Gillingham win their opening pre-season game at Folkestone with goals from Luke Rooney, Mark McCammon and Chris Palmer
Mark McCammon
scored Gillingham's second in 3-0 win
Picture:
Martin Apps
by Luke
Cawdell
Folkestone 0 Gillingham 3
Gillingham opened their 2009 pre-season
campaign with a comfortable victory over a hard-working Folkestone
side at Cheriton Road.
The Gills fielded 22 players against their
Ryman League opponents and goals from Luke Rooney, Mark McCammon
and Chris Palmer sealed the win.
Folkestone had their moments, with strikers
Jimmy Dryden and James Everitt both coming close, but they were
unable to breach Gillingham’s unfamiliar looking defence.
Gillingham manager Mark Stimson fielded two
separate sides in each half with only former Reading and Yeovil
trialist Aaron Brown playing both halves.
Central defender Brown played 90 minutes and
he was joined by fellow out of contract trialists Chris McCready,
Sam Long, Rashid Yussuff and Jordan Parkes.
McCready, another centre back, was released by
Crewe this summer, while full-back Long and midfielder Yussuff were
surplus to requirements at Charlton. Left-back Parkes is looking
for a new club after leaving Watford.
Scoring Gillingham’s opener was Luke Rooney as
he made space form himself on the edge of the box and curled in a
low shot past keeper Jack Delo.
Just a minute into the second-half the lead
was doubled after Yussuff played a great forward ball to Gills’ new
signing Chris Palmer and his cross was tapped home from two yards
by McCammon.
Palmer, who made a promising start on the left
flank for his new side, tucked away the third after beating keeper
Kieron Mann to the ball and guiding the ball home with 70 minutes
gone.
Gills: (First half) Julian,
Long, Nutter, Brown, Richards, Lewis, Maher, Weston, Pugh, Rooney,
Barcham. (Second half) Royce, Fuller, Parkes, Brown, McCready, Oli,
Payne, Miller, Yussuff, Palmer, McCammon. Subs not used: Cumbers
Essam.
Folkestone: Delo (Mann
46mins), Yanni (Swallow 54mins), Burchell, Friend, Chappell,
Dickson (Henson 54mins), Smith, Sommerville, Dryden, Everitt
(Driscoll 80mins), Jackson.
Saturday, July 11 2009
Rating: 4/5 (2 votes cast!)