Bolden's Blog
Bolden’s Blog: Bringing you back up to speed
Published by Gillingham Ladies Media on April 6, 2010
Well it’s been a while since the last blog so here is a massive round up of what has been happening in the world of Gills Reserves.
March 7th saw Aylesford at home, where the Gills hit 8 past the keeper, but also allowed 2 in to the back of their own net. The game saw Lauren Harris leave with an injury which has proved a reoccurring issue which has now seen her out to the end of the season. Megan Cavell made her opening debut with a collection of fantastic goals, and set a good standard for herself in the future.
The following week saw the Gills travel to Whitehawk which was a day and a half. The journey to Brighton was already interesting after train delays had caused some of the team to be running late. Despite catching up the time, all of the team then hit traffic on the M23 causing a real headache for the team. With a 1.30 kick off and many of the squad not arriving until 1.45 with game was already facing problems, with a second referee having already been called in to replace the first one also stuck in traffic. After a delayed start and a minimal warm up , the girls started well, and showed some great passing play. The pitch was very long and the girls fitness showed well. After taking the lead the Gills kept pushing for a goal, but the the pitch got the better of them with many passes falling short. The Whitehawk team are in the league above and so the girls knew they had a challenge on their hands. After a clear handball goal from Whitehawk the Gills frustration showed and the team became very fired up. The girls worked really hard for each other and the passion was really clear to see. After full time the score sat at 1-1 and extra time loomed. Keeping the team to 1-1 in extra time, the girls were faced to take on penalties. Leanne Stevens stepped up for the first, and miss-hit to place the ball softly in the middle of the goal. Jess Nunn then saved the Whitehawk pen to keep in to 0-0. Kirsty Goodall took the second and unfortunately put it wide, and Whithawk buried their second pen. Amy Russ skied the third pen and with the score at 1-0, Whitehawk put in the second to keep the Gills subdued. Kylie Overton stepped up for the fourth and buried it well, but it was all over when keeper jess Nunn got her fingertips to the fourth Whitehawk shot but it fell out of her reach leaving the final score 3-1 on penalties. A gutting day knowing the goal that put us out was from a handball, but the effort that the girls showed and the passion was incredible and the real team sprit started to show.
The following week saw gills at home to Whitstable and to keep the team spirit going, all of the team and family and friends gathered at Herne Bay Weatherspoons for a team breakfast. This saw the girls in good spirits for the game and started the game well with some strong tackles and forward runs. Although Gills managed to put 4 past them this time, the Whitstable squad was much improved from the previous game, and also had a number of substitutes.
Crockenhill away made for interesting traveling with a boggy pitch and a 
rough surface. A much more physical game this week allowed Gills to show some strength and grit as they were immediately under pressure from the Crockenhill team with two early corners. Gills pushed back quickly though and went in at half time 4-0 up and looking very much in control. Half time saw keeper Jess Nunn replace by Centre of Excellence recruit Ruth Jackson, who was preparing to take Jess’ place for the following weeks draw against Ashford. Gills continued to push but new signing Megan Cavell was struggling to get used to their strong offside trap. After a sending off already hampering the Crockenhill performance, a yellow card to a second player saw her frustration overflow and she decided to leave the game. Down to 9 men, Gills put in another 5 and let Crockenhill score a sloppy goal from an offside decision that didn’t go the Gills way.
This week saw the big game that we have all been waiting for, home against Ashford. Although we are sitting top of the league 4 points clear, Ashford have games in hand and so this was a big game for both teams to decide the final league standings. Terri Reynolds was invited back to join the squad as after a series of events including injury, a death on the line at Whitstable and last minute cancellations, lead the team to being very short on players and were welcomed back by all. The game started on the back foot as Ashford pressed well, causing the Gills defence to do more tracking than they would have liked. They then began to fight back with some promising runs from the Gills attack and saw two early goals disallowed for offside and an indirect free kick unfortunately hit directly. The game was very end to end and made an exciting game to watch. At half time the game was goal-less and the team were left un-shuffled as they moved into the second half. Ashford opened up the scoring with a dubious handball goal which left the Gills team fired up and ready for a fight back. The Gills battled hard and within minutes pulled off an equaliser from Kirsty Goodall with some textbook team passing and a nicely slotted finish. Despite continued battling from the girls another goal seemed so far off, and it became even more of a distant dream after Chloe Jaimeson was sent off for two yellow cards from some rash challenges. Down to ten men, Kylie Overton was left battling upfront alone and Terri Reynolds came in to replace the tiring Gemma Ridge who had worked incredibly hard to support the strikers all game. After a constant end to end battle the game ended at a very frustrating 1-1 with the girls disappointed to have lost points to such a dubious goal. Overall the team spirit remained very strong and the girls were really proud of their performance and were very grateful to Terri for stepping up in the Gills hour of need.
With the title race well and truly on, the end of the season will be a thrilling and challenging event!
The Muchkins too have been busy playing, with the most recent 3-0 victory against Fulham showing a composed and organised side. With just a couple of games left the Munchkins have really done Matt and I proud this season and we are really keen to see them progress in the future. We also took some of the girls to the England game against Spain last Thursday, allowing the girls to see the sort of standard they could be reaching, although it seemed sweets and flags were a just as entertaining event for many of them during the game. Although England won, the conditions could have been better with a very wet pitch, but a good crowd of at least 5,000 showed the success of the increasing support for the women’s game.
Next week is a double header against Gravesham and we wish both the teams luck!