Gillingham manager Steve Evans will have been left fuming to see his side slip to a narrow 2-1 defeat against his old club, and the team he supports, Peterborough United, on Saturday afternoon at Priestfield.
Goals from Joe Ward and Mo Eisa had put Posh in the driving seat on a rare sunny afternoon in Kent, but Mikael Mandron pulled one back for Gillingham with his first league goal for the club to set up a nevy ending.
It wasn’t to be for the Gills, though, and high-flyers Peterborough ran out with the three points.
Steve Evans made one change to the Gillingham side that held Portsmouth at Fratton Park last week, swapping Alex Jakubiak for Oliver Lee in an attempt to add a creative spark to the Gills’ play.
Posh, meanwhile, set-up with their usual threat of Eisa and Toney, the league’s top scorers, up-front, but were without some key men such as Marcus Maddison, Frankie Kent and Louis Reed – they, though, set up in a diamond.
The first-half was even, and it took a moment of magic from right-back Joe Ward, an avid long-distance-shooter, who cut inside Tom O’Connor before firing a rocket past Jack Bonham in the Gillingham goal to give the visitors the lead on 40 minutes.
Mo Eisa then added a second for Posh from the spot at the start of the second-half after Mark Byrne jumped into a corner with his arm; an easy decision for referee Charles Breakspear.
It seemed to take the second goal for Gillingham to come alive, and they began to push the Peterborough goal as they searched for a way to get back into the game.
Good pressing from Brandon Hanlan forced a defensive error late on, and Mikael Mandron ran onto a stray ball to get one back for Gillingham, but, despite a couple of late opportunities, the home side couldn’t find an equaliser.
Overall, Gillingham can, probably, feel hard done by to come out empty handed, but it was almost a perfect away performance from Peterborough – they took their chances, defended when they had to, and took home the win.
words Lewis Browning, Gillingham fan and writer