Darren Hare reflects on the 1-1 draw against Walsall at Banks's Stadium
Darren Hare felt a 1-1 draw against Walsall on Sunday evening was a fair result.The Gills had taken the lead through Bradley Dack midway through the second half, only for substitute Ashley Grimes to net the equaliser six minutes later to take a share of the spoils with the hosts having controlled proceedings in the first half.
The visitors felt they should have been awarded a penalty shortly after going in front, and although Darren felt the same, he thought the team deserved their draw.
He said: “I think so overall, they were the better side in the first half and we seemed to take a bit of time to get going I have to say.
“We tinkered with the shape a little bit to stop their full backs getting out but in the second half I thought we picked ourselves up, we had a right go, got our noses in front and probably should have had a penalty.
“I’ve never seen a more stone wall penalty than that to be honest and had we got that I think we would have gone on and won the game.
“We conceded a poor goal, it looked a bit scrappy and we’ll need to see it again on the DVD but in hindsight we would have taken a point before the game definitely.”
Although Gills did come away with a point Darren praised the opposition for the way they approached the match.
He added: “You have to give Walsall a bit of credit, they are a good side and made it difficult for us when we were in possession and they put us under very pressure very quickly and we didn’t really help ourselves because we didn’t move the ball quickly enough.
“Our tempo was a little bit slower than usual today and that contributed to them having more possession and getting at us so we had to be more resolute and more organised.
“We had two banks of four when we didn’t have the ball and Nels had to make two or three great saves in the first half.
"We did ride our luck but in the second half the boys approached the game in a slightly different manner and we were unlucky not to come away with a win but I think a draw was a fair result.”