Worlds apart

“OVER the moon” may be a phrase often uttered by managers — but it is rare to find a boss on the wrong end of an FA Cup upset praising his team to the skies.

That was the verdict of Peter Taylor, though, after he had watched Gillingham lose their first-round replay at Conference North outfit Brackley on Monday night.

Fresh from a 2-1 victory at Sheffield United, the Gills — back on home soil to face Athletic on Saturday — received plenty of praise from Taylor in spite of their 1-0 loss at St James Park, which put Brackley into the second round of the FA Cup for the first time in their 123-year history.

“You are always disappointed to lose a football match, but you are less disappointed if the players have played well,” said Taylor, back in charge at Priestfield following the surprise dismissal of Martin Allen last month.

“The players have played well and I’ve got no complaints.

“The only thing we maybe didn’t have enough of was the end product.

“With the crosses and chances we created I was absolutely over the moon with the players.”

Performance aside, the result at least was a world away from the victory at Bramall Lane which lifted the Gills above Athletic and into 14th spot in the Sky Bet League One table.

Danny Kedwell – who has nine goals for the season and seven in his last eight appearances – opened the scoring on Saturday by charging down a clearance from Blades goalkeeper George Long and one-time Athletic strike target Cody McDonald got the winner after ex-Boundary Park front man Chris Porter had levelled matters.

That was only newly-promoted Gillingham’s second win on the road this season, but overall, recent form hasn’t been too bad.

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