Ronan Hale scored a brace and Tom Eaves came off the bench to score from the penalty spot as Gillingham came from behind to beat Rotherham United 4-1 at the New York Stadium thanks to a convincing second-half performance.
Paul Mullin gave the hosts the lead when his shot found the bottom left corner, but Hale equalised after 34 minutes with a smart volley. Nick Freeman’s cross from the right was flicked on towards Hale, who was at the back of the box. The forward struck the volley first time, doing well to get his body over it and keeping it down, as he fizzed it into the side netting of the bottom right corner.
Lamin Sillah made it 2-1 on the hour. James Brophy cushioned the ball in the direction of the Nottingham Forest loanee, who had his back to the goal. He did well to shoot on the turn, squeezing his shot beyond Julian Eyestone at the near post.
The Forest loanee continued to cause trouble as he soon won the visitors a penalty. Brophy played an excellent ball in behind, which allowed the forward to chase it. He beat Eyestone to the ball before taking it beyond the goalkeeper and was subsequently brought down. Hale took the spot kick and made no mistake, firing it towards the top right corner.
Eaves, who had come off the bench, won a penalty in the closing moments. Freeman headed the ball back towards the box, and the forward looked like getting on the end of it. However, he had his shirt pulled back and went down, leaving the referee with no choice but to point to the spot. Eaves took the penalty and showed great composure, as he calmly placed it down the middle, with Eyestone diving to his left.
Gareth Ainsworth made one change to the team that played out the goalless draw with Newport County, as Armani Little returned to the starting XI for the first time since the opening day. Garath McCleary missed out due to the back problem that forced him off against Newport. Cameron Antwi returned to the bench.
The opening 15 minutes of the game were scrappy, as both sides battled to control possession. Neither goal was tested, but the Gills found themselves in some positive forward areas, with Little getting stuck into challenges in the midfield.
In the 17th minute, Paul Mullin gave the hosts the lead. Kian Spence played a low ball into the penalty area, finding the forward, who had sent Andy Smith to the ground as the ball was making its way to him. That allowed him a free shot at goal, with his low drive ending up in the bottom right corner.
Spence delivered another testing cross from the right, which nearly found a Rotherham man. Fortunately, a combination of Smith and Omar Beckles did enough to deal with it before clearing their lines.
Ollie Wright made a huge save to deny Spence after 25 minutes. Josh Austerfield played a defence-splitting pass that allowed the Rotherham man to run through the middle unchallenged to get on the end of it. Wright timed the run off his line to close the angle perfectly, as he did enough to send the ball behind for a corner, which came to nothing.
In the 34th minute, Ronan Hale volleyed Gillingham back onto level terms. Nick Freeman did brilliantly to win possession on halfway before breaking forward down the right. He had the time to set himself before floating a cross in the direction of Lamin Sillah, who was competing with a defender as the ball was flicked on towards the back post. It dropped to an unmarked Hale, who waited for the ball to fall to him before thumping his volley goalward. He did excellently to get his body over the ball, keeping it down, as his strike found the side netting of the bottom right corner.
Sillah tried his luck in the final seconds of the half when he received the ball just inside the Gillingham half. He got his head up and realised Julian Eyestone was off his line and sent a lobbed ball goalward. It had the host’s goalkeeper backpedalling, but it just cleared the crossbar.
HALF-TIME: Rotherham United 1-1 Gillingham
The hosts nearly had a great opportunity shortly after the break. Jili Buyabu drove down the left-hand side, getting beyond Freeman before cutting the ball back. It found an unchallenged Mullin, but the forward failed to make clear contact with the ball, and it flashed past him and the visitors cleared their lines.
Wright was called into action when he saved Brandon Cover’s shot. The hosts had a corner that they played low into Mullin’s feet at the near post, who then played it out to Cover on the edge of the box. He drilled his shot towards the near post, but Wright had it covered, as he made a routine save.
On the hour, Sillah gave Gillingham the lead. Freeman’s cross from the right was headed out to James Brophy, who cushioned the ball in the direction of the Nottingham Forest loanee. Sillah did well to control it with his back to the goal before shooting on the turn, with his shot squeezing past Eyestone at his near post.
The visitors were awarded a penalty five minutes later. Brophy played a ball in behind the Rotherham defence, which allowed Sillah to chase. The forward got to the ball ahead of the oncoming Eyestone before taking it past the goalkeeper and was subsequently brought down.
Hale took the spot kick and made no mistake, firing the ball towards the top right corner, with Eyestone going the other way.
Wright did well to deny Cover, who curled a shot from the edge of the box. It was at a good height for the Southampton loanee, who got two strong hands to push it clear. The rebound fell to Buyabu, who could not keep his powerful strike down, and it went over the bar.
Aaron Nemane tried his luck when he fizzed a low drive towards the goal. Wright did brilliantly to get down and push it away from the goal before the visitors cleared their lines.
In the 77th minute, Gillingham made their first change when Ethan Coleman replaced Little.
Moments later, the visitors were forced into a second change after Harry Waldock had taken a whack to the face and could not continue. He was replaced by Bradley Dack.
Gillingham soon made their final three changes, as Sheldon Kendall, Tom Eaves and Jack Daley replaced Hale, Sillah and Logan Dobbs.
The visitors won another penalty in the closing moments. Freeman sent a header back into the box, which Eaves tried to get on the end of. The forward had his shirt pulled back and went down, leaving the referee with little option but to award the spot kick.
Eaves scored his first goal in his second stint with the club from the resulting penalty, showing great composure to stroke the ball down the middle of the goal with Eyestone diving to his left.
FULL-TIME: Rotherham United 1-4 Gillingham
Rotherham United: Eyestone, Austerfield (Bradshaw 61’), Ngwenya, Ashley (Jellis 46’), Spence (Nemane 68’), Mullin, Hall, Aljofree, Buyabu, Iorfa (Fitzgerald 84’), Cover
Unused Substitutes: Cann, Rafferty, Douglas
Gillingham: Wright, Smith, Beckles, Dobbs (Daley 83’), Freeman, Little (Coleman 77’), McKenzie, Brophy, Hale (Kendall 82’), Waldock (Dack 78’), Sillah (Eaves 82’)
Unused Substitutes: Luthra, Antwi
Referee: William Davis
Attendance: 7492 (565 Gills supporters)
