Jepson: "It Is Nice To Get Back-To-Back Wins."
Gillingham Manager Ronnie Jepson is delighted with the 2-1 victory over Millwall at Priestfield.
On the overall outcome of the match, that sees the Gills register their first back-to-back victories of the season, Jepson said: "I am really pleased with the result. The lads are a bit tired and everyone could see that in the last 15 or 20 minutes when we sat back a bit. I don't make silly predictions but it is nice to get back-to-back wins after a poor start to the season. Come another six or eight games down the line and we will see where we are up to then.
"They were tired. We had them in on Sunday and Monday and we have had to nurse them through because Danny Jackman and Brent Sancho were missing. The lads that went out there, they did themselves no harm. To be fair to the lads, they went out there and dug in.
"We just sat back a bit too deep, which you can do when you are two-nil up. I thought we had a good chance from Michael Flynn to finish it off and make it three-nil. Matty Jarvis did smashing again. He arrived in the box, after doing well to get there, just like he did at Doncaster.
"Leon Johnson and Ian Cox did smashing in there. Millwall played with a man in the hole but we didn't want to put a man on him. We just wanted to keep a firm base to go from where we could maybe get Jarvis away and have the likes of Mark Bentley and Andrew Crofts joining in. It worked but we gave them a little bit of possession at time, which we would do, just like we did to Doncaster on Saturday. We had a good springboard with which to counter-attack from.
"Everybody is up after a win but the main thing, like I have told the lads, is not to get carried away with it. It is three points. We have had two good performances and need to build on it. It is a long season, as many people will tell you. If we get carried away with them results, then we will be back in trouble.
"The Scunthorpe game was unbelievable when we went in losing at half-time. We weren't downbeat about the performance just the result. We knew we weren't that far off and it was just about getting that ball into the net from the chances we have had. In the last two games, we have got the points on the board and we are very grateful for it.
"Like I stated when we were having a bad run, they are not a bad set of lads. They have stuck together and have worked hard for me down the training pitch, and I have shown belief in them. We haven't got many people to change the squad round with and do certain things that other teams have got but we have a wonderful togetherness, a good work-ethic and on our day, we can give most teams a game. I am sure the lads will get a lot of confidence from the last two performances."
The Gills took the lead in the 14th minute thanks to a strike from Clint Easton and Jepson was happy with the first-half performance: "It was a smasher. It was a great strike from Clint Easton but I thought we then dropped off the pace for the last 15 minutes or so of the first-half and didn't keep with the pace that we started with. I was happy to go in at half-time with the clean sheet. We re-grouped and then went again."
Matty Jarvis doubled the lead in the 64th minute and Jepson was full of praise for the young attacker: "The poor kid must be knackered after the two performances he has gone through in the last two games. His workrate is quite incredible but then so was the team's collectively. Jarvis gets into that little hole, and then he comes off his line and goes through. He has then finished it brilliantly."
Jepson has got his side working-hard and one players that epitomises that is forward Gary Mulligan and the Manager was impressed with the Irishman's performance: "I would have loved to have played with a lad like Gary Mulligan. The workrate he gets through is quite incredible. He wears people out and what he does with his running and non-stop endeavour, he creates gaps for the second striker, the midfielder runners coming through or even your wide men. We saw Matty Jarvis do that for his goal."
There was a bit of confusion in the final minutes when goalkeeper Scott Flinders put the ball out for a throw-in after ex-Gillingham striker Darren Byfield went down with an injury in the penalty area and Jepson gave his views on the incident, he explained: "I spoke to Nigel Spackman after the game and it isn't a problem, it is done and dusted now and I won't make a fuss of it. There is a lot of confusion about these new rules about when to give it back and this, that and the other. Their players were a bit confused about whether to give it back and I am happy with that. If I knew they were going to do that, I would have told my goalkeeper to kick it out down the other side of the ground! There is no bad-blood there, just a bit of confusion. One of their players thought he could do it.
"I was shouting to our goalkeeper to throw it out. If we had played on there and Darren Byfield had a serious injury, we would have got absolutely slaughtered. That is my angle on it. He has gone down and it looked quite bad. I'm not sure if it was his ankle or what but if he needed treatment or a stretcher and we had played on, I know what the reaction would have been.
"I think at this level, if Byfield is at it and you play him in the right areas, then he is difficult to stop and he is a threat. I put in my programme notes that Darren Byfield, when he was here, he was fantastic for me, not just on the pitch but off it too. He was a credit. He was a senior-pro and when people come in for him in January when the transfer-window opened, he stuck at it for me and worked hard, and helped us with that run. I haven't got a problem with him and thank him for the help he gave me."










