Gillingham 2 Fleetwood Town 2
Matt Fish gets the better of Fleetwood's Alex
Marrow. Picture: Barry Goodwin
Myles Weston came off the bench to rescue a point for Gillingham
at Priestfield on Saturday.
The Gills conceded twice in eight
first-half minutes as Junior Brown and Alan Goodall put Fleetwood
ahead, but Charlie Lee halved the deficit late in the half.
It was all-square when substitute Weston
fired home.
Gills boss Martin Allen unusually named an
unchanged 11, keeping faith with the side which beat Rotherham the
week before.
But Allen and a near-capacity crowd weren’t
rewarded for their faith in the first 45 minutes as Fleetwood
bossed proceedings.
A long ball forward from David Ball
unlocked Gillingham’s defence with 20 minutes gone and Brown was on
hand from close-range to slide past Stuart Nelson.
It wasn’t long before the Gills conceded
again. A 28th-minute corner was delivered into the box by Barry
Nicholson and Goddall powered the ball home with a header.
The Gills had barely had a sniff at goal
themselves and their first real effort didn’t arrive until the 36th
minute, when a knock-down from Deon Burton was put the wrong side
of the post by Romain Vincelot.
But the Gills got a crucial goal on 42
minutes, with their first attempt on target of the half, as Lee was
on hand at the far post to turn the ball home following Charlie
Allen’s corner.
The Gills could have had an equaliser,
through Vincelot, but Fleetwood’s Goodall made a great block from a
powerful shot.
Allen made a change at the break with
Weston replacing Deon Burton in attack.
It was a cross from Weston that almost set
up Danny Kedwell, but he was surrounded by Fleetwood defenders and
was unable to get a shot away on goal.
The second half was certainly a lot
livelier, but Fleetwood had chances themselves and Nelson breathed
a sigh of relief when Steven Gillespie shot wide after robbing
the keeper of the ball just past the hour.
Gillingham had also seen opportunities come
and go, with Vincelot heading a corner over and Kedwell cracking a
shot wide.
Super-sub Weston levelled the scores with
65 minutes gone when the ball ran through to him and he turned
before planting the shot beyond keeper Scott Davies.
The Gills were a shadow of the team from
the first 45 minutes but Fleetwood were defending resolutely.
Kedwell put a header narrowly wide in stoppage time as Gills had to
settle for a point.
Gillingham: Nelson, Fish, Martin, Barrett,
Frampton, Payne, Allen (Strevens 90mins), Vincelot, Lee (Montrose
87mins), Burton (Weston 46mins), Kedwell. Subs not used: Forecast,
Davies, Jackman, Birchall.
Fleetwood: Davies, Beeley, Howell, Milligan
(Johnson 64mins), Nicholson, Brown, Goodall, Gillespie (McGuire
76mins), Atkinson, Ball (Titchiner 87mins), Marrow. Subs not used:
McNulty, Maxwell, Barkhuizen, Obeng.
Attendance: 8,571.
15/12/12
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