Gillingham lose fifth game in a row, following two injury-time goals from relegation-battling Crawley Town.

In a game that was largely lacking quality, neither side were able to break the deadlock until the closing minutes when Taylor Richards and Tobi Adeyemo scored twice in additional time to give Crawley their first win in ten matches. Gillingham, who were narrowly the better team for the majority of the match, have now lost in five consecutive matches.

Having lost their last four matches, Gillingham were keen to put in a performance against relegation-battling Crawley Town.

Gareth Ainsworth made three changes to the side that lost 2-1 at home to Bristol Rovers on Saturday. Jake Turner dropped to the bench and was replaced by veteran keeper Glenn Morris, while skipper Armani Little was suspended and Omar Beckles did not travel with the squad. The two outfield players were replaced by Seb Palmer-Houlden and Garath McCleary.

New Crawley manager, Colin Kazim-Richards, made five changes. He left out Geraldo Bajrami, Kellan Gordon, Taylor Richards, Jonny Russell and Klaidi Lolos. In their place, he brought in Lewis Richards, Ade Adeyemo, Tobi Adeyemo, Louie Copley, and Ronan Darcy.

The first ten minutes were scrappy as both teams struggled to build a good period of possession in midfield and no clear chances on goal. Ainsworth had selected a more attacking formation than in recent weeks, opting for a back four and more attacking options to try and force a result.

The first clear chance fell to Crawley. Ade Adeyemo found himself on the right wing with only Max Clark blocking his route to goal. He skilfully wrong-footed Clark, cut inside and fired a strong left-footed shot low to Morris’ left. The Gills keeper made a good save and pushed it behind for a corner which came to nothing.

Gillingham’s first real opportunity to score came on the counter, following a Crawley attack. A long ball was played over the top, which gave Harry Waldock the opportunity to run with it clear on goal. An excellent recovery run from Ade Adeyemo stopped the attack, although the strong challenge left Gillingham’s 19-year-old midfielder needing treatment before he could continue.

Crawley’s Jay Williams had a powerful shot from distance following a poor defensive clearance. However, his effort went narrowly wide.

This was immediately followed by Gillingham almost scoring at the other end. Palmer-Houlden ran down the right wing, beating his man, then cutting the ball back to Ronan Hale who was unmarked in the box. His shot went narrowly wide on the left.

The game opened up at this point with both sides looking to move the ball forward quickly on the counterattack. Palmer-Houlden made some promising runs into the box for Gillingham, as did Dion Pereira for the home side. However, both sides regularly got defenders back in numbers to snuff out the danger.

The game then quietened down again with scoring opportunities harder to come by.

Hale had a great chance to open the scoring in first half’s additional time as he received a through ball deep in the Crawley half. However, his shot was well-blocked by Richards and went behind from a corner.

The final action of the first half was a cross from Dack, following the corner, who found Andy Smith at the far post, but his header was weak and straight at the keeper.

The second half began with an injury to Danilo Orsi, following a challenge from Smith. He was replaced by Harry McKirdy.

Crawley had an excellent chance to take the lead in the 55th minute. A goal kick found McKirdy through on goal on the right-hand side of the Gillingham box. His shot was well-saved by Morris low to his left and the follow-up from Tobi Adeyemo was skied high and wide.

A few minutes later, Gillingham created an opportunity at the other end. A long, high ball found Josh Andrews on the edge of the Crawley box. However, he was crowded out by two defenders before he could get his shot away.

Andrews had another opportunity when Gillingham created their best move of the half. Max Clark dispossessed his opposite number on the left wing, brought the ball forward and fired in a pass to Hale. Hale played a delicate flick onward with his right foot, which found Andrews in the penalty area. However, the Crawley defender managed to get goal side of him and draw the foul.

Both managers made several substitutions around the 70-minute mark, hoping to clinch a crucial goal in the closing minutes.

The substitutions seemed to favour the home side as Gillingham found themselves increasingly on the back foot with some nervy moments defending their box.

At the other end of the pitch, Gillingham had the best chance of the half to open the scoring. A cross from Aaron Rowe on the left found Sam Vokes on the edge of the Crawley six-yard box, but his header was straight at the keeper.

There continued to be action at both ends as the game moved into injury time. Garath McCleary started to look more threatening on the right, putting crosses into the box, but unable to find a free man.

At the other end, Crawley continued to attack, with Sam Gale making a great headed clearance to snuff out a particularly dangerous cross.

Finally, the deadlock was broken by the home side in the 91st minute.

After a period of pressure around the Gillingham box, Taylor Richards fired home with his left foot. Max Anderson found him with a pass on the corner of the Gillingham area and the shot went low to Morris’ right, settling in the bottom corner.

Crawley then made it two. They broke on the counter with Harry Forster. He charged down the left wing, squared the ball to Tobi Adeyemo in the centre of the Gillingham box, and his left-footed shot went in the top-left corner.

The final whistle blew moments later to a jubilant home crowd.

Gillingham can add this match to the list of examples where they were the better side for the majority of the match, but they still came away with nothing to show for it. They defended well, but they have not scored from open play in their last four games. This is what needs to change if they want to salvage some pride by the end of the season.

Gillingham: Morris, Hutton, Clark, Smith, McCleary, Andrews (Vokes 71’), Palmer-Houlden (Rowe 71’), Dack, Waldock, Gale, Hale.

Subs Not Used: Turner, Akomeah, Khumbeni, Cirino, Luxton.

Goals:

Booked: Dack ’34, Andrews 64’ Rowe 73’

Crawley: Chapman, Malone, Barker, L Richards (Odimayo 82’), Pereira (T Richards 74’), A Adeyemo, Williams, Copley (Anderson 74’), T Adeyemo, Darcy (Forster 74’), Orsi.

Subs Not Used: Lolos.

Goals: T Richards 90+1’, T Adeyemo 90+3’

Booked:  Williams 79’

HT 0 – 0 FT 2 – 0

Att:  ()

Referee: Mr Edward Duckworth

Image courtesy of Gillingham FC