Source: FOOTYMAD
Shrimpers remain solid in Gills stalemate
Gillingham 0 Southend United 0: The Blues battled well at Prestfield, seeing most of the ball and deserving their fouth point in two away games in four days after a goalless draw in Kent. Blues boss Paul Sturrock made one change to the side that beat Hereford at the weekend swapping a winger with a winger, Louis Soares for Ryan Hall. According to Gillingham, who were flat in the first 45 minutes, enjoyed a good spell midway through the second half but the closest they came was a long range effort from Chris Palmer which was turned behind by Glenn Morris at full stretch.Bruce Inkango came in for his first start in the only change to Gillingham's starting line-up from the 1-0 win against Burton Albion, replacing Mark Bentley.Cody McDonald opened his Gillingham account with the winner on Saturday and the on-loan striker almost doubled his tally early on. A Jack Payne long throw was flicked on and McDonald met it with a well-struck overhead kick which was well held by Morris low to his right.Southend, relegated with the Gills from League One in May, worked extremely hard to put the Gills under pressure in midfield, with plenty of success.On the balance of play Paul Sturrock's side should have been ahead at the break. They created a handful of presentable chances, the best falling to Louie Soares on 20 minutes, but the midfielder was nudged by Barry Fuller just as he looked poised to tap in Blair Sturrock's cross.Gillingham looked uncertain defensively and on the half hour mark were sliced up by a quick counter attack. Josh Simpson raced on to a through ball, but under pressure from Payne he shot over from the edge of the box.Payne had the clearest opening for the home side three minutes before the break. An intelligent lay-off from Akinfenwa was collected by the teenager in the area, but his volley was superbly blocked by former Gills full-back Sean Clohessy.The home side improved after the break and steadily built up a head of steam. Their best spell came in the 20 minutes after the hour mark as Southend were forced to dig deep to survive.The home fans thought Akinfenwa had opened the scoring in the 71st minute with a shot on the turn but the rippling of the net was an optical illusion, with the ball flying an inch wide and rebounding off the stanchion.Curtis Weston almost scored a brilliant individual effort as he jinked his way through several challenges only to get the ball caught up under his feet at the critical moment. A breathless spell was ended by Palmer's 25-yard drive which looked destined for the far corner until Morris' late intervention.Despite being under pressure the visitors hit back to threaten late on. Barry Corr had a gilt-edged chance in stoppage time, but dragged his effort wide 12 yards out.Roll on Lincoln City at home on Saturday.Southend Player markings to followNpower League Two, Tuesday, 28th September 2010 @ 19:45Starting Line-ups 26Cronin 16Gowling 15Lawrence 28Payne, J 17Spiller 4Weston 2Fuller 12Palmer 10McDonald 27Akinfenwa 19Inkango (Rooney 68)Substitutes 1Julian 30Aborah 23Payne, S 29Sinclair 7Maher 8Bentley 14Rooney (Inkango 68)Goal AttemptsOn TargetOff TargetHit WoodworkCornersStarting Line-ups 1Morris 2Clohessy 3Gilbert 23Barker 6Bilel 17Soares 4Simpson 19Timlin 7Grant (Jarvis 75)10Corr 21Sturrock (Hall 68)Substitutes 24Evans 20Crawford 16Prosser 25Jarvis (Grant 75)5Coughlan 12Hall (Sturrock 68)18Herd RefereeDanny McDermidAttendance4,925Gillingham CardsPayne68 Unsporting behaviourSpiller72 Unsporting behaviourFuller79 DissentSouthend Utd. CardsCorr83 Unsporting behaviour
