Say what you like about Gillingham but the Kent outfit are decent hosts.
They treated the 28 hardy souls that travelled through the snow to support Stanley with some free grub. They also had some kind words for the Reds after they bossed the second half.
But they were merely crumbs of comfort for Stanley boss Leam Richardson as he knows it’s points not plaudits that they need at this stage of the season.
Although Gillingham are now eight points clear at the top of the league, Richardson felt his side deserved a point having enjoyed most of the possession.
Martin Allen’s side may not be the most stylish team in League Two, but they’ve been up there all season. They’re more functional than flash.
So despite having 60 per cent of the ball, Stanley were restricted to just two shots on target and a superb first-half strike by Matt Fish proved enough for the Gills to take all three points.
“Coming off the back of some very promising performances and results, we really fancied ourselves,” said Richardson.
“We played top of the league and we didn’t just give a good account of ourselves, at times we played them off the park.
“Respect to Gillingham, they do what they do consistently and they do it well so they’re up there for a reason.
“When you lose to a goal like that you’ve got to hold your hands up, but, second half especially, I thought we played some terrific stuff.
“You could see the belief because we’re a good team, and the Gillingham staff and players were giving us all sorts of compliments, but I don’t really like that because we haven’t won.
“The onus is on us. We’re not in August, we had seven games left and it’s about getting results.”
With promotion in sight, the Gills attracted their second biggest home gate of the season and made a strong start, with Deon Burton’s header cleared off the line by Tom Aldred.
Charlie Barnett was Stanley’s only change, with Rommy Boco away on international duty, and his weak challenge on Joe Martin allowed the Gills left-back to get down the wing and cross for Danny Kedwell, and Aldred was there again to block his header.
Martin’s diagonal ball then picked out Chris Whelpdale in space on the right and although his cross was blocked by Laurence Wilson, the loose ball came out to Fish.
There seemed little trouble as the right-back took a touch just over 20 yards out but then he arrowed a left-footed strike against the underside of the crossbar and into the roof of the net, giving Paul Rachubka no chance.
After the match he admitted it was the best goal of his professional career.
The hosts enjoyed some more space down the left as Whelpdale shot too close to Rachubka when clean through while Martin fired wide after charging forward from left-back.
The Reds replied with Wilson’s curling free kick lacking a finishing touch while Lee Molyneux fired well wide. Craig Lindfield replaced Barnett just before the break, and after Whelpdale’s shot was deflected over by Aldred, Stanley took charge in the second half.
Peter Murphy and Will Hatfield combined well down the right before Murphy’s low shot from a tight angle was saved by Stuart Nelson’s feet.
Amine Linganzi, Luke Joyce and Hatfield then linked up to find Francis Jeffers, who turned back inside his marker to test Nelson with a 25-yard effort.
Murphy put in a couple of dangerous crosses, but for all their build-up play, the Reds could only muster a couple of long-range efforts from Molyneux late on.
“They had 10,000 behind them and started the game brightly, which we expected, we just needed to weather the storm,” Richardson added.
“They scored at a good time and it took us a good 15, 20 minutes to come back to that.
“We adjusted a couple of things at half-time and came out a different side, which was frustrating.
“We didn’t have to wait 45 minutes to become a good team, we could have taken the game to them earlier.”
Stanley : Rachubka 6, Murphy 6, Winnard 6, Aldred 7, Wilson 7, Barnett 5 (Lindfield 44, 6), Joyce 7, Linganzi 7, Molyneux 6, Hatfield 7, Jeffers 7 (Beattie 71, 6). Not used: Clark, Gray, Liddle, Miller, Dunbavin.
