Gills kick off pre-season with a defeat

Last updated : 18 July 2005 By Simon Head

Spiller: Cracking goal put Gills ahead

Danny Spiller smashed a left-foot shot into the roof of the net to put the Gills ahead after 20 minutes.

Operating out on the right flank, he cut inside and unleashed a cracking shot past Kevin Pilkington in the County goal to put the Gills 1-0 up.

But the Gills failed to capitalise on their early lead, as the home side exerted pressure on the Gills defence - and their debutant keeper Tony Bullock, as they scored from two corners.

Andy White equalised for County, diverting a header from Julien Baudet past Bullock just before halftime.

Then, in the second half, County scored the clinching second goal, when Gavin Gordon nodded home the rebound after Tony Scully hit the crossbar.

It was a disappointing start to Gillingham's pre-season preparations, but it is only the first match, so hopefully we'll see some improvement before the season kicks off on August 6th.

GILLS: Bullock, Wallis, Rose, Hope, Cox, Spiller, Pouton, Crofts, Brighton, Henderson, Byfield.
Subs (all used): Hessenthaler, Roberts, Cornielle, Johnson, Flynn, 2x unnamed triallists, one French, one Dutch