Crawley Town scored two stoppage time goals to secure all three points as Gillingham fell to a 2-0 defeat at the Broadfield Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Gareth Ainsworth made three changes to the starting XI that lost against Bristol Rovers as Glenn Morris returned in goal. Garath McCleary and Seb Palmer-Houlden came back into the team in the place of Omar Beckles and Armani Little (suspension), who missed out.
Jake Turner was named among the substitutes, while Nelson Khumbeni, Travis Akomeah, Lenni Cirino and Michael Luxton were recalled to the matchday squad.
Glenn Morris had to be alert to deny Ade Adeyemo in the 15th minute. The Crawley man made his way down the right-hand side before cutting onto his left foot and sending a low drive towards the near post. Morris got down to his left to make the save, pushing it around the post for a corner, which came to nothing.
Bradley Dack, who was wearing the captain’s armband for the afternoon, forced Jacob Chapman into action after 21 minutes. Josh Andrews did well to hold the ball in the corner before offloading it to McCleary, who sent a low ball into the penalty area. He found Ronan Hale, who laid it off to the oncoming Dack, who moved it past a defender before getting a left-footed shot away. Chapman did well to keep it out, but Dack was adjudged to have committed a foul before getting the strike off.
Hale came close soon after. Dack’s well-timed sliding challenge sent Palmer-Houlden away down the right, and he squared to Hale on the edge of the penalty area. The Northern Ireland international brought it under control, shifting it onto his right foot before sending a shot towards the bottom left corner that went inches wide of the post.
Gills had a half-chance on the stroke of half-time. The ball bounced on halfway, allowing Andrews to pick up the loose ball and play Hale through. He carried it towards the edge of the penalty area before getting a shot away, which was blocked by a recovering defender.
HALF-TIME: Crawley Town 0-0 Gillingham
Andrews nearly opened the scoring soon after the restart. Hutton and McCleary linked up down the right, with the former dinking a cross deep, finding Andrews, who headed towards the far corner of the goal. There was indecisiveness by the Crawley defence, which nearly allowed the ball to bounce into the bottom corner, but Scott Malone got across to clear it off the line.
In the 55th minute, the hosts had a good opportunity. The ball was played through for Harry McKirdy down the right, and he made his way into the penalty area before shooting towards the near post. Morris blocked the effort, but the rebound fell to Tobi Adeyemo, who could not make clear contact with his shot, slicing it well wide of the target.
Gills made their first two changes in the 71st minute, as Sam Vokes and Aaron Rowe replaced Andrews and Palmer-Houlden.
Vokes saw his header saved with ten minutes remaining. Hutton did well to win the ball on the edge of the Crawley penalty area before finding Rowe in space down the left. He sent a cross into the box, finding an unmarked Vokes, who guided a header on target. However, it was straight at Chapman, who caught the attempt.
Taylor Richards scored for Crawley in the first minute of additional time. He received the ball from Max Anderson on the edge of the penalty area and shifted the ball onto his left foot before squeezing his low drive in at the near post.
Tobi Adeyemo doubled Crawley’s lead a couple of minutes later. Harry Forster made his way down the left before slipping the ball inside to Adeyemo, who was in the box. He steadied himself before thumping a powerful left-footed effort goalward that cannoned off the post and into the back of the net.
FULL-TIME: Crawley Town 2-0 Gillingham
Crawley Town: Chapman, Malone, Barker, L. Richards (Odimayo 82’), Pereira (T. Richards 74’), A. Adeyemo, Williams, Copley (Anderson 74’), T. Adeyemo, Darcy (Forster 74’), Orsi (McKirdy 48’)
Unused Substitutes: Lolos
Gillingham: Morris, Hutton, Gale, A.Smith, Clark, McCleary, Dack, Waldock, Hale, Palmer-Houlden (Rowe 71’), Andrews (Vokes 71’)
Unused Substitutes: Turner, Akomeah, Cirino, Luxton, Khumbeni
Referee: Edward Duckworth
Attendance: 4338 (909 Gillingham supporters)
