Match Report: Gillingham 1 Leeds United 1
Ian Cox headed home a stoppage time equaliser to earn Gillingham a 1-1 draw and deny nine-man Leeds the chance to set a new record of eight successive league wins at the start of a season. Cox rose to power home Barry Cogan's corner after Dennis Wise had seen both his strikers sent off.
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Match Report from the PA
Ian Cox headed home a stoppage time equaliser to earn Gillingham a 1-1 draw and deny nine-man Leeds the chance to set a new record of eight successive league wins at the start of a season.
Cox rose to power home Barry Cogan's corner after Dennis Wise had seen both his strikers sent off.
Ian Cox saw his late header earn the Gills a point
They had looked odds on for a comfortable win when Seb Carole headed them into a 28th minute lead - his first for the club - before the referee took centre stage.
Shortly before half-time Danny McDermid ordered off Tresor Kandol for a second booking after the striker sarcastically applauded a decision, to leave Wise fuming.
And just before the hour mark he further infuriated Leeds by dismissing Jermaine Beckford for a foul on Sean Clohessy - moments after handing the striker a yellow card for dissent.
Gillingham poured forward, throwing on Gary Mulligan as an extra striker, but their finishing left a lot to be desired, but veteran Cox sent the home fans into raptures when rose highest at Cogan's corner to deny Leeds their record.
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The View from the Terrace - By Keith Pestell
If you wanted entertainment on Saturday afternoon then Priestfield was the place to be. Referee McDermid failed to make any friends with the Leeds United players or their travelling fans after showing Jermaine Beckford and Tresor Kandol red leaving the Gills to play against nine men for virtually half an hour.
The Essex referee's decision to show send Kandol for an early bath looked totally justified as he had already been cautioned for having a go at the referee when he went and once against mocked the ref right in front of his face for a second time! Two yellow cards which I'm sure Dennis Wise Gus Poyet would have been fuming about as it was stupidity on the part of Kandol.
Beckford had been booked for time wasting and then tackled Sean Clohessy with a late lunge before having a go at the Gills defender while he was on the ground. Clohessy did seem to milk the challenge a bit as he returned to his feet once the Leeds striker received his marching orders.
Leeds were lucky not to have three players dismissed as 'keeper Casper Ankergren kicked the ball out of the ground when Kandol was sent off, something which the referee missed. He later received a yellow card for time wasting before attempting to wind up the Rainham End at the end of the game!
Most of the Leeds team were nagging at the ref for every offence, including Jonathan Douglas who received a good reception from the Priestfield crowd before being booed when the game kicked off for telling the ref a Gills player elbowed one of his team mates!
It was a surprise to see Marvin Hamilton and Sean Clohessy in the starting line-up with Simon King, Nicky Southall and Craig Armstrong not in the side, with the later two not even on the bench - I'm assuming they were injured. Hamilton played very well as did Clohessy, but the main let down was Steve Lomas who once again failed to find his form with passes going out of play and failing to get stuck in. He was rightly substituted on the hour mark.
The match was very entertaining and Gillingham had the better of the opening half hour before Leeds scored. The goal came from a set piece which saw two Leeds players peel off the end of the Gillingham wall and only one Gills player follow them, allowing one of them to have a free header to put the back back across the goal for Carole to head home.
Simon Royce made once very good save to prevent an acrobatic over head kick finding the net at the start of the second half, but the Gills dominated for the rest of the half, as you would expect, and it turned into something of a training game with Leeds defending in their own half and home side trying to break them down. With Leeds missing their two strikers they were more than happy to sit back. It was once again evident that we are lacking a creative midfielder as even playing against 9 men we struggled to create many clear cut chances, with the Leeds defence looking very comfortable.
Sean Clohessy was putting cross after cross in from the right wing, but you have to wonder if Nicky Southall was fit would the quality of the ball in have been improved? Iffy and the Doc finished the game with 4 strikers on the pitch, but the goal came at the start of injury time from the head defender Ian Cox, who had earlier missed a great chance.
Fans from the Rainham End did unfortunately run onto the pitch following the goal as if it was the winner - let's hope the club do not get fined for this. The referee has confirmed that he will be reporting Leeds for losing control of their players, Dennis Wise's behaviours and the Leeds fans throwing things at him following the match. While the Leeds fans were throwing objects at Mr McDermid the home fans were singing: "There's only one referee!".
If we play how we did in the first half they we will easily survive in League One. We are the first team to take any points from Leeds United this season, but we failed to beat a team who played with nine men for the majority of the second half. Would other League One sides had done better?
Gills Man of the Match: Ian Cox. Defended well and earned the Gills a point.
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