Gillingham 2 Swindon Town 2 match report: Substitute Harry McKirdy denies Gills win after second-half goal from Oli Hawkins and substitute Connor Mahoney’s penalty

A stoppage-time equaliser prevented Gillingham doing the League 2 double over Swindon for the season on Tuesday.

Trailing to Sean McGurk’s first-half goal, the Gills turned the match on its head after the restart through Oli Hawkins and Connor Mahoney with a penalty, the Huddersfield loanee having also got the winning goal at Swindon earlier this season.

But substitute Harry McKirdy ensured it finished 2-2 in the latest edition of a historic “rivalry” which dates back to 1979.

The first opportunity at Priestfield came Gillingham’s way with 10 minutes played in front of a crowd of 6,096. Remeao Hutton won possession and crossed from the right, only for the visiting defence to scramble the ball back to goalkeeper Jack Bycroft.

Seven minutes later, Bycroft again had to be alert to deal with a wild pass by the recalled McGurk - from the home side’s half! But he stayed calm under pressure.

Hutton was in the thick of it again for the Gills. His left-footed cross from the right was taken towards goal by the wind, as Bycroft tipped over.

Midway through the first period, Stephen Clemence’s side had a goal disallowed after a succession of corners. Conor Masterson chested down from Jonny Williams’ cross before he fired home but was denied by the offside flag.

But the Robins went in front against the run of play, much to the delight of their travelling fans. McGurk cut inside the home defence and fired past Jake Turner to find the top corner in style for his first senior professional goal.

McGurk went close to another shortly after the half-hour mark but, this time, Turner parried his effort away.

Masterson blazed over from the edge of the penalty box as he found space after good interplay between Pembury-born Williams and Hutton