The points were shared in a combative, bad-tempered clash as Gillingham welcomed newly-promoted Barnet to MEMS Priestfield Stadium.

Manager Gareth Ainsworth made three changes to the starting line up following last Saturday’s lively 2-2 draw against Crawley Town.

Seb Palmer-Houlden returned from injury to start up front in place of Josh Andrews, while Jonny Williams and Aaron Rowe came in for Nelson Khumbeni and Andy Smith, who was absent from the squad. Robbie McKenzie moved from midfield to centre-back to cover Smith’s absence.

Barnet made one change from their 0-0 draw against Cambridge United, Kane Smith starting in place of Ben Winterburn.

The opening ten minutes featured a lot of long balls as both sides struggled to thread many passes together in midfield. Dack almost opened the scoring after 8 minutes, not quite reaching a Hutton long throw.  

Barnet proved to be a very physical presence in midfield, often preventing Gillingham from playing especially fluent football.

Despite a couple of promising moves from Gillingham, Barnet grew into the half as they created a couple of good chances that they couldn’t convert. Shelton’s free header at the back post was the best of them.

The game sprang to life after 17 minutes when Barnet’s Callum Stead scored with a composed left-footed finish from Idris Kanu’s cross. However, the crowd responded angrily as it appeared in their view that Kanu fouled Max Clark by pulling him back in the build up. A member of the Gillingham technical staff, Deren Ibrahim, was awarded a yellow card for remonstrating with the referee.

Gillingham instantly responded with their best football of the half in the Barnet third. However, no-one was able to convert an incisive cross from Williams.

Once again, Barnet dominated play, creating several opportunities to score, but unable to convert any of them. Ndlovu had an opportunity saved from close range and Ryan Glover had a chance cleared off the line.

Dack had an excellent chance to equalise from another Hutton long throw, but his shot was straight at the keeper. As half-time loomed, Gillingham looked certain to end the half a goal down and be grateful it wasn’t more.

However, much like last week, Dack equalised in the second minute of injury time with an expertly taken free kick that curled into the top-left corner.

The second half began with plenty of physicality as both sides picked up where they left off at half time.

Initially, Gillingham looked the brighter side with Palmer-Houlden almost sneaking through a shot from a narrow angle. However, Barnet then began to reassert the dominance they had in the first half. But as in the first half, they proved unable to convert their chances.

Gillingham made some changes in an effort to open the game up and brought on veteran striker Sam Vokes for Aaron Rowe while Palmer-Houlden moved to the left flank.

This created more space for Gillingham as they utilised Palmer-Houlden’s pace to good effect in creating some counter-attacking chances. Unfortunately, like Barnet, they were unable to find the net.

The half became more bad-tempered with two yellow cards awarded for dissent and three for fouls. The crowd again weren’t shy in sharing their views with referee Ben Atkinson – especially regarding Kanu’s foul on Dack as he attempted to break with pace into the open Barnet half.

Barnet continued to challenge the Gillingham area, with mazy runs from Kanu a regular highlight. However, Sam Gale, who has recently extended his contract to 2028, defended expertly to snuff out some chances. The crowd’s chants of “he’s one of our own” regularly rang out.

As the half headed towards injury time, the action was end to end, but with both defences stopping any last-minute winners.

In the final action of the game, Hutton delivered a long throw into the box, which Dack blasted over the bar, leaving both teams to share the points.

Despite giving a spirited performance, Gillingham can consider themselves fortunate to have secured a point against a very capable Barnet side who squandered many chances.

Gillingham: Turner, Hutton, Clark, Coleman, McCleary (Akomeah 72), Williams (Khumbneni 85), Rowe (Vokes 60), Palmer-Houlden (Andrews 72), McKenzie, Dack, Gale.

Subs Not Used: Holtam, J Smith, Cirino.

Goal: Dack (47).

Booked: Vokes (63), Hutton (71), Williams (74), Khumbeni (94).

Barnet: Slicker, Collinge, Senior, Ndlovu (Hawkins 45), Stead (Assombalonga 83), Kanu, Glover (Kemsdale 87), Shelton, Smith (Browne 83), Tavares, Ofoborh (Winterburn 83).

Subs Not Used: Evans, Hartigan.    

Goals: Stead (17).

Booked: Ofoborh (50), Stead (63), Kanu (79), Assombalonga (93).

HT 1 – 1  FT 

Att: 5778 (406 away fans)

Referee: Mr Ben Atkinson

Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.