Gills boss delighted to reward supporters with maximum points against Crawley.
9,000 expectant Gillingham fans descended on MEMS Priestfield Stadium on Saturday to create one of the most electric atmospheres in years, and Neil Harris made sure they didn't go home disappointed.
The upbeat Gillingham manager admitted that his team pushed their luck in the first half against Crawley but he was ultimately satisfied with their response after the break and believed his men were worth every one of those valuable three points after their 1-0 win.
The synergy between fans, players, management and staff has produced eight goals and ten points from the last four games and with the revamped team showing precisely the kind of fighting form needed to edge themselves out of danger, no wonder each of those 9,000 fans left the stadium punching the air in delight.
"Fair play and thank you to Brad and Shannon (Galinson) for enabling this game to be a sell out", said Harris, referring to the 'pay what you can' for a ticket initiative. "Also, thank you to the fans who came, they made it a great atmosphere. We hope to see a lot of the ones who came today for the next home game.
"Just because the fans come and everyone is excited and we have momentum and there is that alignment in the football club, the players still have to make it happen on the pitch. They have to put in a performance that gets the fans off their seats. Second half we certainly did. The fans and players felt confident and that comes with belief, points, results and good players.
"The first half was even and both teams had opportunities. I had to give a couple of home truths on the first half. I wanted us to be more on the front foot and aggressive. Fortunately we have quality players who listened and are able to take these messages onboard. They performed for the shirt. There was no surprise that we could have won the second half 5-0, we dominated the game and we deserved the points.
"To the fans who came today, please keep coming. We massively appreciate you. We are a football club on the rise and this is the start of the journey."