Gillingham started the new year with a familiar result after a sluggish start cost them against Bromley in League 2 on Thursday night.
The Gills were two goals down inside half an hour after Louis Dennis and former Priestfield junior Jude Arthurs netted for the visitors. Kamarl Grant added a third for the Londoners with 14 minutes left and Elliott Nevitt capped a bad night for Gills by missing a penalty late on.
Gillingham were attempting to get their promotion challenge back on track after defeats over Christmas at Wimbledon and Colchester but the performance against Bromley wasn’t anywhere near good enough. They were booed off again by those home fans who stayed on for the final whistle.
A better second half performance couldn’t change the outcome as the Gills slipped to a third straight defeat.
Gills boss Mark Bonner made six changes to the team which started Monday’s game at Wimbledon but there was nothing on show in the early stages to suggest they would reverse their recent losing trend.
Jonny Williams came in to start after being an unused substitute in the previous four games while Josh Andrews was recalled to play upfront.
Andrews picked up a cut to the head after just 30 seconds and twice needed to leave the field to be bandaged up. It was a disruption the Gills didn’t need as Tim Dieng had to fill in as an emergency striker.
Dieng managed an early shot that was blocked but Ethan Coleman’s follow-up was way off target, nearer to the corner flag than the goal. It was perhaps the sign of things to come.
With seven minutes played Bromley took the lead. Michael Cheek ran down the flank, running onto a header off Max Clark, and when he was challenged by Shad Ogie, the ball fell perfectly for Arthurs to have a shot.
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