Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler offers to reimburse fans who travelled to 4-3 defeat at Accrington Stanley
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by Luke
Cawdell
The Gillingham fans who made the long trip to Accrington
are set to be reimbursed by manager Andy Hessenthaler and the rest
of the team.
Gillingham were backed by 261 fans at Accrington’s Crown Ground
but saw a dire first half which left their side 4-1 down.
An improved second half, boosted by a Gavin Tomlin double - his
second in as many games - almost saved Gills’ blushes but it
wasn’t enough to make up for a woeful first 45.
Boss Hessenthaler (pictured) said: "I feel sorry for the
fans. They travelled a long way on a cold day and they should be
rewarded, we haven’t done that and so I think we should pay them
back.
"We will pay for all the supporters who travelled because it’s
not acceptable. Every player in the dressing room will contribute
and not just the players, but myself and my staff as well, because
they deserve better. It important that we repay the fans.
"They can’t come up and travel and spend their hard earned money
to see our players do that."
Hessenthaler was forced into subbing his keeper Ross Flitney
after a calamitous first half. The Gills goalkeeper had gifted
Accrington the opener and conceded three more in the half.
But he wasn’t the only one to blame from a poor first half,
which came after a shocking second 45 against AFC Wimbledon the
week before, where again they had conceded four goals in one
half.
Hessenthaler said: "We spent the week defending as a group but
we basically went out there and did the opposite to what we worked
on.
"It’s crazy and I was speechless at half-time because I just
didn’t see that coming off the back of last week. I’m not just
going to blame the back four because it’s not just about the back
four.
"It’s about the whole team and the goals we conceded were our
own doing. People just weren’t doing their job.
"For the first 20 minutes, especially away from home, you want
the team to just stay in the game. When we started our goalkeeper
threw it out and that’s exactly the opposite to what we told him to
do and we got punished by it.
"We do match reports on teams but if they don’t listen then they
won’t be in the team."
Danny Jackman levelled with a free-kick but Gills conceded three
more goals to trail 4-1, though Tomlin’s brace made it 4-3 by
full-time.
"In the second half we came out and had a go," said
Hessenthaler.
"We did things which we spoke about in the first half, like
getting balls in behind their two centre halves. The second goal
came about from the ball over the top by Jackman.
"But we lost the game in the first half and left ourselves with
a mountain to climb."
What do you make of Hessenthaler's offer to reimburse
the travelling Gills fans? Have your say below.
Saturday, January 28 2012
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