Gillingham suffered their fifth League Two defeat in a row as Newport County dispatched them 2-0 on their own soil.
A promising start to the league campaign now feels somewhat diminished as defeats in each of their last five fixtures haven’t exemplified their dominance in games. Mark Bonner was left furious on the sidelines as he watched the Gills miss chance after chance against Newport.
What is the state of play at Gillingham?
An EFL Trophy elimination and a drop down to 11th place in the fourth tier places Bonner’s side in an odd position of decline. While performances have looked impressive statistically, the former Cambridge United boss was in disbelief in a post-match interview.
“It’s the most dominant we’ve been by miles in any game, but it doesn’t matter.
“You just can’t talk about that in the end because we’ve chased, we’ve had chances, they’ve defended the box for their lives in the second half.
“They’ve had nothing second half. They’ve had a couple of moments first half that we’ve given them. We’ve had good chances in the game, yet we come off not scoring, losing and the run of results we’re on is rotten.
“It just becomes a horrible night for us, a horrible result. I thought we were way, way better than they were if I’m being honest.”
Key events against Newport County
69% possession and 25 shots in total suggests that Gillingham should’ve walked away with all three points against Nelson Jardim’s side. However, a clinical Newport side capitalised on defensive errors and put away two goals from just three shots on target.
Matthew Baker opened the scoring in the 16th minute to halt the Gills’ early, growing momentum – the centre-back has netted three now this season – and Newport’s lead was doubled in the 33rd minute. Kyle Hudlin’s strike from the centre of the box was enough to secure a win after three consecutive losses.
Bonner had this to say about the effect of the goals on the entire game, despite keeping the ball from County for practically the whole second half:
“The two goals that we give them just makes the game really hard. In some respects, when you’re two down and you’re chasing something, it’s fairly easy to chase. We’ve got to be that at 0-0, that at 1-0, because the two goals that we give them are just criminal.”
Writer’s View
This is the fifth consecutive, narrow loss that the Gills have endured. Despite having such promising possession and attacking stats, the lack of clinical play from the front line has to be addressed now.
With a different front four starting in the past five matches, it could be a case of a lack of settlement from first team players. Chopping and changing a squad’s spearhead often stunts momentum and doesn’t offer a decent enough chance for individual improvement.
The quality and the play style of Gillingham should be enough to see a bounce back in the immediate future though – a phase like this could be necessary for Bonner’s side for improvement long term.
