In the absence of Gills Ladies manager Jack Wheeler, Assistant manager Richard Gurney along with Player-Coach Natalie Crinean and Gills defender Vanisha Patel took the reigns in this weekend’s win over Queens Park Rangers.

Following the victory Richard and Vanisha spoke to the media to give their opinions of Sunday afternoon and Gills’ 2017/18 season.

Patel On… The performance against QPR :“I thought it was a performance that grew, i think we started off a bit shaky. We conceded two early corners and it was quite a worry for us as aerially we are not the strongest. We managed them well and as the first half went on, we grew, which is what we addressed in the changing room to keep momentum going and our girls did exactly that. We managed to keep the ball in their half for long periods of the game, gaining territory throughout the game. Generally as performances go, it was a shaky start but we ended well.”

Gurney On… Balfour penalty incidents: “From where we were standing you couldn’t properly see it, but it did look very tight. It would of been nice to get an early penalty, the second one was a bit soft but you take what you can get.”

Patel On… Jade Keogh’s performance: “With Jack [Wheeler, manager] not here today it’s been a really big thing for the girls to take ownership of all the things he’s implemented over the season. For myself and for Nat [Crinean, player-coach] to come in and reiterate those points as well, Jade being the player on the pitch has to lead by example and she did exactly that. I thought she had a really good game.”

Gurney On… Importance of win over QPR: “You got to in this league beat who is around you. That’s what we’ve done throughout this season, Swindon and QPR we’ve beat twice now and that was our main goals at the start of the season. We weren’t worried about beating the Charlton’s and the Palace’s, we want to beat the teams around us.”

Patel On… Importance of win over QPR : “Definitely, we knew what stakes were in this game. We knew what we had to get from his game and as Richard said we are looking to beat those teams around us rather than the teams that are miles ahead. You have to secure the points against the teams you know you can and any other game is a bonus. We’ve done exactly that today, we’ve done the job. We couldn’t be any more proud of the girls either.”

Patel On… Pre match nerves: “I think the girls as well came in to the game knowing what pressure was on the game, and didn’t let it faze them. They were excited for it, the morale around the camp has been great for the whole week, everyone has come out happy and you can tell that from the reaction of when we scored that goal.”

Gurney On… How Gills’ season has panned out: “We started off really well, the first few games against West Ham and Charlton we played really well. Dropped off a bit for a while but since the turn of the year we’ve really picked it up and gone on from that. We haven’t won loads but we’ve won the games that mattered, hopefully we should be safe now which was our main aim for the start of the season.”

Picture supplied by Kent Pro Images