Town manager Joe Royle bemoaned two gift-wrapped goals presented to Gillingham by his defence after Town lost 4-3 at home to Andy Hessenthaler's Gills.

Royle said: "Gillingham must have thought Christmas had come early. They have not been prolific scorers but two of their goals were gift-wrapped.

"I didn't trust our defence from the first minute. It was hard to name a single defender who showed his best form.

"When you concede four goals at home you can hardly complain about losing.

"Yet when we pulled back to 3-3 in the 73rd minute I fancied us to win. We didn't get a goal when we needed it but we missed chances and balls were cleared off the line."

Hessenthaler felt his team felt his team's recent form warranted the result: "It was an unbelievable game but it's been coming for us. We have been playing well in recent weeks but losing.

"When they pulled back to 3-3 I thought we were going to lose again. I'd have settled for a point. We were trying to waste time but ended up scoring the winning goal.

"It was our best performance of the season without a doubt. Now we must keep doing it.

"The spirit we showed was not unusual for us but this time we had a bit of luck. Late on I took off Tommy Johnson so I could put five in midfield and it worked for us."

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