The Main Gillingham - Gillingham vs. Oxford United

View towards the home end at Priestfield

A Saturday morning medical appointment meant that the only new non league ground I could get to was Broxborourne Borough but when that fell to a waterlogged pitch I had to depend on a League One ground for the second time this season. The first time was seeing Oxford United and I would again see The Yellows this time at Gillingham. I had seen both sides on numerous occasions at Glanford Park but this was obviously my first time at Priestfield. When I saw Oxford earlier in the season, they easily brushed aside Rochdale 3-0 but a recent dip in form had not seen them fall out of the play offs. The headline is in reference to when I saw Gillingham Town (i.e. the other Gillingham, so years ago). 

Kick off at Priestfield in the winter sun

The game has a fairly uneventful start until Tariqe Fosu-Henry scores a cracking goal for Oxford. The visitors continue to have most of the ball but fail to add to their tally. Gillingham equalise around the hour mark with a penalty from Olly Lee. Gillingham come closest to winning it when the Oxford keeper makes a great save from a header and the game ends one all.

Uncovered away end

The quick trains to Gillingham to St Pancras take around forty minutes and Priestfield is then a leisurely twenty minute walk away. The excellent Past And Present micropub was doing a roaring trade as you'd expect on a matchday while The Fleur-de-Lis a bit closer to the ground had the sports channels. The Factory bar at the ground was also pretty good and wasn't too crowded with a big screen for the early kick off. As with The Kassam Stadium, this was another Football League ground ticked off.