Accrington Stanley 1 Gillingham 1: League 2 match report from the Wham Stadium

Gillingham came back from a goal down to take a point from their League 2 opener at Accrington Stanley.

Tyler Walton put Accrington ahead midway through the second half before the Gills levelled from Armani Little’s corner, turned in by home defender Devon Matthews to make it 1-1.

Gillingham boss Gareth Ainsworth was without his two summer attacking recruits with Sam Vokes and Seb Palmer-Houlden both missing out injured.

There were just four changes to the starting line-up from the previous time the Gills were at Accrington - a 1-1 draw under John Coleman.

Armani Little continued to wear the captain’s armband too, chosen by Ainsworth from his group of senior leaders.

Gillingham’s record at Accrington over recent years has been pretty impressive.

Since suffering 7-4 and 4-3 defeats to Accrington, the Gills had been to the north west club on seven occasions, recording five wins and two draws.

Former chairman Paul Scally was among the invited guests at the Wham Stadium as the Gills kicked off a new campaign.

Elliott Nevitt led the Gills from the front in a 4-2-3-1 set-up and it was a bit of a frantic start, the home side first to have a go at goal, Donald Love sending a shot wide after Ogie’s defensive header dropped into his path.

Issac Sinclair had a shot blocked for Accrington as they looked the more likely to break the deadlock in the early stages.

Gillingham’s best chance of the half came from a Max Clark corner that dropped invitingly but Conor Masterson couldn’t get his effort on target from close range.

Joe Gbode put another chance over the bar for the Gills while Farrend Rawson and Devon Matthews both headed wide for the home side as the game reached half-time goalless.

Both teams were committed but neither had