As ever during international breaks it seems an eternity since we last played so I'm looking forward to this afternoon's must-win game. I was disappointed by Defoe's retirement and it feels like a big anti-climax.
Anyway, what's done is done and on the positive side it looks like Pritchard and Broadhead are close to returning and with the way both Clarke and Roberts have been playing I think we can get the goals and wins we need to finish in a play-off place. Gillingham are very much in the relegation battle so they'll be hard to break down but with Neil and Dajaku in addition to the aforementioned I reckon we can manage to do that. I heard a rumour that Stewart had Covid so I certainly hope that isn't the case. Plymouth are at home to Oxford so it's probably best for us if they win while our other immediate rivals look likely to win too. I'm in London and will be tuning in via SAFSEE. My match prediction is a 2-0 win for us.
When I got the team-news, I was pleased to see that both Stewart and Pritchard were starting and that Broadhead was on the bench. Batth was starting too but I'd rather have seen Xhemajli in there instead. Once again our bench was looking tasty.
I tuned into SAFSEE and the first I heard was that the pitch had benefited from its breather and was looking much better. We were playing four at the back and started moving the ball around well in the opening stages. We won the first corner and Gillingham's very tall goalie Chapman sounded unsure of himself, which was all to the good. We soon won another corner but Oliver headed clear. Around the tenth minute Sheffield Wednesday went 1-0 up against Wimbledon, which was bad news. Wycombe and M.K. Dons soon also both went 1-0 up. Anyway, Pritchard, Clarke and Roberts were creating a lot of chances and it seemed just a matter of time before we scored too. O'Nien was unlucky not to do so in the twenty-first minute when he headed a Clarke pass against the bar. Wimbledon equalised against Wednesday and that also warmed the cockles.
Gillingham managed the occasional foray but seemed to be in no hurry to get on with things and that was reminiscent of other recent home games. As the half-hour mark passed it remained goalless and things had gone off the boil a bit so I started to feel it would be another late goal or two after some substitutions. About eight minutes before the break Lee was yellow-carded for a foul at the angle of their box but Pritchard's free-kick was cleared. Next thing Tutonda was booked too for slamming the ball down in a fit of pique and then Chambers was also booked for a foul. Gillingham won their first corner but the whistle went for a foul against us and the danger passed. Three minutes of stoppage-time were announced and we were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous spot but Chapman punched clear. Cirkin was booked for a foul after being lucky to escape for a previous misdemeanour. It was still 0-0 at the break and Stewart had barely been mentioned which indicated that final passes hadn't been reaching him. I felt sure that Neil would make a couple of changes before long, with hopefully Broadhead coming on.
There hadn't been any changes when the game restarted. The play was scrappy and time was ticking away without us getting any rhythm going. In other matches Plymouth had taken the lead against Oxford and that pleased me but it would be of little benefit unless we could take the lead ourselves. Ten minutes into the second-half and we still hadn't had a sniff of a goal so surely a change was imminent. We won a corner three minutes later and that got the crowd going and it was knocked behind for another and then another but still we couldn't make anything count. In the sixty-eighth minute we made a triple substitution, bringing on Embleton, Broadhead and Gooch for O'Nien, Pritchard and Winchester. We still had plenty of time to win it and a draw was certainly of little use to us. There was no improvement in our play and we still hadn't put Chapman in goal under any serious pressure. Broadhead went on a great run but when he passed to Evans, the latter's shot went over the bar. Ten minutes to go and the crowd were getting frustrated not least by Gillingham's time-wasting tactics. I had to get up and start pacing around. I couldn't see a goal coming but when six minutes of stoppage-time were announced, like a fool, I imagined that we could still nick one. Stewart had an effort but he couldn't connect properly under pressure from a defender and Chapman saved easily. Well, my foolishness paid off as in the last minute when I'd given this up for another very disappointing result, Broadhead headed into the corner from six yards out and we'd won.
Dear me. Despite this being a very frustrating game, we got three vital points and we're back in the top six.
