thanks very much. I've received your letter but I've not had chance to reply yet. I'll get back to you as soon as I can." He then walked off before I could point out that I had not written to him. I hope it was a nice letter.
by Captain Cunno » Sat Sep 17, 2022 6:07 pm 
