Richard Dobson was disappointed to exit the FA Cup in a penalty shootout at Newport County, however he could not question the players' attitudes, as they battled hard for 120 minutes at Rodney Parade.
Gills took an early lead through Elliott Nevitt, but Newport drew level when Cameron Evans thumped home from close range. The game remained level, forcing extra time, where the hosts took the lead in the tie when Cameron Antwi stroked his shot into the bottom corner. Despite the setback, Gillingham fought until the end and were rewarded for their resilience when Seb Palmer-Houlden's low drive found the far bottom corner. Dobson praised the team for the resolve that they showed in the face of adversity.
The Gillingham assistant manager provided injury updates and showed his appreciation to the 243 supporters who made the journey to South Wales.
On the game…
It’s an incredibly cruel way to lose a game. I thought that in the second half we got a grip of the game and had a lot of territorial possession. I think that the head injuries to their players killed a bit of the momentum that we had built up at that stage.
When it goes into extra time, there are a lot of tired legs and a lot of space. It becomes a game of basketball, and the game goes end-to-end. We have chances and they have chances, then they found the net. It was a bit of sloppy play from us, as we didn’t track a runner from the second phase from a set piece, and they find the back of the net. Then we’re chasing the game again. Fair play to the lads, they dug in and got the goal, and then you are at the lottery of penalties.
We had chances in the game. We had chances to get ourselves ahead, and we had chances once they scored. I guess for a neutral, that it’s an end-to-end cup tie and both clubs are going at it full blooded. For a neutral, it’s good, but when you are on the receiving end of a penalty defeat, it hurts.
Never say die attitude of the players…
I don’t expect anything less than that. We were leggy at the end with the players that were on the pitch, and we had to make changes to protect people. It’s not ideal in terms of the changes that we wanted to make. We certainly don’t want to lose Robbie [McKenzie], but they kept going, the boys. We needed a moment of magic to get back into it, and Seb [Palmer-Houlden] supplied it.
Injury updates…
Today, unfortunately, Litts [Armani Little] has felt something at half-time, but Nelson [Khumbeni] gets his opportunity.
Robbie [McKenzie] was tight, and it was one that we didn’t want to risk going forward. I haven’t spoken to him, so we will assess that one and see how he is. Hopefully, there is nothing there, and it is just tightness. There were a few players towards the end who were feeling the long game in their legs.
Jonny [Williams] has picked up something, just in training. It’s something that has been recurring for a little while that he has been carrying. He felt it again in training this week, so it was not something that we wanted to risk this weekend, and we will see how that one carries over over the next couple of weeks.
The travelling support…
It was excellent again, as usual. To have a thousand at Bristol Rovers next week is some following; it’s a huge percentage of our fan base that are turning up to these away games. I can’t thank them enough. They were excellent at the end with the applause and reception that they gave the players. Again, they were first class.
