Forest Green Rovers 0 Gillingham 0 match report: League 2 game ends goalless

Gillingham collected their first away point under head coach Stephen Clemence after a drab goalless draw on Friday night.

It was a case of two points dropped as Gillingham failed to create enough chances against a team in the League 2 relegation zone.

On this showing, it was no surprise these two sides are the lowest goalscorers in the division.

Gills made one change from the team that lost to Bradford last Saturday, with Jayden Clarke coming into the team.

Referee Sam Allison was the man in the middle ahead of his first Premier League game on Boxing Day - Sheffield United v Luton. He’ll be the first Black referee in the Premier League for 15 years.

The first half was played at a slow pace, and while Gills were content to keep the ball at the back, there seemed little tempo as they tried to move forward. Macauley Bonne was too often an isolated figure against the towering Ryan Inniss and neither Ethan Coleman or Tim Dieng were able to get into the contest in the middle of the park.

Inniss headed over in the second minute from a left-wing corner as Rovers tried to make a fast start under new head coach Troy Deeney.

Gills worked their way into the penalty area on 18 minutes as Bonne fed Clarke but his nifty footwork saw him beat a defender and pull back - only for no-one to arrive for a simple tap-in.

Gills were struggling to contain the running of Charlie McCann and he set up Callum Morton, whose 20th-minute shot was beaten away by keeper Jake Turner.

Turner’s opposite number was in the book on 25 minutes as Rovers keeper Luke Daniels punched clear on the edge of the box. While Daniels’ feet were inside the penalty area, his outstretched arm clearly wasn’t and it presented Gills with a great opportunity.

However, in