Gillingham came up short on a wet Tuesday evening in Nottingham that leaves them 14th in League Two.
After going 1-0 behind in the first half, courtesy of some rudimentary defensive errors, Gillingham came back strongly in the second half, creating several excellent chances to score. However, thanks to some good goalkeeping and lack of composure in front of goal, they failed to convert any of them.
Gareth Ainsworth made five changes to the starting 11 from the humbling 4-1 loss at home to Bromley. January signings Omar Beckles and Ronan Hale came in for Aaron Rowe and the injured Conor Masterson, while Travis Akomeah, Ethan Coleman and Seb Palmer-Houlden replaced Andy Smith, Bradley Dack and Garath McCleary.
Notts County made three changes from the 11 who beat Fleetwood, bringing in Scott Robertson, Maz Kouhyar and Matt Dennis for Jodi Jones, Conor Grant and Alassana Jatta.
After a scrappy opening ten minutes on a slick surface, the home side began to dictate play, keeping Gillingham camped in their own half. Maz Kouhyar looked threatening with a couple of runs into the box and some promising crosses, but the Gills were defensively organised.
Gillingham worked their way back into the game with some attacking moves. Seb Palmer-Houlden was put through on goal after some excellent work from Armani Little, but his shot was blocked by the covering defender.
The deadlock was broken by the home side, who took advantage of a defensive calamity from Gillingham. After a corner, the ball was partially cleared, but somehow Scott Robertson found himself completely unmarked in the Gillingham area, As the ball was played to him, Josh Andrews dashed across to cover, but he was wrong-footed and slipped on the wet surface as Robertson tucked the ball inside the near post.
They almost doubled the lead a minute later as full back Nick Tsaroulla found himself just inside the Gillingham area with a couple of yards of space. His curling left footed shot had Morris beaten but just snuck outside the post.
Notts County continued to control the first half, dominating possession and creating opportunities. Maz Kouhyar had the best chance as his curling shot clipped the outside of the post after he had been given plenty of time and space to pick his spot.
As the half drew to a close, Gillingham’s new signing Ronan Hale had a couple of opportunities. He hit a stinging shot from distance that went just wide of the goal, and minutes later he broke the line to draw a great save from close range.
As the second half began, Notts County continued to control the game, almost making it 2-0 with a Robertson free kick that went narrowly wide.
Gillingham then started to grow into the half, enjoying good possession in the Notts County half, albeit without creating many chances.
Both sides made changes around the 60th minute to inject some energy into a slightly cagey half of football, bringing on veterans Sam Vokes and Garath McCleary for Andrews and Palmer-Houlden.
The substitutions gave Notts County some attacking impetus as they swarmed the Gillingham defence. Sam Gale made an excellent clearance to a cross that was certain to lead to a goal. This was followed by a goal-line clearance from Little following a corner.
Gillingham then brought on Bradley Dack to add some creativity – and he almost had an instant impact. McCleary found Dack to the right of the Notts Goal, who made himself a yard of space and whipped a cross across the six-yard box into the path of an unmarked Sam Vokes, who shot straight at the keeper.
Gillingham kept the pressure on with a sustained period of attacking play, which led to some feisty challenges as the intensity of the contest grew. Dack began to dictate play and McCleary was a nuisance in and around the box.
Notts County seemed happy to cling on to 1-0 as their formation became more defensive and they defended deep in their own half as the visitors searched for an equaliser. Gillingham loaded the Notts County box with players and put in plenty of long balls from deep and long throws, but to no avail.
Notts County should have sealed the points in the 88th minute as, against the run of play, Keanan Bennetts met a measured cross unmarked in front of goal. However, he lost his shape and shanked it wide.
In the dying seconds of injury time. Gillingham should have levelled the game. With numbers in the Notts County box, Hale had a shot saved from close range, before Akomeah and Dack both shot straight at the keeper in quick succession. James Belshaw was on the floor for Dack’s shot from two yards out, but somehow managed to keep it out.
As with the Bromley game, Gillingham were architects of their own downfall with costly defensive errors in the first half and an inability to convert good chances of their own. They had enough chances to win the game, even with the one-goal deficit, but failed to make the most of some good buildup work that created several good opportunities to score.
Notts County are a tough, organised side, but with this loss it’s hard to see Gillingham making the playoffs. It’s another loss that could have been avoided.
Notts County: Belshaw, Bedeau, Platt, Macari (Ness ’63), Tsaroulla, Robertson, Norburn, Maziar Kouhyar, Iorpenda, Hall (Ndlovu ’64), Dennis (Bennetts ’80).
Subs Not Used: Enoru, Grant, Griffiths, Tangen.
Goals: Robertson ‘27
Booked: Ness ‘76
Gillingham: Morris, Clark, Coleman, Little, Andrews (Vokes ’63), Palmer-Houlden (McCleaery ’63), McKenzie (Dack ’71), Akomeah, Gale (Hutton ’71), Hale, Beckles.
Subs Not Used: Turner, Rowe, Antwi.
Goals: None.
Booked: Andrews ’56, Dack ‘81
HT 1 – 0 FT 1 – 0
Att: 8731
Referee: Abigail Byrne.
Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.