HERO HOLY IS ADY’S SAVIOUR
ADY Pennock eased the mounting pressure on his job but then urged his Gillingham side to kick on after they secured a first league win of the season.
Tom Eaves’ 53rd-minute strike separated the two sides in a game which saw Charlton miss a catalogue of chances.
Josh Magennis missed two glorious chances for the Addicks, while Gills keeper Tomas Holy produced a man-ofthe-match display, most notably denying Ezri Konsa at the death.
Victory sees Gillingham climb out of the relegation zone and boss Pennock, who has come under fire in recent weeks, dedicated victory to the fans.
Pennock said: “The win was for everyone at Gillingham Football Club and I thought the supporters were really behind us throughout. It was a perfect game and response from us in a derby.
“It’s great to get the win but we don’t want to stand still. We want to build on that going into Rochdale next week.
“Football is a ruthless business and rumours are rumours, which you can’t stop, and I’m not surprised there were rumours about my job because we hadn’t won a game in the league before.
“I spoke to the lads before the game and they were focused on getting the three points and nothing else.”
Charlton forced Holy into early action through Magennis’ volley after good work from Ricky Holmes down the left.
Magennis then missed a giltedged chance to give the Addicks the lead on 51 minutes latching onto Holmes’ ball only to shoot straight at Holy from six yards out.
The away side were made to pay when Eaves gave the Gills the lead moments later. Max Ehmer’s low cross from the left found the big striker who finished emphatically beyond Ben Amos.
And Gillingham had Holy to thank for an outstanding save denying Konsa from pointblank range on 88 minutes.
The game was marred by an incident which saw multiple flares thrown onto the pitch from the Charlton end in the game’s closing stages.
And Addicks manager Karl Robinson rued his side’s missed opportunities:
“Fundamentally we speak volumes about game,” he said. “We never stopped creating chances but we simply didn’t score.
“I think we could have had a penalty. We created enough chances to win two matches and there have been two games we have lost on the road where the goalkeeper has been man of the match this season now.
“It was a frustrating game. There was nothing wrong with the attitude of my players.
“Looking back I suppose it was one of those days but we had to keep trying.
“The substitutions we made were not because anyone was playing badly but we just had to try and spice things up to get the equaliser.”