Gills were held to a goalless draw in their first ever meeting with Forest Green at The Bolt New Lawn.
Stephen Clemence made one change to the side that lost at Bradford as Jayden Clarke replaced Jonny Williams. Ashley Nadesan was among the substitutes, alongside Oli Hawkins and Tom Nichols.
Ryan Inniss had the first chance of the game when a corner from the left was floated deep into the penalty area. The defender managed to get away from his marker before heading across the goal towards the far corner. Fortunately, his effort was high and wide of the target.
Gills had a half-chance in the 12th minute when Ethan Coleman struck a first-time shot from 20 yards out. It looked set to test the Forest Green goalkeeper before a defender got in the way of the effort.
Jake Turner had to make two saves to keep the scores level after the hosts caught Gills on the break. Charlie McCann played the ball to the feet of Callum Morton, who curled an effort goalward from the left side of the penalty area. Turner did well to get down to it and pushed it clear before the ball was played back into the middle. McCann got his head onto it, but Turner plucked it out of the air to make the save.
On the half-hour mark, the hosts had a penalty shout. Matty Stevens made his way into the penalty area and went down under the challenge of Scott Malone, who took the ball off his foot. The referee saw it in favour of the Gillingham defender as he waved away the calls for a spot-kick.
Macauley Bonne had a chance after Tim Dieng got on the end of Coleman’s ball down the right channel. Dieng hooked the cross towards Bonne, who got down to head goalward. It had the power, but Luke Daniels held onto it.
Turner did brilliantly to deny Inniss just before half-time. A free-kick from just inside the Gillingham half was lofted into the penalty area and met by the head of Inniss, who looped his effort towards the far corner. Turner had to backpedal, getting across to push it over the crossbar for a corner, which came to nothing.
HALF-TIME: Forest Green Rovers 0-0 Gillingham
Gills had a penalty appeal of their own when Conor Masterson was wrestled down to the floor from a corner. However, the referee awarded Forest Green a free-kick instead.
In the 59th minute, the visitors made a double substitution when Nadesan and Tom Nichols replaced George Lapslie and Bonne respectively.
Robbie McKenzie had the first opportunity in the second half when he tried his luck from outside the penalty area, but his effort went wide of Daniels’ post.
Connor Mahoney was the next man to have a shot at goal, but it went wide of the near post following a short corner routine.
Dieng had Gillingham’s best chance with a little under 15 minutes remaining. Jonny Williams, who replaced Clarke, curled a corner into the box from the left, which Dieng got on the end of. He headed his attempt into the ground, forcing Daniels into a diving save as he palmed it away before the hosts cleared their lines.
Moments later, Dieng came close again. Mahoney made his way into the penalty area, doing well to get beyond a couple of Forest Green players before setting it back for the midfielder to curl a right-footed effort towards the far post. Unfortunately, it went just wide, with the Forest Green goalkeeper beaten.
FULL-TIME: Forest Green Rovers 0-0 Gillingham
Forest Green Rovers: Daniels, Dabo (Bernard 65’), Inniss, Moore-Taylor, Robson, Bunker, Jones (Brown 78’), McAllister, McCann (Bendle 84’), Stevens (Omotoye 65’), Morton
Unused Substitutes: Searle, Johnson, Jenks
Gillingham: Turner, McKenzie (Alexander 84’), Ehmer, Masterson, Malone, Coleman, Dieng, Lapslie (Nadesan 59’), Mahoney, Clarke (J. Williams 62’), Bonne (Nichols 59’)
Unused Substitute: Morris, Ogie, Hawkins
Referee: Sam Allison