Stephen Clemence was proud of his Gillingham players despite going down 4-0 to the Premier League’s bottom side Sheffield United in the FA Cup.
Doubles from William Osula and James McAtee saw the Blades into the fourth round at the expense of their League Two opponents.
But the Gills gave as good as they got for large parts of the game and Clemence took heart from the performance.
“I’m proud of the boys, I’m proud of the way they applied themselves and proud of the way they tried to make an impact on the game,” said the Gillingham boss.
“At times we had to sit in and weather the storm, but when we did have the ball we tried to be positive. It’s very hard to work our patterns against a Premier League side, but on another day we’d have got a couple of goals.”
League Two’s least potent attack came close to opening the scoring when Conor Masterson beat his man and saw a goalbound shot blocked.
Oli Hawkins wasted a brilliant chance for the Gills when he miscued a first-half header and, at 2-0 down in the second half, skipper Max Ehmer’s effort struck the post.
“I never felt it was a 4-0, the boys are unlucky with that,” Clemence insisted. “If Max’s header goes in, the place would have erupted and it would have been a really interesting end to the game.
“But Premier League players don’t need many chances to score, and that’s one of the biggest differences playing against top teams. I’m disappointed with the goals we conceded – I wouldn’t want to concede them in a League Two game, I know that for sure.”
Osula’s opener came following a United break on 14 minutes, with his low effort going through the legs of Gills goalkeeper Jake Turner.
The Dane then capitalised on Turner’s poor parry from Femi Seriki’s shot to side-foot home for his second six minutes before half-time.
McAtee ended any doubts about the result on 83 minutes, as he beat the offside trap to meet Ollie Norwood’s pass and fire past the luckless Turner.
He completed the scoring with the best goal of the tie with three minutes remaining, blazing into the top corner from 20 yards after Gustavo Hamer’s short corner caught Gillingham napping.
The Blades, FA Cup semi-finalists last season, earned their first away win of the campaign in all competitions.
United manager Chris Wilder said: “We did a job, didn’t we? We knew they’d be spirited opponents and it was a great experience for our younger lads.
“Everybody in the world outside of Sheffield was expecting an upset today. We haven’t won a lot of games of football but this was a good afternoon’s work.
“Maybe it was a bit of kidology from me this week, but I always thought we’d do it. I know what these occasions are like; this is where you really get judged as a player. There weren’t any shortcuts in our approach to the game, and there weren’t any shortcuts on the pitch today.
“If we’d have let the crowd find their voice, we’d have felt their heat. But we never really allowed that, the way we kept the ball, the way we took our chances, and the way we defended when we had to.
“Winning is enjoyable for everybody today. I’m not going to be embarrassed about winning a game, I’m not going to be embarrassed for our reaction to it. We had to be good today and we were.”
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. Real Madrid vs Al Hilal With the score at 10-0 against Auckland City, Manuel Neuer started doing warm-up exercises in the middle of the field... lol International Trophies It's been a year since Kylian Mbappé broke his nose at the Euros. We never got to see the mask everyone wanted to see "A competition without Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal & Bar...
Chelsea have kicked off their Club World Cup campaign, but behind the scenes there is still serious transfer work going on.While Enzo Maresca trains his players in the USA, the transfer team are getting to work on helping build his squad.Gittens still wants Chelsea – Chelsea still want GittensThe attempts to sign Borussia Dortmund winger Jamie Gittens before the tournament failed, but it's c...
Arsenal are in the mix to complete a surprise deal for former Manchester City player Aymeric Laporte, with a report detailing how much he will cost to sign from Al-Nassr this summer.Laporte first arrived in England in January 2018 when Man City broke their transfer record by paying Athletic Club £57million to sign him on a five-and-a-half-year contract. The centre-back went on to make 180 app...
Rafael Leao, Nico Williams, Bradley Barcola and Eberechi Eze are among Bayern Munich's potential targets after missing out on the signing of Bayer Leverkusen starlet Florian Wirtz, sources told ESPN.Wirtz, who is currently on holiday following the UEFA Nations League finals, is set to soon complete his transfer to Liverpool, after ESPN reported last week that the Premier League champions had agree...
Man Utd and Napoli show interest in Hudson-OdoiCallum Hudson-Odoi, who joined Nottingham Forest from Chelsea in 2023, has only a year left in his existing deal. The winger had an impressive outing in the 2024-25 campaign and played a key role in the club securing a European place after 30 years away from continental competition. The 24-year-old scored five goals and provided three assists in 36 ga...
Pablo Marin of Spain and Issa Doumbia of Italy battle for the ballSpain and Italy played out a 1-1 draw in their final group game of the UEFA European U21 Championship, ensuring both nations completed it without defeat (W2, D1).With passage to the quarter-finals already sealed for both nations, this matchup was purely a fight for top spot, and it was the Spaniards who edged proceedings in the earl...
Thomas Frank was chosen among 30 candidates for the Tottenham jobTottenham CEO Vinai Venkatesham has revealed that Thomas Frank was chosen among more than 30 other candidates to succeed Ange Postecoglou as manager.Tottenham chose Thomas Frank as their new head coach last week, and were made to pay London rivals Brentford 310million in the process as Franks appointment was published only days after...
Saudi clubs prepare huge bids for Tottenham captain KaneTottenham captain Son Heung-min has attracted interest from three Saudi Pro League clubs ahead of a potential summer move.The South Korea international has just 12 months remaining on his current Spurs deal and has been linked with a move away, with the North London club reportedly open to selling him this summer to cash in on the experienced...
And just like that, the transfer window is closed.Now depending on where you've been for the past few weeks, you might be asking yourself two questions:1. Is that a "Sex and the City" reference? 2. Wait, what?To the first question: Of course it is. Bring back Samantha.And to the second: With the Club World Cup kicking off this past weekend and set to stretch all the way through mid-July, FIFA gave...
LaLiga president Tebas: Barcelona cannot register Garcia - for nowLaLiga president Javier Tebas has warned Barcelona must sell to register Joan Garcia.Barca have agreed to pay goalkeeper Garcia's €25m buyout clause in his Espanyol contract.However, Tebas insists the Blaugrana do not have room in their registered budget to sign Garcia at this stage.He said, "We haven't even set dates yet, but...
- 1 DONE DEAL: Marseille confirm CJ Egan-Riley signing from Burnley
- 2 Chloe Kelly enjoys sun-kissed holiday as Arsenal star rests before Euro 2025
- 3 Jack Grealish set to leave Man City this summer
- 4 Man Utd make decision on replacing Andre Onana with Emi Martinez this summer
- 5 PSG vs Atletico Madrid Prediction 16 June 2025
- 6 Laura Woods gives update on post-pregnancy body
- 7 Real Madrid eye a trio of targets
- 8 Maddison and Wag announce they're expecting twins AGAIN
- 9 'If you want to understand, it's really obvious' – USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino responds to Christian Pulisic, eager to move past off-field drama
- 10 Tottenham make 'mega £70m bid for Bryan Mbeumo' as Man Utd fear hijack