Image: Gillingham Football Club
Gillingham Football Club shook off any post-Neil Harris doubts at the weekend, with a spirited 2-1 victory at home to MK Dons. In a hard-fought battle, the teams combined to have 43 shots in the match, with the visiting side failing to find the back of the net with any of their first 23 attempts at goal. A late consolation from Ellis Harrison wasn’t enough to derail the Gills efforts, as they move up to 3rd in the table, while MK Dons drop to 16th after a five-game winless run.
It took 20 minutes for the first real chance of the game to fall to the Gills, as injury replacement Macauley Bonne dragged a shot wide from a tight angle, before being denied by the Dons keeper Craig MacGillivray seconds later. It didn’t take Bonne long to get his revenge though, as he caught Anthony Stewart off guard, and slotted past to MacGillivray to give the Gills a well-earned advantage.
Before long, Gillingham were playing at their fluent best, leading to a confident 25-yard strike from Ethan Coleman that rattled against the post. Milton Keynes did fight back though, as Anthony Stewart scored a header from a free kick, before seeing it ruled out for offside. Shortly after half-time, the Dons were forced into yet another mistake at the back, with Tom Nichols left to square the ball for an easy tap in with 40 minutes left to play.
Both sides continued to push for a goal that could turn the tide of the game, and with ten minutes of regulation time left, a thunderous header from Ellis Harrison helped to give Milton Keynes a glimmer of hope. Max Dean would force Gills shot stopper Jake Turner into a spectacular save, before Daniel Harvie received a second booking for a tug on Cheye Alexander – all but ending the Dons’ hopes of securing points at Priestfield.
It was a delightful start for interim boss Keith Millen, who was thrown into the deep end after Neil Harris’ midweek departure from the club. “Firstly, I’m delighted to win the game,” he told local media after the match. “If Connor goes through and scores, or slides someone else in to make the third goal, I think it would have been a lot calmer in the last five or 10 minutes. We didn’t take that chance and luckily it didn’t come back to haunt us.
“Looking at the game I think it took us 20 minutes to clear our heads. It’s been a tough week, certainly a tough last couple of days. I was conscious of a little bit of a hangover. No matter what I said in the dressing room, there would be a little bit of a hangover all of a sudden, after 20 minutes, we became a little bit braver on the ball, found a few more passes, broke lines better then all of a sudden we were opening them up. We created some really good chances.”
The international break offers no let-up for the Gills, who travel to Walsall next Saturday looking to continue their upwards trend and return to the top of League Two if results go their way. Keith Millen looks set to remain in charge for the game, as the club lines up a long-term replacement for Neil Harris.