Salford 0 Gillingham 2: Match highlights and reaction from Gills head coach Stephen Clemence after League 2 win at the Peninsula Stadium

Gillingham head coach Stephen Clemence knew what to expect at Salford and was delighted that his men stood up to the challenge.

The Gills had to play to the conditions on a pitch that looked in a bad way before the match and a heavy downpour of hail in the second half left it waterlogged. Clemence’s men also managed to keep 23-goal striker Matt Smith quiet as they ran out 2-0 winners.

Report: Salford 0 Gillingham 2

Clemence said: “We knew this week after studying Salford that the pitch wasn’t great and it hasn’t stopped raining at the back end of the week. We knew it would be difficult and the boys were aware of that.

“It was never going to be pretty but we had to fight for the ball and we won a lot of duels, we defended absolutely fantastically well and that’s three clean sheets on the spin now.

“I am really proud of the boys’ efforts, the lads that started and those that came on, to score two goals away from home is always a good day as well.”

There was some concern in the second half that the game could be in doubt when the weather turned bad but the players played on.

Clemence said: “It did cross my mind a touch when the hailstones started coming down and the pitch was going white, I was thinking ‘can you see the lines?’

“When you’re winning the game you’re hoping that’s not going to happen but I tried to stay positive that the game would get done but I did have a look up at the sky a couple of times and think ‘come on, this needs to blow over’.

“I remember playing on many a pitch like that back in the day as a midfield player, having a slide around, trying to win the ball back, making sure you roll your sleeves up and get yourself dirty. It was like the good old days! I didn’t mind it.”

League 2 table

A goal