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It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
…Well, at least for the supporter of a lower league or non-league club it is! The first round of the FA Cup is often the most anticipated game and, for the time being at least, the magic still exists even though it is a competition increasingly pushed lower down the pecking order by some clubs. As clubs struggle to survive in the dark echelons outside the football league, a meeting with a league club and a potential scalp to boot helps to keep the interest alive of the teams that ply their trade away from the glitz and the glamour. Still ties at the more senior levels of the competition include teams that feature electricians, plumbers and many other professional trades and cannot be found anywhere else. But whilst ties against part-time sides are the main interest to many in the early rounds, avoiding such banana skins for supporters of the bigger sides is paramount.
So having played a non-league side in the first round three times in the last six seasons and losing twice, I suppose being paired with Bournemouth could be seen as a bit of relief as we might not be perceived as likely to win there. After all, we have only once won a tie away from home against higher league opposition during the Football League years and that was in round two! A cup run however can often be a source of much needed revenue and a trip away to a side in the division above could have been thought of as yet another first round exit in the making especially as both strike partners of Kuffour and Nouble were cup-tied. In the end, a riveting tie ended all square at 3-3 with a replay in a weeks time. It was the perfect result I guess. No embarrassment of being humbled by a lowly team, no humiliation of being beaten comfortably by a supposed better side and a chance to find out what incentive lies ahead should the replay be successful.
The game itself took a usual course where the Gills started brightly but conceded the first goal. But then something bizarre happened. Against the run of play, Jack Payne scored an equaliser from half way inside the Cherries’ half. It was bizarre not only due to the fact that defensive midfielders are not expected to score such fabulous goals but also this was a player who had only previously scored once for the club before the season began and had already scored a cracking goal from outside of the area this season. I fully accept that players are likely to score more as they improve their game, but Jack’s goal last season came from one of twenty-eight shots at goal but both his goals this season have come from his only two attempts! Not bad, especially when taking into account that this game saw his return to action after twelve games out injured!
But Gillingham wouldn’t be Gillingham if things were not done the hard way. Two goals in a minute put the game beyond us with half an hour remaining. Or so I thought. A free kick on the right was flicked to Jackman who cracked another shot from outside the area that found its way to the back of the net. It was a goal-keeping blunder that allowed the shot through and cancelled out the Gills’ own ‘keeper blunder from Gazzaniga in his first start outside of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. The dying moments saw an unlikely equaliser as Danny Kedwell scored his first goal for the club away from home. It was the fourth consecutive ninetieth minute goal and the third for the Gills having only managed it once in the seventeen games before. And it was that man Kedwell again rescuing a replay having earned a last minute winner in the game before. So a trip to League 1 Leyton Orient awaits the winners and, to get a chance to be the under-dog as the top sides enter the fray in round three, we must win the replay and then do it all over again.
Posted by Gillingham fan Gary Wade
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