Gills leave the Kassam empty handed.
Oxford United produced a late second half comeback at the Kassam Stadium, defeating Gillingham 3-2 after being two goals behind.
Gillingham had the best of the first half with Ryan Jackson’s long throw causing chaos for the Oxford backline, and the visitors constant pressure was proving tough for Karl Robinson's men to handle.
Gills came close to taking the lead twice from Jackson's throws with Cundy heavily involved in both; heading the first just over the bar before flicking on the second for Olly Lee who couldn’t quite hit the target.
In the 39th minute, Gillingham did take the lead courtesy of a long throw; Jackson's effort was flicked on by Oliver, it struck the marker immediately behind him before breaking loose to the striker who dispatched into the bottom left corner of the Oxford goal, courtesy of an excellent right footed finish to give Gillingham the lead at the interval.
Half-time: Oxford United 0-1 Gillingham
Oliver could have had his second of the game soon after the break when he found himself through on goal with just the goalkeeper to beat, only for Stevens to produce a remarkable save to keep the deficit to one.
The pressure didn’t let up for Oxford with Dempsey testing Stevens only two minutes later before Olly Lee hit the crossbar, via a touch from the keeper, close to the hour mark.
The relentless pressure from Gillingham finally resulted in a second goal when Jordan Graham beat his man to cross for Robbie Cundy to tap in on the 72nd minute. The winger got to the byline and put in an excellent low ball which the defender tapped home from close range after driving into empty space.
Unfortunately for Gillingham, Oxford replied just two minutes later with a calm finish from sub Sam Winnall, beating Jack Bonham to his left hand side.
Following Winnall’s strike, Oxford gained momentum with a small portion of the game to go and found themselves level just six minutes from time when Sam Long converted a header at the far post to set up a dramatic finish.
It wasn’t all over there though as Long found himself in the thick of the action once again as he flicked home Brannagan’s deep cross in the ninety third minute to snatch all three points.
Full-time: Oxford United 3-2 Gillingham
Oxford United: Stevens, Ruffels, Moore, Brannagan, Taylor (Gorrin 97'), Long, Forde (Agyei 65’), Henry, Atkinson, Shodipo (Winnall 65’), Lee (Hanson 97')
Unused substitutes: Eastwood, Mcnally, Kelly
Gillingham: Bonham, Jackson, Tucker, Cundy, Ogilvie, Graham (O’Connor 89’), Dempsey, O’Keefe, MacDonald, Lee (McKenzie 78’), Oliver
Unused substitutes: Bastien, Johnson, Akinde, Sithole, Samuel
Referee: Mr Robert Lewis