Gillingham fell to a 3-0 hammering against Rotherham United on Saturday afternoon courtesy of a Matt Crooks masterclass.

A handful of individual errors from the Blues, as well as a Crooks brace and a Michael Smith goal, compiled a miserable afternoon for Steve Evans’ men against another of the Scotsman’s former clubs.

The game started with elation from the Gillingham fans – Jack Bonham saved Michael Smith’s penalty on 18 minutes – but, just a minute later, the forward opened the scoring due to a defensive mix up. It’s hard to tell who was to blame, with Connor Ogilvie pushing the ball past his onrushing goalkeeper for Smith to tap home, but it wasn’t pretty.

Matt Crooks doubled the Millers’ lead not too long after with a sublime 30-plus yard effort chipped over Bonham. Again, it’s hard to tell whether Bonham was too far off his line or if it was just sheer genius from Crooks – one thing for sure, though, was that Rotherham were in control.

Gillingham rarely threatened, and Crooks added a third to Rotherham’s tally late in the second-half to complete a forgettable day for Gillingham, but a joyous one for Rotherham and their travelling faithful.

The home side set up in their commonly-used 41212 diamond formation, but struggled for width and attacking proesce throughout the game. This could be due to the narrow midfield and defensive full-backs Evans employed, but it is clear that the Blues still need a striker.

Rotherham, on the other hand, looked threatening every time they came forward. Matt Crooks has been a revelation since he moved into an attacking midfield role, and he, along with wingers Chiedoze Ogbene and Trevor Clarke, supported front-man Michael Smith perfectly.

Gillingham will be looking over their shoulder in the league, now, as they slip to 16th in the table. Their next two league games, against Lincoln and Wimbledon respectively, are, at this point, massive.

Rotherham, meanwhile, are back on the up. It is important they begin picking up home results to match their away form, but they move into 10th position.

words Lewis Browning, Gillingham fan & writer