Late gaffe a gift as Vale pinch equaliser
GILLINGHAM manager Peter Taylor stood firmly behind Stuart Nelson despite watching the goalkeeper’s stoppage-time error hand Port Vale a point.
Two goals from defender John Egan set the hosts on course for their second win in three league games, before Nelson allowed Michael Brown’s deflected 94th-minute shot to pass through his hands.
“Their second goal is normally saveable, and that hurts,” said Taylor.
“But Stuart has apologised to me and to the squad and I understand it.
“I think the ball may have been spinning; he held his hands up straight away. Everybody makes mistakes in matches – in the 90 minutes, he was fine. That’s the problem with being a goalkeeper, if you make a mistake, it goes in.”
The visitors went ahead on 19 minutes after Dany N'Guessan scored his first league goal of the season with a neat finish following good work from Michael O’Connor.
However, Egan levelled the tie with a spectacular 30-yard effort shortly before the half-hour mark, and then the former Sunderland man headed the hosts in front from Michael Doughty’s corner on 55 minutes.
Former Vale midfielder Doug Loft had two good opportunities to increase the Gills’ advantage, while Jake Hessenthaler volleyed wide and debutant defender Max Ehmer headed over – but a third goal never arrived.
“At the start of the second half, we should have scored more, we were in a couple of times quite easily,” added Taylor.
“But we all know if there’s only a goal in it, anything can happen.”
The introduction of Colin Daniel on 68 minutes galvanised the visitors. He hit the post with a low effort shortly after his introduction, before N’Guessan blazed over when through on goal. Brown smashed a volley just wide in the first minute of stoppage time, before Louis Dodds’ shot cannoned back off the post.
However, 37year-old Brown secured the visitors only their ninth point in ten away games, having started and finished the move that led to the late goal himself.
Vale boss Rob Page joked:“I just said to him ‘the old timer has done it again!’ It feels like a win.
“To take the lead, and then react in the manner we did after falling behind was very good.We hit the bar, we hit the post, so it would have been an injustice if we had come away with nothing.
“I already had my end of game talk ready for them before the equaliser. I can never accept a defeat, but there’s a way to lose games in football, and up until the 94th minute, we had done everything we could apart from put the ball in the net again.”