Kim Bolden shares her thoughts with the Gills Ladies site following the Reserves most successful season ever, in her final blog of the season.

As skipper of the Reserves it was pretty special last year leading my team to collect the trophy, knowing we had been unbeaten all season in the League, as well as climbing the mountain of 5 deducted points. But this year has definitely managed to top that! We all knew this year was going to be tough, we didn’t know much about the teams we would face, and with the squad still changing dramatically in the early days, we had no idea how the season would run. That makes it pretty cool to look back now and be able to lift the trophy with my girls for a second year running, and to make it all that little bit better, winning the cup too!

The cup final saw plenty of drama in itself, especially for me. I went into the game injured and even down to the warm-up my name had a question mark by it, but thanks to the physios and a little belief from the gaffer I made it onto the pitch for the first half.

Even lasting the game looked a little unlikely after a knock in the first few minutes made me wonder if I would make it to half time, and then to be responsible for the free kick they went one-nil up from left my heart in my mouth for a while. Though I might be looking at the uphill climb from the bench just minutes in! The girls massively restored my hope after a few storming goals from players who have shown real quality all season. The team spirit before the game had already been off the scale, but the first half really showed for me just why people want to play in our squad. The second half saw the girls almost scoring for fun, and yet still the quality of the game got better and better, and the celebrations still kept coming. Even I survived to the end, and was a special moment to jointly lift the trophy with team mate Les Kay, who despite our protests has decided to retire

The League has been a real learning curve for all of us this year, with very few of us having ever travelled as far as Yeovil for a game. We learnt a lot from those trips, and there were several of them this year where we were really tested by the travelling. Team spirit however never dropped, and even if results didn’t go our way, we always gave everything and the girls really worked hard for each other every second of every game.

There was so much debate about whether we had actually won, we thought we couldn’t be touched, then there was the mystery of a single point being needed, and then it came to quite late on for other results lead to confirmation that we had actually won. The last game of the season saw some pretty immense celebrations, of which the first team thoroughly supported us in too. With their struggle at the later part of this season, it has been really good to see the two squads pull together to keep the dreams of the whole club alive.

At the presentation Whitney Judd swept the board and rightly so. She is one of the best players I have worked with and she still has so much more to give. She has definitely got my vote to push for a permanent first team position, but in turn I would very much prefer to have her here on the other flank with me! She has lead the team in plenty of jokes and celebrations this season, and has very much helped to keep the goal ratios up too! All of the girls have really shown their worth this year, although I think a special mention needs to go to Lauren Harris, who has stepped up to play in goal despite never having any training, and of course to Les Kay who has been such a rock in the front of our defence.

When you ask any of the girls about next year, all they talk about is the Arsenal and Chelsea games. These will be what the girls will be working for all year, and there will certainly be some fierce competition for places in the squad for those games! The girls are excited about the challenge, and are certainly up for attempting some giant killing!

The munchkins have also had a decent season, and have been a fantastic bunch. Unfortunately due to the centre status being under review at the moment with the new FA shake up, I don’t know at this moment if we will have a mini Gills next year, but I very much hope to see some of these girls coming through all over the county with their footballing achievements. With so much women’s football on the TV at the moment, here’s hoping women’s football gets the push it needs this summer!

So a massive thank you to all the girls for making this such a special season, and to Matt and Aaron who do so much of the behind the scenes work with Ian and Martin. Very much looking forward to next year, and hoping to do it all with as much spirit and fun as this year has seen!

With the Christmas break fast approaching Reserve team Captain Kim Bolden shares her thoughts on the 2010/11 season so far.

So the season has been underway for 10 games, and is almost over already! It has been a real mixed bag this year, with the Reserves unbeaten run being hit in the cup. There has been a lot of shuffling around this season, and places are being fought for all over the park.

We started the games against Colchester, forced onto the 3G due to the poor quality of the pitch. Tipped to be hitting the top of the league, Gills secured a decent 4-0 victory and seemed to be hitting the ground running. However, after losing Kate Foster to a knee injury, the Gills defence saw some real reshuffling over the next few games.

Gills hosted their first home game to Brighton, and saw them off with decent 5-1 victory. Really stepping up to the mark the Gills looked strong, and gave the Brighton team very little to shout about, despite pulling one goal back.

The ladies seemed really settled in their stride, as we hosted QPR, once again polishing them off with a 5-0 victory.

However, from this game, things started to turn. A slightly unsettled camp travelled the four hour drive to Yeovil, where the sloping pitch and poor surface quality really took its toll on the team. 2-0 down at half time saw the Gills face an uphill struggle, and a disheartened team saw their efforts in vain as a third went in after the break.

This became the head of several disrupted games, as the following week at Millwall saw many of the Reserves replaced with first team players due to a cancelled game. A 4-1 victory followed, but the team was not yet ready to bounce back.

An away trip to Barnet leads to another unhappy journey, as a formation reshuffle again unsettled the team. This saw them 2-1 down at half time, with the Gills goal coming from the keeper putting it into her own net. The insult was added in the second half as a frantic Gills defence could not keep out a third.

After some team efforts to work hard at training and some bonding time off the pitch, the ladies came back out against Brighton away with a side looking much more comfortable. The team dominated from the off, and finished the game 4-1 up, with an unfortunate defensive mistake leading to a poor Brighton consolation goal.

With spirits back on a high, the same Gills team faced Yeovil at home. With a score to settle, Gills put on a real show, and bet the travellers 4-0.

The next home game saw a team re-shuffle, and Gills had to wait for a last minute substitution to liven up the 0-0 game, to finish 1-0 against a poor Portsmouth side.

The last game the Gills have seen for a few weeks, lead us back to Yeovil, with a much better prepared team for the trek. After hours of pouring rain, the girls turned up to a soggy pitch, and Yeovil team out for the points. The girls managed to hold the game to a frustrating 0-0, but all were glad not to suffer defeat at one of the worst pitches and away games many of the girls have ever experienced.

With several weeks of cancellations, the girls are now waiting to hit the ground running after the Christmas break, with a good 12 points clear and their eye on the Kent Cup of which they are waiting to sink their teeth into.

So season 2010/2011 is looking hot already, with an unbeaten run in pre-season, some pretty intense fitness and a new manager and assistant, Gillingham Reserves are already flying high, with hopes of continuing our success into the season.

We have had six pre-season games, a good chance for some of our signings from the C of E and local clubs to show what they have, and have been a big part in helping us to keep our unbeaten run going.

We have gained Whitney Judd from the first team, and more recently Natalie Farbrace too, who have been big characters in the team so far. We hold on to some of last season’s familiar faces in the way of Kylie Overton, Kirsty Goodall, Gemma Ridge, Lauren Harris, Kate Foster, Amy Russ, Charlotte Abbott, Anelle Massey and obviously myself. New faces to the team are Temi Opemiyan and Amy Taylor as well as Zara Clarke, Izzy Martin, Kate Cronin, Lou Jackson and Ruth Jackson all from the Centre of Excellence.

They have seen a huge change in pace this year, and were confronted, as were the rest of us in the first session back with a killer fitness session from new trainer Laura. She has been putting us through our paces for the last eight weeks, and although she has definitely not been our favourite person from time to time, most of the girls have really stuck with it and pushed themselves to the limit.

New Manager Aaron has been there with us from fairly early on, as has assistant Matt. After finally coming to terms with the amount of moaning he has to put up with by working within a ladies team, both have settled in well and have really upped the pace of training, despite our gruelling fitness regime before we are even allowed to kick a ball! First game of the friendly season saw us face Basildon away and with our new formation of 4-3-3 the girls got off to a bit of a shaky start. The fitness sessions were clearly not yet paying off, as we scraped a 2-1 victory with their goal unfortunately coming from a Gills own goal. As the new formation was not working for us, we switched back to 4-4-2 for a while, but have now begun to phase out swapping back in order to help us settle in our roles.

Our next game was against Charlton reserves, although due to the first team game being unexpectedly cancelled, a few first team faces appeared in the line-up against us. We started brightly, particularly as were on the unfamiliar surface of a 3G pitch, but were set back early on to a dubious penalty for pushing in the box. Despite going a goal down, half time was used to analyse the weak spots in our new formation, and the Gills came out fighting. With a much stronger second half performance, the Gills scored three good goals leaving Charlton very few chances to counter attack. The girls clearly revelled in the win, and it certainly proved a confidence boost at training.

Hearing of our cup draw with Yeovil, the team really started to gel, with talk of overnight stays and a true Gills style road trip! The girls then took part in a fundraising exercise at Priestfield, with many of the reserves completing a bucket collection at the Gills first home game of the season. Many loyal fans kindly dug deep to help support us, and much of the £300 raised will go towards funding our cup run. Many of them mentioned reading this blog which I was thrilled to hear, and so a special thanks goes out to them!

Kent Magpies were the next team for us to face, with assistant Matt taking control for the day, he never faltered under the pressure of keeping the winning streak going. The girls were unlucky to lose Kylie Overton early on to a poor decision by the referee; the girls had to go again with a new top three, all trying to prove they should be number one choice for the new system. Chab (Charlotte Abbott) was unlucky to miss a penalty, and Amy Russ was unlucky not to score first half with a number of long range shots. Second half saw the team pick up the pace a little, and with our hardcore fitness sessions starting to pay off, the girls banged in 6 in total.

With a much stronger focus at training about getting the new formation right, the reserves went into their first midweek fixture against Maidstone with perhaps a little too much confidence. After the firsts beat them 11-0 the week before, the reserves held a glimmer of hope that they may just try to beat this score. This confidence backfired as a defensive error, despite having several strong opportunities to score at the other end, left the team 1-0 down with a very poor all round performance. Aaron certainly gave us a piece of his mind at half time, but this had been softened by Whitney Judd’s equaliser just before the 45 minute call. With her and I both playing new ‘Wing-back’ sort of roles, we have both enjoyed the freedom of being able to get forwards and help with the attack. I have found playing on the left an additional new challenge to add to the fun, but have enjoyed settling in and finding my feet! (Particularly working out which one is my left again!!) But was very pleased to score my first accidental goal/cross of the season! Hopefully a few more of those to come this year!

We quickly moved on from Maidstone to West Ham at the weekend, who appear to be doing well in their pre-season run. A much quieter Gills stepped on to the pitch, and pressed well for the first 45 minutes, both making good chances in front of goal, and defending well at the other end. 0-0 and half time saw Aaron urging us to continue doing what we were doing but at a better pace, and straightened up a few midfield errors. With a new corner format and a renewed sense of clarity in the middle, the Gills began to look more likely to score, and did so early on, although it was ruled out as offside. Despite dropping off the pace a little near the end, the Gills passed by with a 0-0 draw, and a sense of satisfaction to have kept a clean sheet, although all were a little disappointed not to have left a mark on the score sheet.

The latest game to have tested the Gills was Malgo, a new team we knew little about. Gills started really brightly and were unlucky not to get on the score sheet early. With a strong looking formation and a much better organised midfield, the team really started to work together and were soon putting in crosses and goals all over the park. Everyone had a fair rotation in the game, many girls trailed several new positions, and despite finishing comfortably at 9-0, the girls continued to work hard right to the end. Still in good spirits the then completed a further fitness test with some box to box running. Possibly new manager Aaron’s first taste of the girls spirit, as they all completed it well and worked hard to get it done.

So with a positive pre-season behind us, and one game left before the season starts, the Gillingham Ladies Reserves are very much looking forward to the start of the season and no more gruelling fitness sessions! Although we would like to thank under muttered breath our fitness coach Laura for all her hard work, I mean all the hard work she made us do!

That’s it for now; let’s see where the season takes us!

Up the Gills!

Kimi

So we did it…slowly, painfully and in the end very muddily, but we did it! Facing Deal for the last game of the season, we had to get the three points or Gills final position would be left to fate.

We had beaten the Deal side 9-1 at the start of the season and so went into the game very confidently. The morning of the game I was doubtful myself if I would play as I had been ill, and with Gemma Ridge away on holiday , the team was boosted by the late assignment of Amy Russ.

I also felt a little more nervous than usual, as 5 of my munchkins had made their first trip down to see us play. The team started the morning on a high with a “dance off” keeping the girls in good spirits. With Terri Reynolds voted as number one mover, the girls turned their attention to the game and decided to inspect the pitch en route to a warm up in the rain. Although soggy, the pitch looked OK and the girls worked hard to get warm.

The rain even made me feel better and we all started the game brightly against a ten man Deal side. Gills put together a real classy game of football with decent passing moves and a large number of shots keeping the Deal keeper busy. She sadly got injured in the first few minutes and had to be swapped off for the deal striker, leaving the Gills defence plenty of space to push on, with all of the back four getting chances on goal to join with the 36 shots we apparently had in the first half.

However the Gills shooting was just not good enough and although a decent replacement in goal made several good saves, many of the Gills chances were wasted in the first half. As the rain got heavier the pitch became more lethal, with players getting tackled by puddles and long passes stopping dead in the water. At half time Deal had held the Gills to 0-0 and a frustrated team bundled into the showers to warm up their hands. (We really didn’t think by this point we could get much wetter!)

At half time there was talk of abandoning the game as the rain got even heavier, but a confident Gills team begged for the game to continue despite the poor conditions, and the Deal team agreed that we may as well continue, with the injured keeper rejoining the game upfront.

The break seemed to really halt the Gills in their tracks, as within minutes, keeper Jess Nunn had been lobbed after the defence failed to clear the ball, and minutes later an indecisive move lead to a deflected clearance landing in the Gills net.

At 2-0 down with 60 minutes gone, Gills had a battle on their hands, knowing at any minute the game could be called, the result would stand and the Gills would lose the League. Megan Cavell, Lauren Harris and Chloe Phillips all came on to replace Kirsty Goodall, Terri Reynolds and Kerrie Scott. With the frustration building the Gills seemed to have given up, with several long balls not making the final shot, and most being cleared up by the Deal keeper.

I was more shocked than most that it was me who broke the Gills scoring deadlock, after hitting a ball back that had rebounded out from hitting the post after a Megan Cavell shot. I simply wanted to drop it into the box- and ended up hitting the back of the net!

Well that broke the silence at least and almost poor Amy’s back. I jumped on the first player I saw and the following bundle nearly took her out too! Well the Gills really picked up from then and Amy Russ went on to hit a very similar goal just minutes later, and was given a far gentler celebration, but a nonetheless deserved one!

At 2-2 the Gills really started pushing on, with much more cohesive passing and raining shots on goal. With the weather worsening and the pitch causing ever more hilarity with splashing through puddles and impossible dribbling the game was becoming messier. In the dying minutes of the game, Gills won three corners in a row, with the last corner put in by Leanne Stevens pinging around in the Deal box before taking a deflection and ending up in the back of the net. I believe Chloe Phillips has been honoured with the goal but no one is completely sure who scored! At kick-off, the final whistle blew and the girls bundled in a muddy heap on the pitch. We later found out that we had 20 seconds left to win the game had we not scored when we did! What a way to end in so much drama!

The girls all joined hands and made a neat line in order to dive across the pitch, much to the amusement of the crowd. With the game won and the rain still lashing, the girls bundled back into the showers to get warm and dry, ready to shoot off to support the first team playing a cup game in Enfield. The first team sadly lost, but the Gills continued to make a day of it by celebrating as a whole squad in the evening, accompanied by Sean.

After starting the league 5 points down, and taking the final game to the wire the girls thoroughly deserve their unbeaten record this season and their League winners’ trophies. A huge Thank You to Sean, Lyle and our lino Darren and ofcourse the girls for putting in all the effort!

Well Done Girls!

Mini Gills also helped to end the season on a high, with a night at Priestfield playing on the pitch and looking around the backrooms of the stadium. Tommy T even came to join us and the girls had a fantastic evening, with the voted player’s player trophies being handed out too. I have managed to pass the whole season without injury, and yet I turn up to play against ten year olds for two hours and I leave barely being able to walk! The coaches even had the chance to try their own skills on the Priestfield pitch, ending the season with a bank full of good memories and a few badly taken penalties!

Gills played Anchorians away for the third to last game of the season. The Gills spirits were high after a confident double header the week before against Gravesham, although the subs bench was looking a little thin with Megan stuck in Spain, the first team needing all the spares possible, and with a few niggling injuries affecting the girls options.

After a cracking performance up front, Terri Reynolds was paired up once again with Kylie Overton, and Amy Russ dropped into midfield with Leanne. The girls started a little slowly with a few pressing attacks from the Ancs, but a determined Gills kept working hard. Their efforts paid off with a goal from new star striker Terri Reynolds with a header from a Leanne Stevens free kick. Just before half time the Gills started to gain their confidence and netted another from Amy Russ.

The half time turn around saw Gills playing downhill on quite a noticeable slope, and with this in hand, the Gills pushed on with plenty of long balls through for the Gills strikers to chase. Leanne Stevens made herself some space with a game of keep-ups around the defenders and slotted one home. Kate Foster then fancied a go at scoring, and after making a splendid run through three defenders was fouled in the box, only to put the resulting penalty over the bar. Lauren Harris was given the chance to have a run out up front replacing Terri, and Gemma Ridge replaced Chloe Jaimeson but not before she bagged herself a cracking goal.

Kirsty Goodall and Amy Russ both scored another as a weary Anchorians continued to be pressured by the Gills strike-force, who had been regularly supported by the following midfield. With the news that Ashford had lost that day, Gills gained top spot in the league, and went into this Sunday’s game against Milton and Fulston with hope, and nerves. Milton too still had a chance to win the league and the girls approached the game with an unusually large number of subs, and the yellow kit which has only been worn once or twice by the girls this season.

Milton started the game the stronger team with the Gills defence being pushed further back into their own half, with several long balls making their way through to keeper Jess Nunn, who calmly cleared every attempt. Gills managed to make a number of forward runs, but were often cleared up by the defence who batted hard to keep us out. The Gills midfield broke the deadlock with a superb individual goal taking the ball calmly and slotting past the keeper. With renewed strength Gills began to push more and more, but the game was very end to end with keeper jess seeing more of the ball than she has all season.

The game stopped at half time with Gills just 1-0 up, but after facing the sun and working up hill, they had a much more pleasant half to attack from. The game started well with a strong corner from Leanne being guided into the net by Charlotte Abbott, who has only played for the reserves a handful of times this year from the first team. Despite growing in confidence and pushing on at 2-0 up, Milton pulled back a goal from a beaten offside trap, leaving the score at 2-1 and all to play for.

The next few minutes are hard to recall in order, but Anelle Massey, Charlotte Abbott all picked up a goal in the last ten minutes, and after replacing Terri upfront, Megan Cavell, returning from being stuck abroad, got two on the score sheet.

Gills were still being pressed all the time by Fulston, but a better offside trap in the second half kept their attack at bay. Three more points’ help to keep the girls unbeaten run looking possible, with just two draws all season. With the news that Ashford won today, the title race is on for the last game of the season against Deal at home. A win will secure the league, a draw or loss will take the results out of our hands. The girls go into next week with excitement and nerves, but let’s hope the pressure doesn’t affect us as it did this week in the opening minutes.

Mini Gills are now all over for the season, and with a convincing 5-2 victory over Brighton on the last game of the season, Matt and I finished off the year very proud of our Munchkins! We wish them all luck next year whether they are moving up to the under twelve’s, or staying at the tens, and look forward to seeing them all at Priestfield for our end of season evening.

Come and support us for our last game of the year at 10:30am at Lordswood on Sunday, and hopefully cheer us bringing home the league title, and follow in the footsteps of our first team who secured the league with their 2-2 draw with Norwich.

Come on you Gills!

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!

Gills set out to face an unknown team to us this week by taking a 90 minute trip to Milford. Although it was wet, the pitch looked fairly playable, with a slight slope and some wide wings. The girls set to it straight away this week and shots rained in on the Milford goal just minutes after starting. The girls looked strong and were playing some good passing football.

Annelle Massey set up the Gills to lead in the first ten minutes with a nicely placed long range effort. The girls stormed on with Leanne Stevens putting in some nice corners and had a few unlucky efforts from free kicks. New reserve member Jade Johnson made her first start for the team out on the right wing and put in many a good effort to push the ball through the Milford defence using her pace.

Gills broke through again when Charlotte Abbott found the bottom corner after some great team work from the left side of the pitch putting her through on goal. At half time the Gills went in looking strong at 2-0 up, but wise words from manager Sean reminded them not to sit back, and keep pushing for more.

Milford rarely got a look in at the Gillingham goal, and when the ball reached anywhere near the 18 yard box, keeper Jess Nunn was always ready to sweep up the ball. Kim Bolden was next to net with another long range effort, making that her first of the season. Lauren Harris, who had battled all game on the left wing was showing sign of injury and so was taken off to allow room for winger Gemma Ridge.

Just a few minutes later a reshuffle at the back saw Kerry Scott make way for Kirsty Goodall to step into the middle, with Leanne Stevens dropping in to cover at the back. Charlotte Abbott then made way for Chloe Phillips, who made a quick entry by scoring a cross-goal effort. With the game ending 4-0, the Gills have kept up their unbeaten run, and look forward to the next round of the cup. Well done girls.

Don’t forget to check out Special’s Corner and see what her “special moment” of the day is.

The mini Gills were in action at Chelsea this weekend, and were treated to the luxury of playing at the Chelsea Training ground in Cobham. With Munchkin number 2 away on holiday, the girls were faced with another tough challenge of no subs, and with muchkin number 4 being very poorly that morning, she did well to last the 3 quarters of the game that she played.

After matching the Chelsea team 1-1, the mini Gills were clearly missing their fully fit defence, and after three quarters were 5-1 down, despite showing some periods of brilliant football. After loosing munchkin number 4 to illness, a Chelsea player kindly stepped into her place, and bravely played against her own team. Despite the game ending 8-1, we were really proud of the girls due to all the disruption, and grateful to mini Chelsea for lending us a hand. With the 16′s game abandoned due to several injuries, we were then brought in to help rescue the stricken ambulance from the mud, and we wish all of the 16′s a speedy recovery.

Away to Milton and Fulston next week we shall be facing one of our toughest and most important matches so far, and one that could help decide the league positions. With Charlotte Abbott and Hannah Corral struggling with injury, we hope the new signing of Megan, and the return of Chloe Jaimeson will help lift the Gills game.

With the snow starting to ease, the Gills Reserves were looking to continue the second season with a repeat of the success from the first half. After a 4-1 victory to Gravesham, Castle Colts were next on the fixture list. The game looked very unlikely to be played due to the pitch being very hard underfoot, but soggy on top,, with very little visible grass after the pitch had already been used in the morning.

With the first team game already cancelled, the ref agreed to start the game and continue according to the conditions, leading to some very amusing results. Much of the game could not be played along the middle of the pitch due to the thickness of the mud, although centre back Kate Foster proved that with a little determination you could run through it as often as you liked after making several decent runs forward skipping past players with ease. Gemma Ridge kept the Gills aims focused with an opening goal late in the first half. With the pitch becoming extremely slippy, conditions became very difficult and passing became a very precise requirement. Both teams persevered with the game, with Sammy heading in a corner for the second game in a row, and Kylie and Chabs following on shortly after with a goal each making the final score 4-0 Gills.

After training this week has reached a new competitive level with ” football tennis” when we are stuck indoors, the girls were grateful to hear that despite after trashing the pitch last week, this weekends game would go ahead. I managed to convince striker Charlotte Abbott that she REALLY wanted to write this weeks report on my behalf…

The reserves this weekend maintained an unbeaten run in a demolition of a weakened Whitstable Town side who turned up with just ten players. Gills put thirteen goals past the opponents but it could have been much more.
First to open to scoring account was Kirsty Goodall who struck the ball into the roof of the net after being played through by Charlotte Abbott in the 8th minute.

Just a few minutes later Lauren Harris found Charlotte Abbott who scored her first of the game. Throughout the first half Gills passed the ball neatly and created a hatful of opportunities. Chloe Phillips and Kate Foster were next on the score sheet with well taken goals. With the score 4-0 after just twenty minutes, Gills were sure the goals would keep coming and this was the case.

Chabs added her second of the game after connecting on the end of a Leanne Stevens corner. Leanne then added a goal herself after a cross come shot caught the keeper out of position. Goal seven shortly followed when a dangerous cross was turned into the net by a Whitstable player. Gemma Ridge scored after a poor clearance by their defence and Chloe Phillips put away a penalty just before half time.

Gills went into the second half confident but not complacent. Gills were unfortunate not to double the score line by the end of the game as there were plenty of shots towards goal in the second half.

Kylie Overton replaced Gemma Ridge and she was soon in the thick of it when she played in Lauren Harris who slotted home calmly. After an hour, Charlotte Abbott grabbed her hatrick. This goal could have also gone to Kirsty Goodall as the two players both pushed the ball into the net at the same time! Kylie Overton contributed to the goals with an effort which flew into the top corner.

With just two minutes left to play Kirsty Goodall found Charlotte Abbott in the box who slotted the ball into the back of the net to get her fourth goal of the match.
It was a great all round effort for the Gills and a well deserved result. We are still unbeaten and hope to keep up the same performance week in week out and get the results we need.

As for mini Gills, they were in action both this weekend and last. Facing Oxford away was never going to be pleasant, with a 6 am start on a Saturday morning, and minus temperatures, the girls did well to prepare for their first game after 8 weeks off.

With a frozen pitch many of the girls were forced to submit to wearing Astro turfs which in the end didn’t really do them many favours. After going 1-0 up in the first quarter from some fantastic composure and 1-2 passing the girls were looking good. Unfortunately, in the second quarter, a fantastic initial save from our keeper saw the ball pop up in the air from beneath her and hit our defender in the face to create a level scoreline.

Clearly distraught by the own goal, my defender valiantly pushed to get the team back in the game with some brilliant forward runs, only to be caught a little to far off the pitch leaving yet another initial fantastic save by our keeper to pop into the path of an oncoming attacker. But my munchkins don’t give up without a fight, and created a beautiful play along the wing with a well struck finish to bring the game back level to 2-2 just before the end.

Midweek training saw the FA come to visit, and although they were not present at the time of these comments (thank God!) I felt I should share with you the wisdom of some of my children….

Not long having been subjected to an interesting version of a Michael jackson dance I question the kids on their understanding of the session…

“When could you choose to play a long ball?”…I ask….the reply comes….”When I’m on the pitch!?”

“I have set up a grid with a number of gates in them, what do you think I want you to do?”….”The conga?”

Bless.

This week saw us face Charlton with a much harsher result of a 9-0 loss after Charlton demonstrated some real skill and clever play. With 4 more subs than us, the girls battled hard in every quarter and never lost their fighting spirit, and for that Matt and I are very proud of them. It is always disappointing to lose by so many, but at times, periods of play left Matt and I beaming with their passing and teamwork. Despite being unlucky enough to even concede two own goals, we realised that they had come from a player who was working so hard to retrieve the ball, she was unlucky enough to be the last player to touch it, and for that we can only praise her.

We are looking positively to facing Chelsea Away next weekend, and we wish the girls luck. After training in the snow this week, I think they are ready for anything now!

Kimi

After 8 weeks of cancelled games, the reserves faced Gravesham away in the League Cup after rearranging 3 times. Although the squad have all been training hard indoors over Christmas, everyone started off a little shakey, with Gravesham pushing on quite early, although Gills held strong each time.

Gills then began to reply with some good passing through midfield from Leanne Stevens and Amy Russ, allowing a few wayward shots at the Gravesham goal. Kylie Overton broke the deadlock with some strong individual skill allowing her to set herself with a cross-goal shot landing nicely in the top corner. Gravesham continued to press the Gills goal, using the downhill slope to their advantage with several long balls causing a stir in the Gills box. At half-time the Gills went in 1-0 up, with several coaching points to be made by manager Sean.

The second half started with a much more promising attitude with Annelle Massey scoring a deflected shot just a few passes after kick-off, which really showed off the teams passing strength. A livened Gills created several shooting opportunities for Amy Russ and Hannah Corrall, who was then chosen to make way for another team youngster Chloe Phillips. Gills gave Gravesham a chance to fight back after conceding a penalty after a long battle to win the ball back. Gravesham slotted the ball into the left corner, just out of reach of keeper Jess Nunn, who has been consistently strong in the Gillingham goal. Just a few minutes later, Sammy Lester scored a fantastic header from a Leanne Stevens corner, to make it 3-1 against her old club.

Lauren Harris, who spent much of the game battling hard for the team, putting in good crosses and challenges, made way for Kirsty Goodall to take her place out on the right wing. Annelle Massey then also made way for Gemma Ridge, who made an immediate impact on the game with several pressing runs along the left hand wing, hitting the post in one effort, and finally reaping the rewards of her determination with a goal from an identical position to her first effort, slotted nicely across the keeper into the bottom right hand corner. Kirsty Goodall kept the Gravesham left back busy with some darting runs, but the final score remained 4-1 Gills.

The girls face Castle Colts in the league next week at home.

Mini Gills have only been back in training for one week, and so not much to report for them yet, looking forward to our next game, Oxford away next weekend.

Since the last blog I have officially Graduated, started a new job, the Reserves have won 5-0 against Crockenhill, the firsts have won 6-0 in the cup, the munchkins won 8-0 away to Brighton, and Annelle has a new baby brother…

Our game against Crockenhill was a good one, with all of the reserves showing far more potential than the previous few weeks performances. The first team came to support us after their game was cancelled, and this certainly encouraged the reserves to step up the game.

The passing was clean and accurate, and the good communication was evident from the lack of mistakes. Gills pushed forward early and often, with the first fifteen leaving the Crockenhill keeper to face a barrage of shots.

The game took an interesting turn when one of the opposition was sent off for a clear stamp on Chloe Jaimeson after having already left Annelle Massey on the floor. Kylie Overton made the most of the teams distruption by setting the standard with a first half hatrick.

The second half saw Crockenhill make a few more attacks than the first half all cleaned up well by keeper Jess. If you ask any of the defence the reason for this, we will all have the same answer- the lone forward for Crockenhill. She made us laugh so much when she recieved the ball with her comments of “now what do I do”, “Ahhhh someone help me” and her constant fits of giggles, we were finding it difficult to concentrate when tackling her.

The Gills strikeforce didn’t help make her job any easier, through Chloe Jaimeson and Kirsty Goodall adding two more for the team. After the game the Gills agreed that all had put in a decent performance, and were pleased to have stepped back into their stride after the 1-1 wobble against Castle Colts. We now face Long Lane at home on Sunday, who we have already beaten this season.

The Gills Ladies Firsts did well this weekend in the cup, beating Oxford 6-0 in the cup, leaving them to face Enfield in the next round. We wish the girls good luck and hope to see some more exciting draws coming up in the next round!

The munchkins were in action this weekend after a nice and early 10am kick off at the Falmer site in Brighton. Playing on a 3G pitch, the Gills girls started as they meant to go on, while warming up in the area, when approached by the Brighton manager who attempted to take the ball from them, one of the angels left him face down on the floor with no ball in sight – nice.

Brighton we admittedly at a disadvantage as this was their first 7 aside game this season, but with credit to them they battled hard and never gave up. Matt and I have re-jigged the formation, moving our three at the back, one in the middle and two up-front, to leave just two at the back, three in the middle using more of our quick wingers, and one up front.

From the very start the girls looked organised and confident and displayed some brilliant passing. We were unluckly to score several goals early on, but soon started the goal avalanche which ended at 8, with our previous “centre back” scoring 4!

We left the game really pleased with the girls progress, and although the scoreline was rather favourable, we have to stay focused on the girls progression, and we felt every player left with something valuable to take from the game. A nice trip to the pier (and the arcades!?) in the sunshine made a nice end to a good day.

Half term saw me graduate which I found highly amusing dressing up in our robes and hats for our ceremony in the 02, with plenty of very cheesy photographs and a first time visit to the 02 for the Grandparents. The ceremony was long and boring as always, but was a great chance to catch up with all as we have all been apart for four months.

After graduating in a recession it seems many are doing well to keep busy, but jobs are certainly proving hard to come by. Despite studying Graphic Design, I have decided to go down the teaching route due to the better opportunities for the future. I started my new job at a Primary school working as a TA, with plans to move on to my teacher training as soon as possible. I have just completed my first week with year 5, and have thoroughly enjoyed it, although I am completely exhausted now! Afternoon naps are proving very popular!

I have already put in the motions for starting up their first girls football team, and am looking forward to getting that underway.

A great time to mention our congratulations to Annelle Massey who’s new brother was born last week, and although I don’t know his name, we hope he is well and Mum too.

So despite training being down to one a week at the moment with the weather, spirit in the camp is high and with both teams at home this weekend, we all look forward to another successful Sunday.