Gillingham boss Martin Allen takes delight from the way his side defended in the latter stages against Dagenham
Gills boss Martin Allen gets his message
across Picture:
Barry Goodwin
by Luke Cawdell
Martin Allen hailed his side’s defensive
qualities after they dug deep late on to clinch maximum points at
Priestfield.
The win came thanks to goals from Leon Legge and Deon Burton –
from the penalty spot – either side of a good finish from
Dagenham’s Femi Ilesanmi.
“It was defending at its best,” said Gills
manager Allen.
“The defenders defended valiantly. Everyone to a man stood firm,
stood their ground and reduced them to very few chances.
“They showed great character when they got
the equaliser we all knew what could happen, everyone in the ground
knew, but our players responded very well, stepped up another gear
and the substitutions worked really well for us.
“We got the goal and we did, what you could
call parking the bus, shutting up shop, but the players kept going
right to the very end, especially the substitutes, who came on and
really helped the team.”
A switch with 20 minutes to go saw the
Gills go more defensive, as striker Cody McDonald was swapped for
defensive-midfielder Steven Gregory.
Allen said: “While it might not have been
the best match to watch, we defended, which is part of football and
I thought we defended fantastically, through what was a difficult
spell, against some good players and a team who have shown a bit of
top form recently. It was a good day all round.
“I was delighted for Steven Gregory to come
on and play so well, in the holding midfield role and then young
Bradley Dack, who has been out on loan. I was pleased to see him
get out on the pitch. It has been a long time since he has been
with us.
“To hear the noise of the stadium, the
atmosphere, the singing and for the supporters to go home happy is
for me, personally, is magic.”
16/02/13
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