A late Yeovil penalty at Huish Park denies Gillingham a fourth straight win in Sky Bet League One
Adam Morgan struck a controversially awarded 90th minute penalty to deny Gillingham all three points at Huish Park on Saturday afternoon against Yeovil.Luke Norris seemed to have clinched victory for the Gills three minutes from time when his solo run resulted in the striker producing a clinical finish into the far corner, but fellow sub Morgan kept his cool to beat Stuart Nelson from the spot when Joel Grant was judged to have been fouled by Gavin Hoyte.
John Marquis had drawn the game level early in the second half with Chigozie Ugwu netting the opener within the first 25 minutes.
Justin Edinburgh named an unchanged line up to the side that beat MK Dons 4-2 last Saturday with Danny Galbraith retaining his place in midfield while Josh Pritchard returned to the subs bench alongside Jermaine McGlashan and Norris.
Leon Legge and Joe Martin provided defensive cover with Brennan Dickenson presenting another option going forward.
The opening few minutes were fairly even with both sides cancelling each other out, as a result very few chances were created.
A half chance however for John Egan was thwarted by the Yeovil back four before Stuart Nelson had to look alert and clear the ball into touch with James Berrett approaching at pace.
The game came to life on 21 minutes with Yeovil taking the lead with the first clear opportunity of the match. A long ball found Ugwu in a yard of space inside the penalty area, he took a touch as the offside flag stayed down and clinically found the bottom corner with a powerful effort.
Four minutes later and James Hayter should have doubled the advantage – Galbraith lost possession and Ugwu burst down the right wing with the striker calling for the ball in a central position.
The pass was good but Nelson stood tall and did brilliantly to block an initial effort before a follow up shot was put wide.
Gills gradually pushed Yeovil back and on 40 minutes should have struck the equaliser. Bradley Garmston, who was regularly involved on the left wing, picked out Cody McDonald with a great cross.
Cody got a good connection to it but the effort whistled past the post with the striker convinced he should have scored.
Ugwu went equally close at the other end to netting his second. With only Nelson to beat he dinked the oncoming keeper only to see the ball run wide of the target.
H/T: 1-0
McGlashan replaced Galbraith at the break as the Gills changed to a 3-4-1-2 formation and it seemed to have an immediate impact.
A direct free kick taken by McDonald was well saved by Artur Krysiak but Marquis was the first to react and drilled the ball home from close range to level the match up.
The change of system appeared to have helped, but the next 15 minutes were fairly quiet with neither side offering a consistent threat. Josh Sheehan struck wide of the target on 65 minutes however before launching another shot which Nelson saved comfortably.
Ten minutes later and Nelson was called upon once again, this time Hoyte lost possession and Samuel Foley created a yard of space before firing an effort towards the far corner. Nelson however was well placed and palmed the ball wide for a corner which was cleared.
With the clock ticking down the Gills boss elected to take McDonald off and replace him with Norris. And again the decision proved pivotal as the striker found the net with just three minutes to play.
He collected the ball 30 yards from goal, evaded two challenges before driving into the box. He picked his spot and found the far corner with an excellent finish.
The traveling fans sensed a fourth straight win, but the celebrations were short-lived when Hoyte was judged to have fouled Joel Grant inside the box.
The referee pointed to the spot and substitute Adam Morgan made no mistake, sending Nelson the wrong way to clinch a point in the dying moments.
The penalty kick was hotly disputed by the players and management staff, but although the game resulted in a draw, Gills extend their unbeaten run to eight matches.
F/T: 2-2
Yeovil: Krysiak, Smith, Berrett (Morgan 77), Hayter (Grant 62), Foley, Ugwu, Arthurworrey, Webster, Sheehan, Shephard, Kingsley.
Unused subs: Stewart, Moore, Twumasi, Davis, Eastmond
Gills: Nelson, Hoyte, Ehmer, Egan, Garmston, Loft, Hessenthaler, Galbraith (McGlashan 46), Dack (Pritchard 89), McDonald (Norris 84), Marquis.
Unused subs: G Morris, Legge, Martin, Dickenson
Referee: Mr S Hooper
Attendance: 4293 (458 Gills)