August 3 2009

Crystal Palace

Jamesey ventured down to Selhurst Park for our last friendly before the serious business starts.

It's always a pleasure to walk through the hallowed Selhurst portals for the first time as a new season beckons (Aug 2).

I did visit Sutton last week for our reserves game but this was my first view of the splendid looking stadium turf since last April.

Many HOL members have complained that £15 is a bit strong in these recessive days for a pre-season game against a League 1 team and they have a valid point. As a senior concession I only had to stump up a fiver so it was pretty good value for me.

Gillingham, of course, won the match 0-1 and whether that has the remotest relevance to our prospects in the real football world is a matter of opinion.

I hate losing games, friendly or not, but the starting line-up and the following substitutions seemed to indicate that our management were still trying out possibilities and there was a good smattering of kids and second choices out on the field.

I was disappointed not to have a look at Freddie Sears and Darren Ambrose but if they are being saved for Saturday, all well and good.

We did, of course, see Stern John, our new No 9 striker but he made little impact as far as I could see,

The two lads who impressed me to no little degree were Lee Hills and Alassane N'Diaye.

In that amazing physical transformation that happens to boys in their late teens, Lee has filled out and is a far stronger proposition now. His overlapping runs on the left always looked dangerous and his perfect cross to N'Diaye in the first half should have really been buried in the net.

As for N'Diaye himself, he looked nervous and lacking in confidence at times, but his sheer physical presence and speed put the Gills defenders in a tizz. He is one of those rare players who gives you a little thrill when he gets the ball and I honestly hope he can progress and become a Selhurst favourite.

I don't know what the crowd tally was. In the Main Stand there was quite a good body count but the Lower Holmesdale was extremely unpopulated and, of course, the "Arfur" and the Upper Holmesdale were closed.

A small but vocal contingent of Gills supporters occupied the Sainsbury's/Advertiser end and they naturally enjoyed their trip.

In conclusion, I still can't get my head around this one minute's applause in respect of the departed.

I admit that the passing of Sir Bobby Robson obviously deserved a tribute from all sane football supporters but somehow a dignified minute's silence seems much more appropriate to me than a session of manic clapping.

Perhaps I'm just old-fashioned?

Email Jamesey with your comments to jevans3704@aol.com

In Depth Jamesey's Veteran View Index