Gillingham’s pre-season match against Reading at Priestfield on Saturday ended level.
Shad Ogie hit the crossbar for the Gills in an opening half that saw the home side have several other chances, which they couldn’t convert. Neither side managed to find a breakthrough as the match ended goalless.
Gillingham faced a significant step up in opposition for their second pre-season when they faced League 1 Reading.
The Gills were looking to build on a positive 1-0 win at Dover on the Tuesday night and once again manager Gareth Ainsworth took a look at a different team in each half. The first 45 was better than the second.
Trialist left-back Lenny Cirino got another chance to impress but Ainsworth still had six senior players missing.
Centre-half Andy Smith was involved for the first time, lining up in the second-half team, which allowed Ethan Coleman to return to his familiar midfield role.
There were some impressive bits of skill in the opening stages to create chances but the finishing wasn’t of the same standard.
Dack picked out Ogie in the box which led to a shot that didn’t trouble keeper Joel Pereira, while Joe Gbode cut in and fired wide after being picked out by Remeao Hutton’s brilliant crossfield pass.
Cirino played a fine ball into the feet of the busy Palmer-Houlden but he couldn’t quite get the ball to Marcus Wyllie, who had got into a good position.
Andre Garcia had the ball in the net for the visitors but the flag was already up for offside.
The Gills were doing well at closing the Reading defence down, with Dack’s hard work in the middle key to that, but he ended up picking up a worrying knock for his troubles after a challenge from Paudie O’Connor.
Dack managed to play on, with a deadleg looking like the
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