The Gills dominated most of the 90 minutes against a Port Vale side that looked totally lacking in confidence after the sacking of manager Lee Sinnott earlier in the week.
The only goal of the game came courtesy of a John McCombe own goal eleven minutes before the break, and despite his side's failure to find the net themselves, manager Mark Stimson was just pleased to see the team pick up a much-needed three points.
Talking to the official website, he commented: It was important for us to go out and play in front of our own supporters, on a fantastic day, and show them that we are up for this fight; we want to get in amongst the frontrunners and that performance said that. It certainly wasn't pretty but sometimes you take the points. It was one of those games where we didn't play well but we won so that's a good sign."