Gillingham 1 Aston Villa 2:A DEBATABLE penalty 11 minutes from time was enough to see Aston Villa, fourth in the Premier League, through to the fourth round of the FA Cup yesterday at the expense of Gillingham, 50 places below them, for whom Simeon Jackson's thunderous second-half equaliser had promised to earn a deserved replay.
Instead Martin O'Neill's side now go on to another away fixture against the winners of the postponed tie between Cheltenham Town and Doncaster Rovers.
Two goals from James Milner settled the issue. The first, after 13 minutes, threatened an avalanche that never came, and Jackson's strike merely enabled the scoreline to reflect the balance of play.
A draw looked the fairest outcome when Milner was allowed to restore the lead after Ashley Young fell as he went past Adam Miller, the home side's stand-in captain.
"It was blood and thunder, a proper third-round match," O'Neill said afterwards. "Gillingham were always in the game, and after they equalised the result was always in the balance. Before we got the penalty I'd have settled for going back to Villa Park."
The Villa manager had honoured his pledge to take the competition seriously by resting only Gareth Barry and Luke Young from his recent starting line-up. The injured Martin Laursen was joined on the sidelines at the last minute by Gabriel Agbonlahor, who had been expected to play until he was taken ill on the morning of the match.
O'Neill's opposite number, Mark Stimson, was handicapped by the absence of the cup-tied Nicky Southall, his most experienced player, and two suspended defenders, Garry Richards and the club captain, Barry Fuller. Gillingham took the field with a midfielder, Mark Bentley, in central defence and a bench packed with first-year apprentices, including Stimson's own son, Charlie.
The opening goal came after a mix-up between Bentley and Miller had allowed Stilian Petrov to play a quickfire one-two that opened the way for Milner to send a side-footed shot past Simon Royce's right hand.
Very quickly, however, it became clear that Gillingham were up for the fight. Their wide midfield men, Dennis Oli and Andy Barcham, were pushing up at the slightest opportunity in support of the two strikers, Jackson and Gary Mulligan, whose speed and persistence offered a constant menace to the fragile equilibrium of Villa's central defenders.
Jackson, a 21-year-old signed last January from Rushden Diamonds, was giving Zat Knight problems every time he turned with the ball, while Mulligan was making Curtis Davies look even more vulnerable.
With Nigel Reo-Coker deputising for Luke Young at right-back, Petrov was unable to provide an adequate defensive shield.
Oli almost equalised with a low shot in the 21st minute, and three minutes later he was only inches away from earning a penalty when Reo-Coker's cynical intervention brought him down as he dribbled across the edge of the area.
At the other end Nathan Delfouneso, Villa's 17-year-old striker, wasted an opportunity to double the lead when he volleyed Milner's cross wide.
But it was Jackson, born in Jamaica and brought up in Canada, who constantly caught the eye. When he left Knight floundering again to race in and smash the ball past Brad Friedel from 15 yards, it looked like there might be more to come.
Twenty minutes later, however, Ashley Young pushed the ball past Miller and went to ground. The contact between the two, although minimal, was enough to persuade the referee, Keith Stroud, to award the penalty.
Although Miller left the ground with Young's shirt in his bag and no hard feelings, he was convinced that no offence had been committed. "As he went past me," he said, "I knew that I wasn't going to get the ball and that he wasn't going to get it either.
"I put my hands up and turned my back. It was so disappointing, not just for myself but for all the boys, who worked so hard for 90 minutes. With the momentum we built up in the second half, we had half a chance of nicking it."
