QPR striker Charlie Kelman netted his first goal for loan side Gillingham in the 1-0 win at Doncaster

Young striker Charlie Kelman said his winning goal for Gillingham on Saturday was a weight off his shoulders.

It’s been two years since the QPR loanee’s last league goal - and what a crucial one it was. Victory for Gills takes them level on points with the teams outside of the League 1 drop zone, with only goal difference keeping them inside the bottom four.

Kelman last scored in the league on March 2020 for Southend, during a loan at Roots Hall. The 20-year-old showed determination to head in at the far post this weekend at Doncaster to convert Ryan Jackson’s long throw. Just 59 seconds were on the clock. His goal was enough to clinch three points for The Blues.

“It was our biggest game of the season to date and I am buzzing,” said Kelman after the match.

“The lads were giving me a bit of stick, saying ‘when are you going to score?!’ It’s nice to have got it 50 seconds in, we just want to pick up as many points as we can and see where we are at the end of the season.

“The gaffer is always big on set-pieces and we had run through it on Friday. The ball bounced and next thing I remember I was off celebrating, I just attacked it. It is always good to get off the mark and hopefully this is just a start.”

It’s a first goal in 19 Gillingham appearances for Kelman who admitted the lack of goals had been playing on his mind.

He said: “I would be staying up at night thinking ‘when is it going to come?’ Then when it came off my head, you just have that weight off your shoulders, it was an amazing feeling.

“The gaffer said that he understood (the lack of goals). It has been over two years since a first team goal, I had just been working hard and keeping my head down, that is the main thing, it was brilliant to get a goal.”

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