CITY SIX STUN GILLS

‘It’s a funny old game’ as Jimmy Greaves frequently used to say on television. A fortnight ago City played well and deservedly gained a point against a Nottingham Forest side that I considered the best to visit Ashton Gate this season.

When I looked at forthcoming fixtures after that match, I strongly fancied City to gain three points against Gillingham but, last weekend, the Gills visited the same Nottingham Forest and gained what, from most reports, was a deserved point with a fine team performance.
This forced me to rethink, particularly as Gillingham were to have one or two players back from injury for yesterday’s clash- this was going to be another tough match, hopefully a narrow win, but could be another home draw.

So to Ashton Gate yesterday, and from the moment Gillingham left their team bus and walked out on to the pitch for a pre match inspection, they looked a poor side, scruffy appearance, heads down, none of the usual laughing and joking, one or two of the squad looking far from the peak of physical fitness, they all looked as though they would rather have been on escalator duty with their womenfolk than about to play a football match.

I do not wish to belittle City’s performance, they were up for it, played extremely well and fully deserved the outstanding victory that they achieved, but Gillingham were awful, reminding me of a certain performance in South Wales last September. Their defeat was certain long before they were reduced to ten men when Johnson was dismissed for a foul on Cotterill in the last minute of the first half.

However to the positives and there were many for City supporters to savour, Basso was again commanding and saved well on the few occasions on which he was tested,
Orr and Woodman again emphasised the great strides they have taken since the change in management, both were excellent in defence as well as getting forward to provide good service for the midfield and attack. The central defensive duo of Fontaine and Carey were again quite splendid, mopping up the sporadic Gillingham forays in to City territory and using the ball well once they had won it. Louis Carey also contributed two goals and is , in my opinion, playing as well as he has ever done for Bristol City- I think that most City supporters feared that we would badly miss the absence, through injury, of Matt Heywood but, frankly, at the moment, I cannot see him getting back into the side.

The wide midfield men Scott Murray and, in particular, David Cotterill did not have the best of days but fully contributed to the team performance before being substituted in the second half, replaced by Calvin Andrew and Luke Wilkshire. Andrew demonstrated pace, strength and the fact that he is a good crosser of the ball while Wilkshire scored a cracking goal as well as proving, once again, that he is a fine passer of the ball and an excellent player to have on your side when winning . I still question his battling qualities when things are not going our way but he has the makings of a really excellent player- he is out of contract at the end of the season and may well move on but I do not think that we will have heard the last of him.

In central midfield, Russell was once again in fine form, getting through a lot of work and using the ball simply and accurately to keep City pushing forward. Cole Skuse is, simply, improving week after week, winning the ball, using it well and showing deft touches of skill that, at times, left the Gills players floundering. He was rewarded with his first senior goal, all be it from the penalty spot, converting the kick awarded for the previously mentioned foul on Cotterill.

Up front, Booker was on form and when so, he is one of the best strikers in this division and, perhaps, outside of the Premiership. He was on hand to score the first goal, an extremely well taken angled drive on eleven minutes and was a constant threat to Gillingham all afternoon. I just hope that we are able to retain his services for, on this form, the scouts will be around and he will be very difficult to replace.

Bas Savage worked hard, causing problems in his own unorthodox fashion, but when he did find himself on the end of a scoring opportunity his attempts were more like back passes than shots. However the crowd, in good mood as you would expect, appreciated his endeavour and gave him a fine ovation when he left the field after 76 minutes to be replaced by Mark McCammon. The Brighton man also demonstrated power and a degree of skill, as well as scoring goal number six in the final minute. I hope that City can retain his services for a further period as injury and illness has meant that we have not seen enough of him to judge his capabilities during his initial month with us.

All in all a most satisfactory afternoon , safety is within our grasp and, after that, who knows, Gary Johnson and his staff seem to have injected a winning
mentality which augurs well for the future, I was most impressed that they were cajoling the players to keep going well after the match was won, it was almost as though Gary was a bit disappointed with six- I like the attitude !