Margate 4 - 0 Gillingham XI

Darren Hare took his Gillingham Youth team down to Hartsdown Park on Tuesday night to play against a strong Margate team that are plying their trade in the Ryman Premier League.

Here he gives us his report on the game......

It was always going to be a tough test for the lads and so it proved to be. In just the second minute the hosts took the lead when the Gills conceded a soft goal from a free kick which was deflected in by Callum Davies, and this knocked back the youngsters early on.

Playing against a strong wind in their faces, the young Gills struggled to find their feet and conceded again soon after, some poor defending allowed former Gillingham striker James Pinnock to cross low and provide a simple finish.

A soft penalty was given for the third, and just before half time a lack of pressure allowed a cross to be delivered and Josh Hare was unable to compete with the towering frame of the former France Under-20 international striker Jean-Michel Sigere who netted number four.

The second half was a completely different picture though as the youngsters enjoyed the majority of good possession. They created four outstanding chances, Alex Brown hit the bar with a bullet header from a brilliant Ryan Benniman cross, Nathan Nyafli had a great chance too, as did Jack Parter but all these went begging. Performance wise, this was much better, although Margate had also made some changes making them slightly weaker.

Overall this was a valuable learning experience for the youngsters, and a great prelude to their first game against Leyton Orient which takes place at Beechings Cross this coming Saturday morning - 11.00am kick-off.

Team: Hawkes (Bourne, 65) Evans, Hare (McKenzie 65), Davies, J Brown, A Brown, Dack (Hessenthaler 45), Brunt (Parter 35) Sylla (Nyafli 45) Benniman, Humber.

Star man...George Humber - Nice to see a youngster reacting well to work on the training ground.

George Humber