Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-1 Gillingham

[Bearded Shrimper]

just got in so here's my ratings

Bentley 7. to paraphrase the Sisters of Mercy - why you got to be so un-commanding? I want more. His shot stopping, especially in the second half, saved us but him not commanding his area put us in trouble a few times, as it has all season.

White 7 i really see the worth of this bloke. looks better in league one than two and is a really solid player

Thompson 7 a bit of a mixed bag for me. some good defending but can get bullied. some great touches on the ball

Barrett 7 hassled, harried, blocked, lead but was exposed in the second half. one superb last ditch tackle but shouldn't have been put in that position of needing to do that

Coker 8 got up and down really well but his final delivery wasn't all that

Deegan 7 a very solid 7. i really like this new Deegan. he covers the ground, intercepts, wins the tackles and doesn't get booked. not as all action but just as effective.

Kamara 8. neat and tidy and looked absolute class. i was really surprised when he was taken off. his touch, control, anticipation in front of the back 4 were valuable in the first half. we were over run in the second and i can kind of understand the change but it didn't work.

Hurst 8 superb, it was like going back in time. i prefer him down the right than the left and he tired at the start of the second half plus showed his lack of pace getting beaten by a snail but he was really good. worked so hard, tried things. the real example of how he's playing was when he shot from 30 yards and sent it inches wide. he wouldn't even of tried that not long ago.

Payne 7 in and out of the game. some magical touches and superb ability to go past players. he really get people off their seats but he does go missing a bit. he looked but much better before the changes when he was just behind Barnett.

Wordsworth 9 MOM. he had everything today. his touches were good, he passed well, he ran and ran, made blocks, made defensive headers, cleared the ball off the line, scored, everything. i prefer him on the left to the right but it worked

Barnett 7 worked so hard, he was everywhere. good pace, strength and willingness to do the job for the team. it didn't quite work for him and the service didn't always suit him but he tried so hard.

subs

Loza 4 we didn't play to his strengths but i'm afraid he did nothing other than upset what we were previously doing well

McQueen 5 didn't seem to do much to me but he's clearly a good player. didn't seem to be well enough used by Brown's tactics.

Ref - seeing as he got slated earlier i'll give him a mention. he was excellent, rating easily 8 or 9. i thought Coker's yellow was harsh as he just got done and there was no malice but otherwise he was spot on. Let a lot go including what looked like a shocking lunge from Thompson. he contributed to an excellent game


and the game was excellent. good crowd, good atmosphere, two good and even teams. a superb advert for League One football

 

[nicko1710]

good solid battling performance with a few moments of real quality, especially from Jack Payne.
Impressed with Wordsworth and Hurst and Kamara at times.
Like the more restrained Deegan. White solid as always.
Only a couple of slight negatives, Bentley under crosses at times and Thompson defensively in the air.
Sorry also need to offload Loza.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Oh, and additionally, Wordsworth even more thoroughly deserving of MOTM as had forgotten that hoik off the line near the end.

 

[Magnum PI]

Ref was a bit soft today but in doing so contributed to a good game. I always find this ref to be palatable unlike the moron who took his place a week or two back. Nice to Edinburgh back at the hall. Was in the side when I first started coming to the Hall all those years ago. Good crowd also today but agree with Browny that the atmosphere wasnt exactly powderkeg stuff like I expected.

 

[kentblues]

Thought it was a very enjoyable game - two decent sides. We are where we are on merit and a very decent L1 outfit. With a good summer bringing one or two in and not losing too many I think we really have something to build on. Bizarrely again a point nearer the playoff so still a chance.

Bolton imploding and hammered 6-0. History is not kind to clubs who get relegated in this fashion and the following season is normally very tough indeed- be very interesting to see what happens..

 

[shrimperjon]

Good result against a very strong and physical Gills side. Thought first half we played well, second half we seemed to sit back and invite pressure. Didn't really test their keeper and wasted the few good chances we created. Midfield again seemed very narrow with only width on which ever side hurst went. Shame again we didn't see McLaughlin. Defence looked shaky and Bentley in particular seemed very nervous deciding to punch anything that came near him. Up front Barnett worked very hard with little service. Payne ran a lot and created the few chances of note we had. But as I said it was a well earned point. As for the three idiots from Gillingham that got thrown out .... *****

 

[Barry.C]

Not quite going with the grain I thought it was a fairly poor , error strewn , tense game, edged by Gillingham, a reverse to some extent of the game at Priestfield. It got more exciting for 20 minutes in the second half as players tired and the game opened up, but at that stage I feared we would lose and nearly did as Gills piled on the pressure.

Gillingham bossed the game ior the first 25 minutes and throughout their crosses from free kick and corners were mainly excellent. Three desperate blocks by us early on kept us in it, until we gradually started to find our feet and win the final 20 mins of the half. Good move and well taken goal from almost only our second sorte into their half.
Personally I thought Bentley came very well for the ball , especially in the first half and for me punched well under pressure. Thompson looked a little unsure today, played quite well, but definitely missed Bolger a class above and particularly in the air. BBC stats give Gills 55% possession, 9 corners to our 1, and 16 shots to our 12. They certainly got stuck in though with 17 fouls to 10, and I agree I dont know how they didnt go down to 10 men
Gillingham well on top in the second half bursting down the flanks with pace , a goal looked inevitable and duly came.

 

[SupaBlues]

1-1 fair result today Gillingham are a good team. Thought when they equalised they would go on to win. Good to see Hurst back to something like his best

 

[Lord Football]

I thought that was a good, entertaining game between two quality sides. A good advert for the division. Gillingham were more than a decent side, and we've got hard fought draws against them.

No weak link in the side today. Hurst was fantastic first half, Wordsworth is starting to show his quality, Payne is getting better by the week and the defence looked strong.

I will say this though. The ref was top drawer today. Lots of advantage, didn't buy any of the tumbles, managed the players properly and didn't let the occassion get to him. Really not sure what a few of you expect.

 

[RHB]

Not a match report as such but a couple of observations on today. Prior to kick-off we in the West were treated to watching shooting practice into the portable goal with Smith the younger being the guardian. There was one particular piece where Smith the Elder was tossing the ball up and the players had to volley or half volley the ball towards the goal. Shouldn't be hard for professionals to hit the target? Observation 1 - we were completely garbage at it, missing far more often than hitting the target. Observation 2 - The white pigeon that led a charmed life in the first half as it strutted around near the Southend 18 yard box in the first half, pecking away at the ground and oblivious to the match going on around it......

Later - I also thought that Gillingham had very good support today and I was particularly impressed with the quality of the resistance of a few of their number when being evicted by the Stewards. And I also saw our good friends the police lurking in the NW corner of the ground today. I always find it a bit weird that they wear black fatigues, severe black boots and then their helmets perch on top of it all. I think they would look better with riot helmets, far more menacing.

 

[rayleigh dan]

I think that we were a trifle fortunate to get a draw and should have been 2-1 down at half time. The ref was appalling and how their no.11 wasn't sent off was beyond me.

Imo Atkinson should have replaced kamara at half time as Gills were dominating the midfield, and Weston should have come on not Loza.

Bentley - 7 - Flapped sometimes and punched instead of catching, distribution slow at times, saved us though
White - 7 - steady game but too many crosses allowed into our box from his side.
Coker - 8 - MOM - Excellent work rate and supported attack on many occasions. Was left exposed by Kamara though.
Thompson - 8 - A good steady game, some poor distribution though. Better than Bolger!
Barrett - 7 - not one of his best games tbh. Looked short on pace and was blowing very early in the game.
Kamara - 5 - Looks ok going forward sometimes but poor defensively and left Coker exposed many times.
Wordsworth - 8 - Best game I have seen him play. Had good work rate and attitude today which is unusual.
Hurst 8 - Not my favourite player this season but thought he was excellent today. Credit where credit is due.
Deegan - 7 - Went about his work well but in an anonymous way. Spent a lot of time doing the work of two players - his and kamara's.
Barnett 6 - Not his best game although could not fault his effort. No real chances created for him though
Payne - 8 - Played well and looked if we were going to score it would be by him. Dropped to midfield 2nd half which I thought was a mistake by Brown

Loza - 5 - Too lightweight for me. Wasn't impressed first time he was here and he has done nothing today to change my mind
McQueen - 5 - Did nothing noteworthy


ref 4 - appalling. One point for being appalling to both sides equally.

Brown - 7 - I thought he made the wrong subs too late.

IMO that's very harsh. Kamara was easily as good as Deegan for me and surely it was either Wordsworth/Hurst who were playing wide and guilty of leaving Coker exposed? Is Kamara supposed to cover the entire midfield?

 

[united we stand]

IMO that's very harsh. Kamara was easily as good as Deegan for me and surely it was either Wordsworth/Hurst who were playing wide and guilty of leaving Coker exposed? Is Kamara supposed to cover the entire midfield?

Lenny does:winking:

 

[rigsby]

As others have said it was a decent game. Gillingham certainly came for three points, they looked hard working strong side. They really upped the pace after they scored but I was pleased that we dug in and didn't concede another.

At 85 mins we were on top only for them to come back and nearly win it late on. Certainly had the feel of next goal wins in the last 15. I thought both teams had the same sort of chances but once again we don't test the keeper whilst Bentley has to keep us in the match. Again credit to the Gills as they also blocked JP as he pulled the trigger a couple of times

Once again the oppositions set pieces were much better than ours. Unlike their keeper, Bentley had to deal with some quality deliveries while under pressure, so some of the much criticised punches were justified.

Just before the kick off I looked round and sitting in a row in the stand were Lenny, Hunt, Worrall, Mooney and Timlin. So lets not forget that when were judging the subs that we made.

Lots of positives...We defended well, Hurst and Kamara done more than ok. Deegan kept his head and Barnett battled hard and caused them problems. I liked the way JP was determined to shoot, even his body language before he received the pass said I'm going to shoot. Hard to pick a MOM but maybe Woody just edged it. Tough day in the middle and the fact that Atkinson never made an appearance says they all played well.

I thought the ref had a good game. Yes I like everyone else thought he had left his cards in the changing room at half time but overall it helped that he was not fussy as this was the sort of game that could have ended up very scrappy. Plus he gave a couple of vital kicks for early fouls against Thompson. Part of there game plan was to clearly rough up Tommo as he is not as strong as Bolger in the air.

 

[Benfleet Blue]

I think that we were a trifle fortunate to get a draw and should have been 2-1 down at half time. The ref was appalling and how their no.11 wasn't sent off was beyond me.

Imo Atkinson should have replaced kamara at half time as Gills were dominating the midfield, and Weston should have come on not Loza.

Bentley - 7 - Flapped sometimes and punched instead of catching, distribution slow at times, saved us though
White - 7 - steady game but too many crosses allowed into our box from his side.
Coker - 8 - MOM - Excellent work rate and supported attack on many occasions. Was left exposed by Kamara though.
Thompson - 8 - A good steady game, some poor distribution though. Better than Bolger!
Barrett - 7 - not one of his best games tbh. Looked short on pace and was blowing very early in the game.
Kamara - 5 - Looks ok going forward sometimes but poor defensively and left Coker exposed many times.
Wordsworth - 8 - Best game I have seen him play. Had good work rate and attitude today which is unusual.
Hurst 8 - Not my favourite player this season but thought he was excellent today. Credit where credit is due.
Deegan - 7 - Went about his work well but in an anonymous way. Spent a lot of time doing the work of two players - his and kamara's.
Barnett 6 - Not his best game although could not fault his effort. No real chances created for him though
Payne - 8 - Played well and looked if we were going to score it would be by him. Dropped to midfield 2nd half which I thought was a mistake by Brown

Loza - 5 - Too lightweight for me. Wasn't impressed first time he was here and he has done nothing today to change my mind
McQueen - 5 - Did nothing noteworthy


ref 4 - appalling. One point for being appalling to both sides equally.

Brown - 7 - I thought he made the wrong subs too late.

I cannot believe you marked Thompson higher than Barrett. Thompson hardly won a ball all afternoon and every time he did his distribution was absolutely awful.

And by the way Sam McQueen was only on for about 10 minutes and put in 2 of the best crosses all afternoon which could easily have been converted.

Did you actually go to the game ?

 

[Tokyo Blue]

I only got to the ground just before half time due to other last minute commitments but from what I saw , it could have gone either way in the second half with us just edging it in terms of chances..........I thought Barnett should have scored the header in injury time..........but my overriding view is that Leonard is sorely missed in the middle of the park........no other mf brings to the team what he does in terms of energy, physicality and generally driving the team forward........hoping for a speedy recovery from him..........that b*****d col u player who crocked him

 

[Barry.C]

Bentley. 8. Kept us in the match with 3 crucial saves. Came for the ball stronger than I have seen for a while, facing 9 corners and numerous excellent crosses into dangerous areas . Thought he took the right option to punch when surrounded by hoards and did it very well, distribution better as well

White 7 very solid and steady Captains performance, nobody better currently at right back, could have delivered the ball a liittle more quickly and accurately at times

Thompson 6. Won a number of headers and fought hard, but not his best game, caught out of position a lot , to leave Barratt Rather exposed and also out jumped . Sadly missed Bolger who is a Class above

Barratt. 7. Another true blue performance, led the back line, made telling blocks and won numerous headers but exposed for pace later on
Coker. 6.5 Steadier in defence and few errors, but most of the Gills early danger came from down the right wing in the first 20 minutes where he was given a bit of a run around, maybe also left a little exposed. Gills could have scored 3 from early right flank exposure and the pace of Mc Glashen

Kamara 7.5. Second really good and promising performance. Showed pace and judgement, pulled off some lovely passes and quick interceptions, neatly nipped the ball off their toes a few times and got up in the air surprisingly well. Should have stayed on as Hurst was tiring and couldn't run through on goal when through
Deegan. 8 Again showing great temperament, and leadership, strongly marshalling at times, putting in some great tackles, worked hard and made less errors than others with some smart passing

Wordsworth 8. Best game I have seen him have in a blues shirt. Far more active and involved, all round class performance, even decided to do tackles and got them in well. Excellent well worked goal, and saved us on the line at the end. Distribution let him down at times, especially in first half attacks

Hurst 7 Better all round performance by Hursty , getting in some telling bursts going forward and usual high standard crosses, worked hard, good effort, but where's he been for last couple of years?, playing for contract extension now?

Payne. 7.5 typical Jack cameo interventions, took a little while to find his feet early on living the ball, but then just got better and better running at them , dribbling past 3 or 4 at a tine, reeling off the shots and unlucky not to score, mini Messi he is

Barnett 7.5. Superb all round effort , given rather isolated at times upfront, kept the ball well, a few dangerous runs, came back to defend, won numerous headers, let down by the ref in the second half when seriously being mishandled by their centre half
Personally thought Liza did OK, and surprised not to see yellow cad when he as intercepted when bursting threw. Mc Queen Made no mistakes and got in a couple of telling crosses in last 5 minutes
Was it just me or did the pitch seem a bit poor and holding the ball up somehow?

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Wish people would stop moaning about Barnett not getting any protection from the ref. Thomson and Barrett were climbing and holding the Gillingham forwards all game. The ref was consistent.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

I thought Gills looked a better than most outfit (but their kit was too Carlisle circa 1985); they were well organised, disciplined and without obvious weak areas. Over the 95 minutes they didn't seem to tire (as perhaps Kevan and Kammie did). They (GIlls) also looked to be physically big lads, tall and proper proportions - no short arses - however we rarely got out fought (so that isn't a barb at the lads we played).
The young Hesenthaler looked good at times but did drift out of the game (as Jack sometimes used to).
Justin argued as much as Phil about some of the grappling of forwards (and as ex trust bloke says) which the ref allowed for both sets of players.
IMO Gills will make the play offs and have a very good chance of getting to Wembley.

 

[wakes123]

I thought Gills just deserved to win to be honest. They were very dominant in the 2nd half.

I've not read all the posts so may have been mentioned but did anyone see they guy who got chucked out from Gills after they scored throw a load of punches at a female police officer?

 

[Eddy Melito]

it was just good to see that there were police officers in the ground to be honest.