By Chris Dicketts
Gills Ladies may have gone out of the FA Cup this weekend to Barnet but the 4-1 score line more than flatters their opponents.
The hosts set about taking the game to their higher ranking opponents from the off but they could not find an opening. Then against the run of play O'Leary put the visitors one up in what turned out to be a devastating 15 minutes for Barnet.
With half time approaching the game was effectively sealed when Gemma Rudman stepped up and scored a penalty before a minute later O'Leary added her second of the game.
Once again in the second half the Gills took the game to their opponents who were pinned back in their own half for much of the game. Yet Barnet scored a fourth when Rudman again scored a penalty before an own goal from Reidy after an Ashlee Hincks free kick gave the Gills the goal that their play deserved.
Manager Ian Varley was forced into one change with Jodie Mugford coming in for the experienced Laura East who was missing for the game.
The Gills were up for the game from the off and the home sided looked to stamp their authority on the game.
Barnet were being pinned back in their own half and in just the fifth minute Ashlee Hincks swung in a corner, it was cleared by the Bees defence. The loose ball found its way to Deanna Cooper; she steadied herself and had a shot low and along the floor which the keeper gathered comfortably.
Just a minute later and the impressive Ashlee Hincks picked the ball up on the left hand side, showed a clean pair of heels to the full back and headed towards the Barnet area. She cut inside and hit a shot, it took a deflection but made its way back to the number eight who then cut into the area but she couldn't beat the on rushing Cherie Rowlands in the Barnet goal.
Gills Captain Becky Lyon missed a sliding tackle in the twelfth minute when Barnet striker Stacey Sowden evaded it and had the Bees first attempt on goal, which was easily saved by Katie Duffy in the Gills goal.
Four minutes later and a clearance by the Gills Captain picked out Ashlee Hincks in the middle of the park and she went on a mazy run. She eventually found the space to get a shot away, which the keeper made a mess of but managed to gather at the second attempt.
The best chance of the game to that point fell to Holly Sandow of Barnet in the 18th minute but her header was well wide of Katie Duffy's near post.
In the 25th minute Ashlee Hincks swung in a dangerous looking free kick that beat everyone including Jodie Mugford in the Bees six yard box, and took a deflection off of Davina Smith and into the keeper's grateful arms.
Against the run of play Barnet took the lead on the half hour mark. Les Kay missed a long ball over the top and Katie O'Leary latched onto the ball and chipped the ball over Katie Duffy, and it went in off the far post.
Just five minutes later and Barnet were appealing for a penalty after Les Kay got in a block on a shot from Barnet Captain Claire Thomas. The referee waved away the Bees appeals following a scramble in the box that saw Thomas have a shot that Les Kay did well to dive in with a despairing block, with her arms slightly raised and divert the ball away for a corner.
The Gills nearly got a well deserved equaliser in the 37th minute when Ashlee Hincks picked the ball up in the centre circle broke forward and hit a shot that cannoned back off the cross bar with the keeper well beaten.
Had the shot gone in the game and the score line could have been very different but what ensued in the next five minutes was totally against the run of play.
As half time approached a long ball over the top saw the impressive Sowden bearing down on goal, the Gills Captain went with her and just as the ball looked to be going nowhere the striker went down after minimal contact from Lyon and the ref pointed to the spot. Rudman stepped up from 12 yards and slotted home to make it 2-0 despite Katie Duffy getting a strong hand to the ball.
Just one minute later and the game was effectively dead and buried as Sowden made a run down the right wing and hit a dangerous cross into the Gills area, O' Leary rose highest and headed home from close range.
Half Time 0-3
Once again as the second half kicked off the Gills had the upper hand and took the game to their opponents despite being 3-0 down.
In the 52nd minute Ashlee Hincks swung in a free kick that Becky Lyon was right underneath but the keeper came out and punched just as the centre half rose to head the ball goal wards. Hincks took the resulting corner and the ball eventually found Danni Farmer who saw her shot blocked and eventually cleared by the Bees back line.
A minute later and Deanna Cooper picked the ball up twenty-five yards from goal and with no one challenging her she let fly but the shot went wide.
Three minutes later and Hincks once again swung in another dangerous looking dead ball, which looked as if it was going straight in. Yet somehow the keeper managed to get her fists to the ball and punch it out for another corner despite looking as though it might have been from behind the goal line.
The game was put beyond any doubt in the 75th minute when Kelly Herrett slipped and took out the on rushing O'Leary leaving the referee to point to the spot for the second time in the game. Once again Rudman stepped up and once again Katie Duffy guessed right and got a hand to the spot kick but couldn't stop the ball finding the back of the net to make it 4-0.
The Gills maintain their record of scoring in every game so far this season when they pulled a goal back in the 78th minute. Once again it was Ashlee Hincks who swung in the free kick, it crashed back off the near post, and with Natalie Crinean lurking it went in off of Leane Reidy for an unfortunate own goal.
The Gills looked to push forward and try and claim another goal in a game that the score line didn't reflect in the closing stages.
Danni Farmer put a shot wide after yet more good work from Ashlee Hincks who was to hot to handle for the Barnet players all afternoon.
In the final minutes Ashlee Hincks again swung in another dead ball that beat the keeper and the cross bar with time ticking down.
Ultimately the Gills can be proud of the way they played against a team who are top of the Southern Premiership. They created a number of chances and on another day they could have won the game, but the score line flattered Barnet, who took the few chances that they created well.
Full Time 1-4
Girl of the Match: Ashlee Hincks
Gills: Duffy, Judd, Herrett, Lyon (c), Kay, Cooper (Broad, 75), Mugford, Farmer, Ashton-Jones, Hincks, Crinean
Subs not used: Abbott, Russ, Ahern, Halfpenny
Barnet: Rowlands, Lance (Davies, 82), Smith, Holmes, Reidy, Rudman, Sandow (Hipgrave, 82), Browne (Read, 77), Sowden, Thomas, O'Leary
