AMMIES REFLECT AFTER 3-1 DEFEAT TO GILLINGHAM

A clinical Gillingham imposed a 3-1 defeat on Salford at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium thanks to goals from Connor Mahoney, Tom Nichols and Dom Jefferies.

Mahoney gave the home side the lead in the first half with Gills' first attempt, finishing into the bottom-left corner from the top of the box after being afforded space. However Salford levelled when Matt Smith headed in Ryan Watson's cross to make this his best league return in a single season.

He ended the half by heading another cross wide of the near post, with Conor McAleny firing wide across goal early in the second half after being played through by Stevie Mallan, but Salford were made to pay for those missed chances.

In the 54th minute Jonny Williams' cross was headed in by Nichols, then eight minutes later another header, this time from Jefferies, earned Gilingham their first league points under Stephen Clemence.

Those two second half goals conceded were a particularly disappointing point for Neil Wood, who was disappointed with the way his side went behind.

He, said:

"You know their threats are going to come in from the sides, they’re going to cut in from both sides so we know that is happening and it’s disappointing to concede the first goal like we did.

"We lost our way a little bit after that, scored a good goal to get back into it and I thought the first half was fairly even. We went in at half time and felt we had enough to out there and win in the second half. I think the bottom line of the second half is you can’t defend crosses like that, you can’t not mark properly, you can’t not get contact on the striker, and if you compare the difference between the two boxes in terms of when we’re attacking to when another team attacks, it’s night and day. It’s really poor defending for the Nichols goal, especially the third, for me that’s the bottom line you can’t defend crosses like that.

"We have to get back at it, we’ve always done that we’ve always learned from defeats, we’ve also learned when we’ve won games as well. We don’t take winning of granted, we have to turn up, we have to perform, we have to compete against any opposition to win a game and like I said, the second and third goals today we can’t give goals away like that, it’s so basic and that’s what really undone us today."

Salford seemed to settle quicker than the home side, and had the first opportunity of the game when Luke Garbutt swung in a cross from the left that Smith headed back across goal and wide of the far post.

The left-back instigated the next opportunity too as he pinged a ball into Smith’s feet midway inside the Gillingham half, and he moved the ball onto the right for Connor McLennan to cross, but it was just a fraction short for Watson to get a proper shot off. The visitors were working the wide areas well and a few moments later Declan John sent a cross in that Shadrach Ogie managed to chest back to Jake Turner with Smith looming in the background.

In the 20th minute a similar corner routine to the one that opened the scoring for Salford on Tuesday night nearly created the next chance, Elliot Watt crossing to the back post where Smith and Theo Vassell were waiting but Turner did well to come and claim.

A couple of minutes later, the home side went ahead with their first attempt on goal. Gillingham moved forward up the left with a cross coming to Nichols at the back post. The forward nudged it back for Mahoney at the top of the box, and the Huddersfield loanee made no mistake with the time allowed to him, burying his shot into the bottom left.

Neither side really responded to that chance, and it wasn’t until the 27th minute that Salford created the next opportunity. A Stevie Mallan free-kick was only cleared to Curtis Tilt at the top of the area who squared for Watt, and the midfielder curled a shot towards the bottom right that cannoned off the post.

With first half time running down, Gillingham could have doubled their lead when Mahoney fed George Lapslie down the right-hand side, who put a low cross across the six-yard area. It was there to be won, but Jonny Williams couldn’t connect and he was offside anyway. It would have been a turning point too because a minute later, Salford levelled. Another promising move up the left allowed Watson the space to cross, and this time it beat the Gillingham defensive line with Smith powering his header past Turner to make it 1-1.

McLennan snuffed out a Jefferies chance in the final five minutes, and at the other end John’s left-wing cross was inviting for Smith at the back post, but he could only head wide.

Early in the second half the visitors were given a very presentable opportunity to take the lead, Mallan intercepting a slack pass in the middle and threading an inch-perfect pass to Conor McAleny, but his shot went narrowly wide of the far post, begging for a touch.

Encouraged by the home crowd though Gills stepped their performance up with Nichols heading over from seven yards out, after Mahoney had headed a Jonny Williams cross back into the middle. The former Crawley striker would have more luck a couple of minutes later though, getting himself onto the end of Jonny Williams’ cross in the 54th minute to head in his first league goal of the season, and fourth in six appearances against Salford.

On the hour mark Watt crossed a great ball at the second phase of a corner that Vassell came storming through the middle of the box to meet, but he was a moment too late and could only glance it wide. Two minutes later, the home side wrapped up their first league win under Clemence when Jefferies got up at the back post to head in a Cheye Alexander cross after Gills had been allowed to get forward and setup the chance.

Smith came close to a response a few minutes later, getting onto a through ball from Watt, but Turner closed him down to save, and the goalkeeper kept a good check on the league’s top scorer for the remainder of the match, including a suspiciously high challenge for a cross that Paul Howard turned an eye to.

The next - and final - best opportunity for Salford came too little too late in stoppage time. McAleny did well to break Gillingham’s line and latched onto a long ball forward, but was thwarted by Turner with his shot from the top of the box; the save fell straight to the feet of Kelly Nmai just inside the area, but his follow-up attempt was straight at Turner. Tilt and Mallan both hit long-range shots, but neither troubled the Gills goal as Salford succumbed to a second consecutive league defeat.

Photo: Salford Football Club