Gillingham 3-1 Charlton Athletic - We're definitely in there with a title shout, says Jack Wheeler

GILLINGHAM  3-1  CHARLTON ATHLETIC
The FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division
Sunday 6^th April 2014
Stephen McCartney reports from Maidstone Road

GILLINGHAM assistant manager Jack Wheeler says the professionalism of his players’ both on and off the field is keeping the club’s title hopes alive.

Gillingham moved five points clear at the top of The FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division table after beating their local rivals Charlton Athletic 3-1 for the second time this season.

The Kent side completely dominated the first half against Charlton Athletic, who arrived in Chatham on a six-match unbeaten run, which took them to fourth-place in the table with 28 points from 15 game.

Although there were only four points separating the two sides at the kick-off, Gillingham ripped apart their rivals with three first half goals to extend their winning streak to five games.

Striker Charlotte Gurr curled home her 21^st goal of the season to send Gillingham on their way, before winger Fliss Gibbons also converted with a first time finish for her fourth goal of the campaign.

Left wing-back Jade Keogh netted her seventh goal of the season by scoring directly from a 45-yard free-kick.

Charlton Athletic rallied in the second half and central midfielder Kit Graham, 18, capped off an impressive performance when she volleyed home her eleventh goal of the season in the town of her birth.

“We had a great first half against Charlton,” said Wheeler, who was sent out for press duties by manager James Marrs.

“It was a professional and accomplished performance by us today. We’ve been working on a lot of stuff in training this week and it’s very nice to see it happen on the pitch.

“The girls’ desire and effort was there today.  I think that’s got us the three goals. Just the willingness to get on the ball and the willingness to press the other team and the willingness to go out and show Charlton what we’ve got really.”

Charlton Athletic manager Stuart Weston admitted his side were second best.

“Very disappointed with the first half,” he said.

“Gillingham came out, wanted it more than us.  I think that’s clear to see. They worked hard.  They’re not top of the league for no reason. 

“What was disappointing, I know my players can do a lot better than that.

“First half we wasn’t at the races. We were second to every ball. We weren’t matching them physically, our passing was off, but the upside was the reaction in the second half.  They came out.  We were the better side and I think we played better in the second half.

“But Gillingham had already done enough in the first half, obviously.”

Gillingham were certainly up for it during their warm-up when manager Marrs was putting his players in the mood to go on and claim their eleventh league win of the season.

Marrs was almost rewarded with the first goal after only ten seconds, which set the tone for the rest of the first half.

Gibbons unleashed a left-footed drive from 25-yards, which looped towards goal but a fine fingertip save from visiting keeper Megan Lynch ensured the ball caressed the crossbar and was cleared to safety.

Wheeler said: “We’ve been working on a lot of stuff in training but also in the warm-ups before the games, which is important to get straight out of the blocks and it was very evident in the first ten seconds.

“We keep going on at the girls about starting very well.  They pressed the ball, make sure we work harder straight from the kick-off.  We said don’t give us 5-10 minutes to get into the game, do it as soon as the game starts and that was evident in the first ten seconds because the ball came rattling off the crossbar.

“It was a very good start but we kind of maintained that throughout the game as well, which was very pleasing.”

Weston added: “I think we were a bit rattled.  That rattled them straight away but that should have been the warning signals for them but it took for me to get them in at half-time to point out where we were going wrong for them to realise and that’s what happened.

“I said to the girls beforehand we’ve had a bit of a problem this year where we’ve been a bit slow in the first halves and we can’t afford to do that against teams like Gillingham because they’re very organised and they work hard for each other and they proved that because they had a fair few chances in the first half and they’ve scored three of them.”

Keogh was then released down the left and her cut back was hit first time by Gibbons, who saw her left-footed dinked shot curl agonisingly around the far post from fifteen-yards.

Charlton Athletic created their first opening inside 12 minutes when Graham – their best player on the day – got the ball out from underneath her feet before
drilling a left-footed shot towards goal from 25-yards, which forced Faye Baker to dive full length to her left to push the ball away.

But Gillingham drew first blood in the derby, by taking a seventeenth-minute lead.

Wing-back Nikita Whinnett whipped in a low cross from the right wing with her right-foot for striker Lisa Fulgence to flick the ball into Gurr’s path, who stroked a first time shot into the top near corner from just outside the corner of the six-yard box.

Wheeler said: “It was a good combination down the right hand side.  We’ve been working with the attackers and the front five on the quality of shots so it was very pleasing to see that they’ve taken it on board with side-foot finishers, making sure shots are on target, making sure the keeper works.  It was a great accomplished finish from the right-hand side into the top corner.“

The Charlton Athletic boss added: “Again, popping up on the edge of the penalty area completely unmarked, which was completely unacceptable from my point of view!

“It was a good finish. I can’t take that away from her but it should be when she was unmarked and that was maybe us for not putting the work in to track runners and take responsibility for players who are unmarked in our penalty area.”

Gillingham skipper, Jay Blackie, hit a speculative right-footed drive sailing harmlessly wide of the left-hand post from 35-yards.

But Gillingham doubled their lead in the 26^th minute thanks to a sweeping move.

Whinnett was once again the architect when she was released down the right, before she whipped in a cross into Emma Tune’s feet, who played the ball to Fulgence, who swept the ball out wide to Keogh. 

Keogh cut the ball back for Gibbons to sweep a first time left-footed shot across keeper Lynch into the far corner from fifteen-yards.

“That goal was pleasant to see because we had a lot of patience in and around their box so it wasn’t being very direct with the ball,” said Wheeler.

“We had a couple of combinations outside and managed to get the ball across the face of goal.  A nice little set and Fliss side-footed it into the bottom corner.

“The most pleasing thing about that was we were patient and also very clinical in front of goal.”

Weston said he was disappointed with his side’s defending for the second goal, too.

He said: “Similar again! Popped up on the edge of the box unmarked.  Again, another good finish but again we allowed her to do that because she’s got no challenge.”

Whinnett released Fulgence bursting forward but the striker clipped the ball over the bar.

Charlton Athletic squandered a decent chance in the 39^th minute when Gillingham defender Deanna Cooper played a poor ball out from inside her penalty area but Graham stroked her left-footed drive sailing harmlessly wide of the far post.

Keogh issued Charlton Athletic a warning when she drilled her right-footed 40-yard free-kick harmlessly wide of the left-hand post.

All-action hero Graham was released down the right channel and her cross-come-shot was well taken by Gillingham keeper Baker at the far post.

Gillingham called Lynch into action when Tune played a one-two with Taylor, before drilling her right-footed shot straight at the Charlton Athletic keeper from 20-yards.

But Gillingham killed the game off with a third goal three minutes and seven seconds into injury time, thanks to a mistake in judgement from keeper Lynch.

Keogh whipped in a right-footed free-kick towards the penalty area from 40-yards and the ball sailed over everybody and bounced into the right-hand corner.

Wheeler said: “We’ve been saying to the girls it’s very difficult for a goalkeeper if you have runners across the face of her so it’s very easy for a goalkeeper to go and collect the ball if you’ve got no one who will run across the face.

“We’ve been working on that for a little while and we kept telling the girls to do it but we managed a couple of runners across the face of the goalie and it’s very difficult for her to deal with the ball and the players. It gives her something little to think about and the ball managed to bounce straight past her, straight into the goal.”

Weston felt his goalkeeper should have done better with the delivery that came into the penalty box.

He said: “I think it’s just come over some players and Megan’s miss-judged it. It’s just one of them freak ones really. It didn’t really have much pace on the ball either. She’s miss-judged it and it went in.  She apologised afterwards but these things happen sometimes.

“Megan’s a good goalkeeper, she’ll put it behind her and she’ll carry on. She’s saved us in games before now but in the great scheme of things it doesn’t make a lot of difference.”

It’s rewarding when teams spend hours working on things on the training ground and their graft is rewarded on a match-day.

Gillingham Ladies play the same eye-catching brand of football as VCD Athletic, who also moved five points clear of their rivals at the top of the Ryman League Division One North table yesterday.

A match between the two sides would certainly give the crowd the beautiful game of quality passing – how the game should be played!

“It’s what makes all the rainy training sessions in February when it’s freezing cold when all the girl’s come down for our training sessions. This is why all our hard work is very pleasing to see,” said Wheeler.

“The girls and the staff have been working really hard, not just on a Sunday but throughout the week.  The amount of training sessions that we do and the quality and the attendance. About 95% of the girls’ turn up to every single training session that we do, which is very important so we can work on stuff that we need for Sunday.”

Gillingham squandered an excellent chance to go into the half-time interval with a four goal lead but Fulgence fluffed her lines and dragged her shot wide of the post when she only had the keeper to beat.

Wheeler added: “She got a little bit of stick at half-time but it was good to see that we manipulated it with the way that we played to create an opportunity.

“It wasn’t direct. It was very patient, making sure we kept the ball to feet.  Lisa broke through one-on-one. I don’t know whether she tried to chip the goalie or just try to lace it past the post, but it just crept past the post.”

Gillingham were in the box seat at the interval, which pleased the home following in Gillingham’s largest crowd of the season.

“As much as you can go 3-0 up within the first 45 minutes, they can also score four in the second 45, so we was very cautious with the girls at half-time,” revealed Wheeler.

“We said go out and enjoy yourselves. The first 10-15 minutes are very important and to make sure we don’t give nothing silly away so you need to work all the time and make sure we shut Charlton out and we don’t give them any opportunities in our half and to make sure there was pressure on the ball all the time.

“I wouldn’t have said it was game over because Charlton might get back in to the game if they could create the chance but our unity and team work made sure they got very few opportunities.”

When asked how he was feeling with the game running away from his side, Weston replied: “I’m thinking if we don’t pull our socks up then this could be an absolute routing!

“That was the worry. We were fortunate to get in at 3-0. It could have been four. The girl up front was through and she put it wide. Overall there’s not a lot of positives that we can take out of that first half!”

With the damage already done by Gillingham during the first half, Charlton Athletic put in a much better performance in the second half.

But they had to wait twelve minutes to create their first opening, following a set-piece.

Left-back Stef Simmons swung in a corner from the right and Graham planted her header over the bar from eight-yards, holding her head in her hands in agony.

Gillingham linked up well outside the Charlton Athletic penalty area with Blackie, Tune and Keogh to set up a chance for Fulgence, who clipped her right-footed shot over the bar when well placed inside the penalty area.

Charlton Athletic scored a consolation goal with nineteen minutes remaining and Graham deserved it for her effort.

Substitute Alice Singyard, who slotted in at left-back, swung in a free-kick towards the far post some 35-yards from goal and Graham watched the ball drop over her shoulder and spun to hook her right-footed volley into the top near corner from ten-yards.

A quality finish from a player who clearly wanted to impress more than her team-mates.

Weston said: “The goal she scored was a good finish, back to goal, she turned and hit it, which is one of the first time really that we managed to pop up in their box without really anyone near her.  I think there were two of our players unmarked.

“There were other chances (from her) that went wide and over and stuff like that but on the game as a whole Gillingham were worthy winners today.”

Graham is now the club’s leading goalscorer and Weston added: “Eleven goals. She’s been playing well to be fair. She’s an important player for us. We’ve had approaches from other clubs for her but she’s Charlton. She loves the club and she doesn’t want to go anywhere. She’s turned down Super League moves to stay with us and she’s a very good player.”

Wheeler was disappointed with the way that his side conceded their eleventh league goal of the season.

He said: “A little bit disappointing from our point of view because we’ve lost our markers from a free-kick but that’s something me and James will look at over the next couple of days.

“A great finish from her to be brutally honest especially as it dropped but from our point of view the defending wise we need to make sure we’re more tight to our players and make sure they don’t get any space in and around our six-yard box.”

The wonder-goal lifted Charlton Athletic’s low spirits and Graham picked the ball up in midfield and released lone striker Sam Pittuck down the left.

Wheeler added: “They knew they had to come out and attack us at some point because it would have stayed 3-0 so we knew they were going to come out of the blocks in the second half and press us as high as they can and make sure they can try to get as many opportunities as they can because they had to chase the game.

“From a collective point of view with the girls’ it was a very professional performance because we basically nullified most of their opportunities. 

“Faye Baker wasn’t really that busy today. As much as they had some possession in our half there was no real clear cut opportunities apart from the mistakes that we made, like losing players in our box and giving Kit Graham six yards worth of space so she could score.”

Pittuck, who wasn’t supported by her midfield for large chunks of the game, reached the by-line before cutting the ball back towards the far post where Graham showed desire to stretch and stab her right-footed shot across the keeper and past the far post.

“We didn’t make many chances in this game but in other games we’ve been making lots of chances and not converting them,” said Weston.

“It’s not an excuse but we do have a lot of injuries and big players’ missing so to be fair we’re not doing bad this season with what’s happened to us injury wise.”

Pittuck cut in from the left but her weak shot lacked power and Baker gathered the rolling ball at her near post.

Gillingham striker Gurr and Tune combined to set up a chance for substitute Lauren Phillips, who rolled her right-footed shot into Lynch’s gloves, who easily gathered at her near post.

Wheeler said of Phillips’ thirteen minute cameo: “It’s good to see that Lauren Phillips has come on to the pitch. She’s done herself credit by coming on today and she’s done really, really well.  It gives us another thing to think about.”

Charlton Athletic squandered an excellent chance to make the game interesting at the death.

Pittuck latched onto a long ball but dinked her right-footed shot towards goal from fifteen-yards, which rolled agonisingly past the foot of the left-hand post.

Weston added: “Sam’s not having any luck at the moment in the last few weeks.  She’s won Goal of the Month for Charlton as a whole, even the men and she was awarded that trophy yesterday at The Valley before the game.

“It’s just one of them, With strikers they live off and thrive off confidence and in the last couple of games the rub of the green hasn’t gone her way.  I think once she gets that elusive goal then she’ll be off and flying again.  She’s scored nine this season already. She’ll be back.  You saw her today, win, lose or draw, she don’t stop working.”

When asked about Gillingham going on to win the league title, Wheeler responded: “We’ve definitely in there with a shout. We can never play it down because at the minute we’re five points clear!

“It’s nice for the girls to be in and around it. We’ve never really made ourselves from the start of the season on that we’re going to do this and do that.  It’s come through the girls’ performance and their training.  That’s the reasons why we’re up there because we’ve managed to put in decent sessions, decent performances and we’ve managed to pick up points throughout the season.

“I wouldn’t say champions. We’re definitely in there with a shout but that’s not our long-term goal. We’re just making sure that the girls perform well and if we do manage to become champions then we’ll take that as a bonus. It’s not a goal that we set out to succeed at.”

Both managers reflected on the importance of the outcome of the biggest women’s football fixture in Kent football.

Gillingham’s Wheeler said: “It’s great especially for the girls. We’ve played them twice and we’ve picked up six points against them. If you said at the start of the season you’ll get six points against Charlton I think we would’ve bit your hand off to be brutally honest because they’re a decent set up, a decent team, some of their players are really, really, really, really good so to say at the start of the season we’d get six points against Charlton we’d be happy as Larry to be brutally honest.

“They’re the nearest team to us county wise, so there was a good attendance here today through their supporters and our supporters as well so it made a nice occasion and it just makes it even better that we’ve performed really well and got three points.”

Charlton’s Weston said: “It would’ve been a dream if we had gone the rest of the season unbeaten but you have to pick yourselves up after a defeat.  The girls know where they’ve gone wrong. They know the first half wasn’t good enough so we just have to pick ourselves up and get going and get it right next week against Brighton.

“It hurts losing any game. Lots are made of it being a derby. We’re a London club, they’re a Kent club. I think the rivalry more comes from players that have crossed over from each club and stuff like that. It hurts as much as losing any game to be honest.”

Holders Gillingham play Charlton Athletic (reserves) in the Kent Women’s Cup Final at Maidstone United on Thursday evening.

The Gills go into the game as clear favourites simply because if they can beat Charlton Athletic’s first team so easily, what could they do to their rivals’ second string?

“We don’t put any pressure on the girls’. We’ll just say play the way that we coach them to play and hopefully the results will come with it,” said Wheeler.

“There’s no pressure on us that we need to retain the trophy. We’re focusing on performances and quality of players to make sure they progress all the time.

“I think it will be an entertaining game especially after today because they’ve got a little score to settle especially after the way we played and how they played. 

“It should be quite interesting. It’s a good thing and a bad thing to play them twice in a matter of four days but we’ll soon find out.”

Reserve team manager Warren Clarke will take charge for Charlton Athletic and Weston said: “The reserves are a good side. There’s some good players in there, young talent and they’re up for it.  They’ve been training well. Warren knows how Gillingham play, he’s got them set up well organised and I think they’ll give it a good go.”

Gillingham: Faye Baker, Nikita Whinnett (Lauren Williams 77), Jade Keogh, Deanna Cooper, Rachel Ahern (Charlotte Long 63), Amy Taylor, Jay Blackie, Emma Tune, Lisa Fulgence (Lauren Phillips 77), Charlotte Gurr, Fliss Gibbons.
Sub: Lauren Davis

Goals: Charlotte Gurr 17, Fliss Gibbons 26, Jade Keogh 45

Charlton Athletic: Megan Lynch, Ruby Southgate, Rosie Paye, Katie Flack, Stef Simmons (Alice Singyard 66), Kit Graham, Katie Hardaker (Kylie Manktelow 61), Francesca Tye (Gemma Hyland 51), Charley Clifford, Emma Harrison, Sam Pittuck.
Subs: Leigh Houlihan, Eliz Ibrahim

Goal: Kit Graham 71

Booked: Kit Graham 72, Gemma Hyland 75

Attendance: 140
Referee: Mr Stephen Tate (Leigh-on-Sea, Essex)
Assistants: Mr Jamie Gray (Wainscott) & Mr Darren Wilson (Chatham)