Gillingham boss Steve Evans and Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore on gamesmanship as visitors frustrate Hillsborough crowd
00:00, 14 November 2021
updated: 07:07, 14 November 2021
Gillingham boss Steve Evans made no apology for doing what he felt was needed to get a result against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
It led to frustration from the home fans as they grew impatient as Gillingham slowed the game down when they could, protecting their lead for a long while before the home side equalised. The match ended 1-1.
Evans said: “I think if Sheffield Wednesday were away in League 1, winning 1-0 and they are in control of the game then they are going to manage the game aren’t they?
“Darren (Moore) would manage his team to manage the game.
“If you are Sheffield Wednesday, it doesn’t matter who you play in League 1, there is not a Sheffield Wednesday fan that I know who thinks they should be in League 1, not one of them and from a distance and being a rival manager on a few occasions they shouldn’t be.
“It is a magnificent football club, absolutely magnificent supporters, and it must be an absolute privilege as a player or manager to represent them, that is the plus side, but it is my job as a manager, whether that is Rotherham, Leeds or Gillingham to come up with a plan to stop what they are trying to do and I think we did that.
“If we stayed at full strength I think we would have beaten Sheffield Wednesday. We lost big, big payers and while they are bringing Berahino on we are bringing kids on. From that point of view it is tough.”
Some of the Wednesday fans weren’t happy, with comments on twitter such as “never watched a team time waste from the 28 minutes” and “underhand spoiler tactics” while another wrote that it was “anti football rubbish.”
Their boss Darren Moore recognised they have to deal with teams’ tactics better, saying: “We had to manage the game and it's bitterly frustrating but tactics are part of the games.
"There was three stoppages where their players went down. It just kills the momentum and it's frustrating. But that's how they play and if it gets them results, you can't knock it.
"It's the percentages game and we know how Steve Evans' sides play. You get that in League 1 and I said that to the boys.
"That's what happens in this division. It's frustrating that I'm not driving home with a win."
Evans’ side are now four unbeaten in League 1.
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