A response but not the full answer

Gillingham 1-1 Port Vale – a first half lead but Vale’s half time changes exposed the difference between two benches and swung the contest

Originally published in Gills Journal by David Tickner

By half time, Gillingham had offered Gareth Ainsworth much of the response he demanded after Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Accrington. By the final whistle, they looked relieved to have taken a point. The difference owed much to the options available to the two managers.

Gills played with greater purpose in the opening 45 minutes and deserved their lead. But they missed a chance to extend it soon after the restart and before Port Vale’s half time substitutions began to shift the balance of play in their favour. As the visitors grew stronger, some of Gillingham’s familiar frailties returned.

Before the football, Priestfield paused to remember Doug Loft fondly recalled as a player and captain at both clubs. During an emotional minute’s applause, Port Vale manager, Jon Brady and Loft’s former Gillingham teammate, Bradley Dack held shirts – one from each club - bearing Loft’s name and number seven. With Loft’s wife and daughters at pitch side, it was a particularly poignant tribute.

Encouragement before the interval

Ainsworth made four changes to the side beaten at Accrington although these owed at least as much to circumstance as selection. Lamin Sillah was ruled out with a hand injury, Dack was also unavailable and Robbie McKenzie withdrew after his partner went into labour. Tom Eaves and Ethan Coleman were pressed into starting roles despite still working their way back to full match fitness. Conor McManus returned at left wing back while Jack Daley came in for Logan Dobbs who dropped to the bench.

McManus’s return allowed James Brophy to operate further forward, and he and Nick Freeman provided much of Gillingham’s first half energy and attacking purpose. Eaves headed a Freeman cross wide while Vale keeper Marko Marosi was forced into a good save from Andy Smith’s header after 35 minutes.

The breakthrough came in the 42nd minute when George Hall fouled Coleman in the area and Ronan Hale converted the penalty. Gillingham thought they had doubled their advantage in stoppage time when Coleman finished from close range, but Eaves was penalised for a foul in the build-up. There didn’t look to be much in it.

A tale of two benches

Brady responded with three changes at the interval, introducing Kyle Dempsey, Liverpool loanee Keyrol Figueroa and Ollie Lynch, However, before those changes fully took effect, Gillingham had a good opportunity to double their lead.

A deflected Hale attempt fell to Eaves whose first touch took the ball slightly away from him. His subsequent attempt was saved by Marosi, but the rebound reached Armani Little in an inviting position inside the Port Vale penalty area. Little blazed over and into the Rainham End. It was arguably Gillingham’s best opportunity of the night and a moment they would regret.

Dempsey began to give Vale greater control in midfield. Ainsworth acknowledged afterwards that the former Gills skipper had ‘controlled the game a little bit’. Figueroa brought skill, strength and an attacking threat. By the 66^th minute, Vale were level. Omar Beckles and Coleman failed to clear a ball played into the penalty area and Figueroa reacted to score his first senior goal.

Gillingham increasingly struggled to retain possession and looked less secure as the half progressed. Dempsey forced Ollie Wright into a good save from a well-struck free kick and by the closing stages, a Vale winner seemed more likely than a Gillingham one.

The contrast between the benches was striking. Brady’s changes shifted the directed of the game. Ainsworth could call on the experience of Garath McCleary making his 650th professional appearance but otherwise his bench was youthful and unable to make a comparable impact. That should not obscure Gillingham’s missed opportunity to score a second, or the defending that led to the equaliser but perhaps helps to explain why they were unable to wrest back the initiative.

A point to build on?

Afterwards, Ainsworth defended his players saying they had ‘given everything’. He spoke positively about their greater creativity and hoped that the boos at the final whistle were directed at the referee rather than his team. He also laid bare the scale of the injury problem: ‘I’ve got 15 injuries. I’ll take that point.’

There had been a response to Accrington, certainly in the first half. But it was not sustained over 90 minutes with several returning players still short of match fitness. On this occasion, Gillingham again found chances and goals from open play hard to come by while the failure to deal decisively with Vale’s equaliser recalled previous defensive problems.

Ainsworth suggested that a win at home to Grimsby on Saturday would make this a useful midweek point. He may be right. For now, the draw offered some encouragement as well as frustration and highlighted how difficult it is achieving three points with so many options unavailable.

David Tickner writes regularly about Gillingham Football Club on Substack. You can read, follow or subscribe for free at Gills Journal | David Tickner | Substack.