Benno's Beat: Gillingham's Mark Bentley writes exclusively for the KM Group
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We know we’re going to have to be
patient and punish Lincoln when the chances arise tomorrow
(Saturday) as they’ll probably come to try and frustrate us at
Priestfield.
They’ll be looking to pick up their
first points of the season and we’ll be aiming to start the match
better than we did on our last home appearance.
It was another frustrating afternoon
last time out at Hereford, where again we dominated the game and
did everything apart from score.
It was important to get off to a good
start with our game plan to press their players on the ball,
forcing them into making mistakes, the kind of tempo we try and set
in very game. Mark
Bentley in action at Hereford
We feel we have players with higher
quality on the ball than most in this division but what you find is
the opposing players are good, honest pros who will always work
hard and make it difficult for us to play.
So it’s important that we match other
teams’ work-rate and the better quality we have on the ball at
times can create chances for us, which was shown last Saturday.
Unfortunately, we came up against a
goalkeeper who pulled off some great saves, especially Danny
Spiller’s effort in the last minute, which looked certain for the
top corner.
The back four took a bit of a
hammering after the Norwich game so it was great to keep a clean
sheet. They had some big lads up front but the defence dealt with
them well.
The game saw Matt Lawrence (pictured
right) make his debut, which gave us some much-needed experience at
the back and, considering he only trained with us on Friday, and
his last game was the end of last season, he did well to complete
the whole game.
The arrival of Matt also gave me a
chance to move back into midfield, where I feel at my most
comfortable. It was nice being able to get forward as I think
people forget that I came here as an attacking midfielder.
A special mention must go to our
fantastic support on Saturday, who really got behind us and
appreciated the effort the lads had put in. Your support could
really make a difference this season.
With some players slowly returning
from injury, it’s important for the players with the shirt to show
they deserve to keep it.
Injuries have been a nightmare so far
with Danny Jackman the latest who could see himself sidelined for a
few weeks.
Apart from Simon King, most of the
injured lads should see a return in the coming weeks, which will be
good for the squad and, I’m sure, will give the manager a nice
headache.
With no Tuesday night game this week,
we have had a good week’s training, building up to the weekend.
See you Saturday.
More from Mark Bentley in
Friday's Medway Messenger newspaper.
Post any questions of comment to Mark by adding a
comment below or emailing medwaysport@thekmgroup.co.uk
Don't miss our live text coverage
of Gillingham v Lincoln this Saturday on
www.kentonline.co.uk/sport
Thursday, August 19 2010
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