RUFC Calais 0 v Gills 4 (Rooney, Payne, Palmer & Oli)

The frustration from manager Andy Hessenthaler (right), whilst talking to a local Club official on the pitch was plain to see, as he was in no mood to wait any more than an hour to get the game under way.

Fortunately the match officials also arrived shortly before 4.00 pm allowing the delayed kick-off to go ahead around 65 minutes late.

Gills starting line-up: Alan Julian, Barry Fuller, Alan Gowling, Tony Sinclair, John Nutter, Andy Barcham, Luke Rooney, Kevin Maher, Chris Palmer, Stefan White (Dennis Oli 19), Andrew White

Gills started like an express train and were a goal up within the first few minutes when a flowing move down the right saw the Calais keeper and defender get in a mix-up in their penalty area, that allowed young Luke Rooney to nip in and slot the ball home into an empty net.

Stefan Payne doubled Gills lead after only seven minutes when taking advantage of some more indecision in the Calais defence when nipping between keeper and defender to roll the ball into an empty net.

The match referee, who looked to be carrying a few stone overweight, produced his first yellow card after about 19 minutes when taking the name of Stefan Payne.

Moments later the official signalled to the Gills bench that he wanted Stefan substituted, which angered Hessy when having to bring on Dennis Oli prematurely.

Barry Fuller hit his shot wide of the post with 25 minutes gone before Gills won their first corner a minute later.

Tony Sinclair picked up a yellow card after 30 minutes for a strong challenge before Chris Palmer added a third goal a few minutes later when some poor Calais defending allowed him volley the ball home from the edge of the penalty area.

With half-time approaching and a few tackles going unpunished it all kicked off with handbags being thrown by both teams.

As last year, in the same Calais pre-season ‘friendly’ fixture, the match developed into a bad tempered affair.

The referee restored order and showed Luke Rooney a yellow card that was quickly followed by the name of keeper Alan Julian.

Half-Time 3-0

Gills second-half line-up: Lance Cronin, Barry Fuller, Mark Bentley, Josh Gowling (Connor Essam 62), Danny Jackman, Jack Payne, Stanley Aborah, Curtis Weston, Danny Spiller, Cody McDonald, Dennis Oli.

Season long loan signing Cody McDonald was in the thick of the action within a minute of the restart when firing a shot over the bar from a decent position.

Calais had their best chance of scoring when their forward ghosted past Bentley but hit his shot wide.

Dennis Oli made it 4-0 after 49 minutes when using his strength and pace to beat off the Calais defence with a crisp shot into the net.

Calais also had a few players booked before Josh Gowling was subbed and replaced by young defender Connor Essam on 62 minutes. There was no let up from the inept referee though when booking Barry Fuller for an innocuous challenge just outside the Gills penalty area.

Gills new keeper Lance Cronin made a truly spectacular save when tipping over goal bound shot with his finger tips that brought applause from both sets of supporters before the Calais keeper also did well when pushing an Oli scorcher round the post minutes later.

Cronin brought off yet another superb save on 71 minutes prior to Calais making a last ditch effort to add something to the score sheet with a free kick and a speculative header before Cody McDonald brought the match to a finale with a shot from 15 yards that went wide.

Attendance: Hard to estimate as fans were coming in all the time due to many being told it was a 5.00 pm kick-off although probably around 200 Gills fans at least.