Notts County 1 Gillingham 0: League 2 match report from Meadow Lane

Gillingham fell to defeat at promotion-chasing Notts County and it was another former loan player who did the damage.

Three days after ex-loan man Ben Thompson scored a hat-trick for Bromley against the Gills, it was another one-time Priestfield loanee, Scott Robertson, who got the opener for Notts County.

Ronan Hale and Sam Vokes were denied by brilliant home keeper James Belshaw as Robertson’s strike proved enough for Notts to claim all three points.

Gillingham went into the midweek clash smarting from a heavy 4-1 home loss to South Londoners Bromley at the weekend.

It was a poor defensive display against the league leaders and boss Gareth Ainsworth made changes at the back to try and make his team more solid.

Andy Smith dropped out of the squad completely and Conor Masterson was missing injured, which gave loan man Travis Akomeah the chance to reclaim a regular place in the starting line-up.

Akomeah was partnered at the back by debutant Omar Beckles.

The timely arrival of former Leyton Orient captain Beckles on transfer deadline day gave the manager an experienced head to help guide some inexperienced faces at the back.

Ainsworth declared after the loss to Bromley that he would put it right for this one - but they were facing an in-form Notts team.

The ‘Pies went into the game off the back of four straight wins and had second place in their sights. They were, however, missing key man Alassanta Jatta to injury. He’d scored in all four of those recent wins.

There were five changes in all for the Gills from the team that started at the weekend. Ethan Coleman came into midfield as Dack, Rowe and McCleary dropped to the bench. Ronan Hale and Seb Palmer-Houlden were picked to flank striker Josh Andrews in a 4-3-3 set-up.

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