GILLINGHAM 0 BARNSLEY 3 Gillingham's failure to take advantage of their early superiority was punished by Barnsley at Priestfield. Gillingham were well on top in the opening 40 minutes, but paid the price for failing to take any of their opportunities. Barnsley, on the other hand, broke the deadlock against the run of play through Chris Shuker on 40 minutes and two minutes later Paul Hayes increased their lead. Gillingham were shell shocked and although they attempted to salvage something from the game, Barnsley substitute Danny Nardiello settled it in the 84th minute. Gillingham really should have taken the lead on five minutes through a move which Andy Hessenthaler started, but couldn't quite finish. He found Matt Jarvis on the left, his shot was blocked and Hessenthaler, following up with the rebound, shot wide. Gills looked dangerous again on nine minutes as Jarvis played a neat one-two with Byfield, but as his cross rolled across the face of goal no Gills player was in sight when only the slightest of finishing touches was required. Barnsley were non existent as an attacking force until 26 minutes when Chris Shuker had a shot blocked, although they went on to take the lead five minutes before the break. Gillingham should have gone in front first though as Neil Harris picked out Jarvis with a delightful ball to the left. He turned and his shot forced an outstanding save from Nick Colgan and Harris was just unable to put ball over the line on his home debut. Seconds later Shuker gave his side the lead when he raced towards goal, took it past Danny Jackman and slotted past Jason Brown. Two minutes later Barnsley were two up as Paul Hayes beat Brown with a majestic chip. As both sides entered the field of play for the second half, both managers would have made their respective players that the next goal was always going to be crucial in determining the outcome of the game. Barnsley were the first to make an attempt to get it when Jacob Burns shot wide in the 49th minute and just before the hour mark the same player went for another effort on goal, but was stopped in his tracks as Andrew Crofts committed a foul on the edge of the box. On 65 minutes Hessenthaler turned Neil Austin inside out on the right before he blasted well over from a tight angle, which was rather unfortunate. Hessenthaler then turned provider as he took a corner from the left and Darren Byfield got his head to it, but the ball landed just wide. With 10 minutes remaining Gills substitute Steve Hislop sent a deflected shot straight at Colgan and when, four minutes later, Ian Cox fouled Robbie Williams, in a central position 22 yards from goal, Barnsley were singing as Nardiello curled into Brown's right hand corner. Gillingham will want to improve in front of goal when Oldham Athletic visit Priestfield this Saturday. Gillingham: Brown, Rose, Jackman, Pouton (Flynn 62), Cox, Hope, Jarvis, Hessenthaler, Byfield, Harris, Crofts (Hislop 79). Subs not used - Crichton, Johnson, Shields. Barnsley: Reid, Burns, Hayes (Nardiello 78), Conlon (Richards 73), Austin, Kay, Wroe, Shuker, Tonge, Devaney (Williams 66). Subs not used - Flinders, Laight. Booked: Crofts (Gillingham); Hayes, Tonge, Williams, Nardiello (Barnsley) Attendance: 5,283 Referee: Mr Trevor Kettle Report by: Adam Scally
and Cooper's reaction "I am upset at the result and it hurts me." says Cooper Gillingham Manager Neale Cooper reflects on the disappointing 3-0 defeat against Barnsley at Priestfield. On the overall outcome of the match, Cooper said: "It's a strange game, football. In management, I've seen my teams play a lot worse than that and won games. We battered them for the first 40 minutes, we had a great chance to score and from that they've gone up the other end and scored two. "We went in at half time and just could not believe that we were 2-0 down. The boys were shell-shocked, and so was I. It was some of the best football we have played since the start of the season. You look back at the game and just can't believe it ended 3-0. It did, and that is very disappointing." Cooper pointed out where the Gills need to improve in the coming matches, he explained: "We cannot go all negative, we have got to take the positives out of the game, and the main one was the way we played football in the first 40 minutes. We should have killed the game first half. If we had taken one or two of our chances, the game was dead. We need to be more lethal. We have been creating chances, but not taking them. "We need to defend better when we are attacking. A defenders job is to think where there can be an attack if it breaks down. The result doesn't look great on paper, in fact, it is a very poor result. The performance was completely different from last weekend." The result is disappointing for everyone associated with the Club and Cooper shares the same feelings, he said: "It is hard. I am upset at the result and it hurts me. I don't think it comes down to lack of hard work and effort from the players. We need to keep on going and we need to show a bit of character in the team and the squad. We don't have too many options playerwise. Hopefully, we'll have one or two back soon. We are missing vital players and we could do with Tommy Williams, Brent Sancho and Danny Spiller back. We just have to go again and ride the storm against Oldham." Finally, Cooper apologised and paid tribute to the Gills fans, he said: "I can only apologise to the fans for conceding three goals. The fans were very positive though. There was a great section tonight who were very supportive."
RE: and Cooper's reaction vital player - Tom Williams - dont make me laugh so early in the morning ff ff ff
