Monday 5 April - League Division One - Report by GillsConnect Man on the Terrace

This Easter Monday win was a real six-pointer and raised Gills out of the relegation places, up to 18th, while Southend were left three points adrift from safety.

Mark Stimson, upset at the Good Friday defeat to Oldham made some important changes to the starting line-up. Striker Dennis Oli was preferred to Chris Dickson who was heavily criticized by Stimson following the Oldham game.

Stuart Lewis was also dropped for this game making way for a welcome return for captain Barry Fuller (pictured right) who was starting for the first time since breaking his arm in February.

The Gills started brightly enough before the nerves set in as they came very close in the third minute when Danny Jackman (pictured left) put a beautiful free-kick curling past the Southend post.

This early first half promise didn’t last and Southend’s Simon Francis picked up a loose clearance from the Gills defence before firing in a fast low shot that was turned spectacularly away by Alan Julian.

Back came Gills when Rene Howe, not known for his scoring prowess, sent a crisp curling shot that went well wide and another Danny Jackman free kick was met by Adam Miller who headed just wide when he should have done better.

With half an hour gone it was beginning to get tense as the Priestfield crowd were getting nervous and the atmosphere was being relayed to the players on the pitch.

Rene Howe though is nothing but a trier and was only stopped running through on goal by a superb tackle from Southend’s captain Adam Barrett. Curtis Weston (pictured left) came into the fray but shot over when well placed on the edge of the area.

Curtis again had a superb chance to put the Gills one up at the break when his strike from around six or seven yards brought a reaction save from Steve Mildenhall to keep the score goalless after a poor first half of nervous tension football.

Mark Stimson must have given new instructions and instilled confidence in the Gills as the second half was only two minutes old when they scored their first.

The hard working Rene Howe never gave up a ball chase as he burst into the penalty area. Southend’s Jean-Francois Christophe managed to reach it first and attempted a risky back pass to Steve Mildenhall.

Rene somehow got a toe poke on the ball with enough power to deflect it off the goalkeeper. Dennis Oli (pictured left) was quickest to the loose ball and gleefully shot into the net from six yards out.

You could feel that this opening goal released a lot of the Priestfield tension and the Gills began to relax and play some decent football. Andy Barcham had a good chance soon after the opener but his decent shot was blocked on the line.

This was followed by the ever-urgent Dennis Oli who hit the crossbar with a shot that appeared to be deflected. Rene Howe, who was leading the Gills line well, then had a close range header tipped over by Steve Mildenhall.

Gills were beginning to get well on top of a demoralized Southend and really should have gone two up on the hour when Adam Miller latched on to an Andy Barcham cross to volley the ball past the Shrimper’s post. Southend made a substitution to try and find a way back into the game as it drifted away from them.

This brief resurgent by the Shrimpers was snuffed out in the 75 minute when Gills top scorer, Simeon Jackson, coming on a sub himself ran through the centre of the defence and put a perfect weighted pass into the path of Rene Howe (right).

The big striker hit a low shot into the bottom right hand corner for his first Gills goal and to put the Gills two up in the game.

The game was effectively won and although Southend tried with more substitutions they fell three behind when the in-form Andy Barcham whacked a high ball hard into the net following a neat one/two down the left hand side.

This welcomed victory and the valuable three points lift Gills two points clear of the relegation places and will hopefully boost them to their first away victory next Saturday when they visit Play-off and automatic promotion hopefulls Millwall.

Gills: Alan Julian, Barry Fuller, Garry Richards, Darren Dennehy, John Nutter, Adam Miller, Curtis Weston (Kevin Maher 89 minutes), Danny Jackman, Andy Barcham, Rene Howe (Stuart Lewis 89 minutes), and Dennis Oli (Simeon Jackson 70 minutes)

Unused subs: Simon Royce, Mark Bentley, Josh Gowling and Chris Dickson

Southend: Mildenhall, Sankofa, Baldwin, Barrett, Herd, Francis, Grant, Christophe, Laurent, Spencer and Vernon.

Subs: Bentley, M'Voto, Malone, O'Keefe, Paterson, Crawford.

Attendance: 7,657