BILLY BUNTER

Weblog: The football punter

Priestfield may provide
a fine curtain-raiser

The Champions League sabbatical is almost over so what better way is there to warm up for the continent’s best locking horns for club football’s biggest prize on Tuesday than taking in Gillingham against Southend in League Two?

Although the standard of play may not be of the quality we are used to seeing from Lionel Messi and his mates at Camp Nou, you can bet the telly folks will still be giving it large.

It is the responsibility of any commentator or presenter to muster an off-the-scale level of enthusiasm for any game of football they cover.

That’s why they also manage to rise to the occasion when they are presented with utter dross.

‘Intriguing’ tends to be the preferred description in such circumstances.

Perhaps it’s the first word they come up with whenthey have been given a prod by the director after a brief visit to the land on Nod.

But this might not be one of those occasions and I’m taking the Shrimpers to head back through the Dartford Tunnel with a full return.

Charlton are the only team in the top four divisions to have won more away games than the Essex Boys and nine victories from 14 on their travels is an impressive statistic.

In fairness, Gillingham have only lost two on their own patch, but their recent form is pretty poor as they have lost five of their last six in all competitions.

Southend can deliver another blow to Andy Hessenthaler’s hopes of steering the Gills into the play-offs, but there could be a few goals as their last two matches have featured a whopping 14 goals.

So that’s why Sky are off to Priestfield.