All of the classic giant-killing ingredients were in place at an exposed Priestfield, but Kelechi Iheanacho ensured that Leicester City finally squeezed past Gillingham, the side placed 92nd in England’s professional league structure.
A bobbly pitch coupled with a swirling wind, a home crowd that was almost three times the average over their past four fixtures and opponents who spend every week scrapping for their club’s very existence. Given his side’s fitful season to date, Brendan Rodgers would have been forgiven for arriving in Kent with a sense of foreboding.
Yet while there were moments when Leicester looked uncomfortable, they were never truly unsettled by a team which has managed just seven goals in its 23 League Two fixtures so far this season.
The match was the first attended by US businessman Brad Galinson since he formally took over the Priestfield club from Paul Scally, a chairman whose 27-year reign was always colourful if not always appreciated by the Gillingham supporters.
In his first programme notes, Galinson thanked those Gills fans who had stopped him in the street this week to recommend players his team should sign in the transfer window.
Advertisement
They need them, too, if Kent isn’t to become one of seven English counties next season without a current EFL or Premier League club within its boundaries.
It is a far cry from the turn of the millennium when Gillingham were securing promotion to the Championship as well as reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup under Peter Taylor.
On the way, they beat Premier League sides at the time Bradford City and Sheffield Wednesday. Taylor’s captain during that run was Andy Hessenthaler, who this week returned to the club as its head of recruitment. A fellow gnarled veteran of lower division football, Kenny Jackett, joined as director of football.
Together with manager Neil Harris, they will form a triumvirate of wise heads, although privately they will have conceded that the real work starts next week against League Two relegation rivals Hartlepool.
True, Harris’s side overcame Brentford on penalties in the Carabao Cup this autumn, but with Leicester manager Rodgers choosing to deploy a strong-looking side, Gillingham’s task appeared significant.
Advertisement
They were at least helped by the conditions on a blustery Saturday afternoon on the Medway. The belief in the stands was also fortified by an early opportunity for the home side when Dom Jefferies’ angled shot forced Daniel Iversen into a save low down to his right.
Having encountered both Brentford and Wolves in the Carabao Cup, Harris has drilled his side into an effective method of nullifying Premier League opposition.
That involved leaving as little room as possible between their midfield quartet and the back five. If it made for a slightly unedifying tableau of a giant patch of players slowly lumbering its way around the pitch, Leicester were as much to blame as their opponents.
In spite of making eight changes from Tuesday’s 1-0 Premier League defeat by Fulham – with only Youri Tielemans, Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy keeping their places – Rodgers fielded a side whose collective ability was not expressed on the pitch.
Vardy and 21-year-old Kasey McAteer had fleeting opportunities to put home keeper Jake Turner under pressure, but it took until the 45th minute until the Premier League side seriously threatened. When they did, Iheanacho curled his effort agonisingly wide of the far post.
Advertisement
Of course, the real excitement centred on whether Gillingham could force an opening at the other end.
Shortly after half-time they did with Shaun Williams having his effort blocked before the ball spun out to Hakeeb Adelakun with a clear sight of the Leicester goal. The winger thrashed at his shot, however, and sent it scudding into the advertising hoardings.
That miss proved pivotal when Iheanacho gave Leicester the lead in the 56th minute, scooping his shot calmly into the corner following McAteer’s low cross.
Gillingham (5-4-1): J Turner 7 - C Alexander 6 (C Harriott 79min), R McKenzie 7, M Ehmer 8, W Wright 7, D Tutonda 6 (M Mandron 84) – A MacDonald 6, S Williams 8, D Jefferies 7 (S O’Keefe 70, 6), H Adelakun 6– S Kashket 5. Booked: none.
Leicester City (4-4-2): D Iversen 6 – L Brunt 6, J Vestergaard 6, C Soyuncu 6, K McAteer 7 (L Thomas 84min) – M Albrighton 6, Y Tielemans 6, N Mendy 7 (W Ndidi 82), A Perez 6 – K Iheanacho 8, J Vardy 6 (P Daka 82). Booked: none.
Advertisement
Referee S Barrott
