Justin: I don’t care who got the winner!
IT MIGHT take a few slow-motion replays to decide who got Gillingham’s crucial late winner – but relieved boss Justin Edinburgh didn’t care a jot!
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas’ 84th-minute free-kick earned the Gills a fortunate three points, having been under the cosh at Walsall, but in-form Max Ehmer claimed it took a nick off him.
Edinburgh, however, was not bothered – just happy to remove the bitter taste of the Gills’ midweek FA Cup shock at non-league minnows Brackley.
He said: “Max says it definitely touched him but Jay says it is already on Sky Sports so it is done and dusted as far as he is concerned!
“But it is irrelevant. It is about the group and making sure there was a response to what was a black mark against all of our names on Wednesday.
“There has been a lot of soul searching over the last couple of days and credit to the players, they have responded.
“Other times we might have lost this game and we had to defend for our lives the last ten minutes.
“There were times when we were up against it but we showed character and we stood firm. That’s back-to-back league victories and a real chance to go forward.”
Gillingham led inside two minutes – appalling Walsall defending saw several chances to clear Bradley Dack’s low cross spurned, with Cody McDonald’s looping header punishing them.
But the Gills have not kept a league clean sheet since March, so it was little surprise when Walsall levelled seven minutes later.
Jason McCarthy charged down Baily Cargill’s clearance and slid a cool finish between the legs of Gills’ Stuart Nelson.
Cargill made amends on the stroke of half-time, clearing Franck Moussa’s shot off the line, and although Walsall bossed the second half, they did not work Nelson – and fell to the late sucker-punch. It was a first league defeat in seven for the Saddlers and boss Jon Whitney said: “When there’s a free-kick in that central position, you’re left hoping you don’t get punished.
“But if we are not going to take chances and get that second goal, you leave yourself open to it.
“I couldn’t fault the lads’ effort. If we had got the winner, it would have been a great performance so one free-kick cannot suddenly make us into a bad team. My players couldn’t have worked any harder.”