Gillingham’s winless run extends to nine matches with spirited loss away at Swindon Town.

Despite leading in the attacking stats with plenty of opportunities created, Gillingham were undone by an excellent Swindon free-kick routine in the second half at the County Ground, followed by a header against the run of play in injury time. The loss means the Gills have not won a game of football since their 1-0 win away at Bristol Rovers in November, while the last win before that game was on 20th September away at Newport.

Gillingham went into the game against their old rivals desperate for a win. They had won one out of the last 14 games in League Two in a run which has seen then drop out of the playoff places and struggle to put teams away. Conversely, they have also only lost one out of the last 9 games, so a short run of good results would put them right back in the mix. 

Gareth Ainsworth continued to rotate the squad over the festive period, making five changes to the starting 11. Max Clark, Jonny Williams, Ethan Coleman, Elliot Nevitt and Josh Andrews came into the starting lineup, while Bradley Dack, Conor Masterson, Robbie McKenzie, Seb Palmer-Houlden and Sam Vokes dropped to the bench. Veteran keeper Glenn Morris also made the bench for the second time after returning from injury.

Swindon, meanwhile, made two changes as Filizofe Mabete came in for James Ball and Will Wright for Paul Glatzel, who came off injured in the 2-0 away win against Cheltenham. Swindon’s injury list meant they only named six substitutes.

Gillingham started the first half brightly with Aaron Rowe finding Coleman with a cross that he couldn’t quite control as it missed over the bar.

However, Swindon then started applying the sort of pressure that showed why they are second in the table and 14 points ahead of Gillingham. There were several promising attacks from them between the 10 and 15-minute marks which drew some solid defensive work from the Gills.

Rowe then had a chance of his own from the edge of the box, which he curled wide to the left.

Swindon (and League Two) leading goalscorer Aaron Drinnan looked threatening on the counter and almost scored a spectacular volley, which he couldn’t quite control and blasted over the bar.

Swindon continued to be the main aggressors, although the Gills had their moments, with Andrews heading an Armani Little free kick straight into Connor Ripley’s gloves.

The Gills continued to grow into the half with some more promising attacks. Nevitt headed wide from a corner with Ripley on the edge of the six-yard box. Moments later, Rowe had another shot blocked in the 36th minute as he broke on the counter.

The first half ended scrappily, with the home side increasingly irritated by Gillingham’s control of the game as the Swindon strikers found it tough to get a foothold in the final third.

Gillingham started the second half on the front foot with Williams finding himself in a threatening position in the Swindon box, but only able to scud the ball at Ripley. During this attack, Mabete also suffered what looked to be a serious ankle injury and was replaced by Jake Tabor.

Swindon then had a spell of attacking play with last-minute challenges from Smith, Gale and Williams keeping the home side at bay, while also giving them three consecutive corners. This ended with a long shot from Gavin Kilkenny curling over the bar and wide to the right.

Finally, the deadlock was broken in the 59th minute when Swindon had a free kick on the left in Gillingham’s half. Finley Munroe hit an excellent outswinger with his left foot that found Ryan Tafazolli in the Gillingham penalty area, who headed powerfully low to Turner’s left for the opening goal.

This brought a slightly lethargic second half into life. Josh Andrews was booked for a shove, and Swindon continued to attack. They had another free kick, which Will Wright sent wide of Turner’s right-hand post, but would have likely been a second goal if on target.

Gillingham retaliated with their best attacking play so far. Nevitt was put through by Little but had his shot blocked. Then Andrews Coleman and Williams all had shots saved by Ripley in quick succession.

Ainsworth made some changes in the 69th minute as Robbie McKenzie, Bradley Dack and Jonny Smith were brought on for Coleman, Williams and Rowe.

Nevitt then appeared to be through on goal before being dispossessed at the final moment.

Gillingham continued to attack. Andrews looked like he had an excellent opportunity to score from close range, but Finley Munroe made an excellent last-second tackle.

Nevitt was replaced by Seb Palmer-Houlden in the 79th minute, looking to add some raw pace and youthful tenacity into the final ten minutes.

Swindon brought on James Ball for Darren Oldaker in the 82nd minute.

Gillingham continued to attack with increasing desperation in the final minutes with the best chance going to substitute Jonny Smith, who hammered a left-footed shot low to Ripley’s right, but was kept out by the post.  

The game was put to bed in injury time with Swindon exploiting Gillingham’s attacking position by counterattacking. This led to a well-placed cross by Ollie Palmer finding Drinnan, who headed it past Jake Turner to extend his goal tally to 13 for the season.

The final whistle blew with Swindon managing possession in injury time in a ruthless, professional way.

While the result is a fair one in terms of the clubs’ respective form and league position, again Gillingham looked very promising for long spells of the game. They had 16 shots to Swindon’s 13 and 4 on target to Swindon’s two. However, Swindon, with their depleted squad, made their chances count.

Gillingham need to find a solution and quickly. 

Gillingham: Turner, Hutton, Clark, A Smith, Coleman (McKenzie 68), Little, Andrews (Vokes 84), Williams (J Smith 69), Rowe (Dack 68), Nevitt (Palmer-Houlden 79), Gale.

Subs Not Used: Morris, Masterson.

Goals: None

Booked: Andrews 60, Clark 83, little 87

Swindon Town: Ripley, Mabete (Tabor 48), Tafazolli, Wright, Munroe, Nichols, Kilkenny, McGregor, Oldaker (Ball 82), Palmer, Drinan.

Subs Not Used: Ehibhatiomhan, Gonzalez-Birchall, Kirkman, Ward.

Goals: Tafazolli, Drinan

Booked: Mabete 26, Nichols 83, Ripley 89

HT  0–0  FT 2 – 0

Att: 9,986 (896 away)

Referee: Mr James Durkin.

Image courtesy of Gillingham FC