Jake Turner wants the team to build on the 1-0 win over Sutton at ME7 as Gills prepare to take on Colchester.
A stubborn Sutton side reduced to 10 men stood up to wave upon wave of Gillingham attacks on Friday night, so it was obviously going to take something a little bit special to break the deadlock. Up stepped Scott Malone.
His world-class first-time volley had the ball soaring through the air towards the exact point where the post meets the crossbar. His sensational display of accuracy, technique and power proved magical enough to secure all three points against a resilient opposition and Gills keeper Jake Turner was quick to heap praise on the midfielder.
"It was a mad finish," reflected Turner, who admitted that he didn't have the best view of the incredible effort. "To be fair, I thought it hit the bar then post and I didn't know where it went, I thought it might have come out because I didn't actually see the net ripple. When I heard the crowd I just knew it was in. It was excellent.
"It is always tough playing against ten men, they sit back and focus a bit more on the defending and their end goal then become a 0-0 where they take a point. It was a bit of class from Scotty, he put the ball in the top corner and it was a great finish to be fair, we are happy to take all three points and we have to build on it now and move on to the next one."
Turner had little to do between the sticks and the shot-stopper, who enjoyed his twelfth clean sheet of the season, said he needed to keep his focus, especially when the U's came out looking for a last ditch equaliser.
"I didn't have loads to do," said the goalie. "Those games can sometimes be a bit difficult but you have to stay concentrated. They had one shot at the end, it was quite a routine one but you just need to keep that concentration and keep doing your job.
"The lads played excellently, even against the 11 men, but obviously the sending off helped us a little bit. We were excellent from start to finish, it could have been more, but we are working on the clinical side of the game. We are happy to end the year on a 1-0 win.
"We created a lot of chances and we could have scored more, we know that. We will score more goals and they will come with the chances that we are creating. It is only a matter of time before they start going in the goal.
"The support was excellent and it has been for every game we have played. You could hear the supporters from the first minute, they never stopped cheering us on and it was great to give them the three points."