Gills boss praises his squad as Rory Donnelly's late strike sends club top of the league
Justin Edinburgh praised his side for not giving up in their search of a winning goal against Crewe on Saturday.Gillingham bossed proceedings in the second half at Gresty Road and won 1-0 thanks to a 92nd minute strike by Rory Donnelly who netted his sixth goal in four matches.
The Manager said his team took their time getting into the game, but following the break had the opportunities to clinch the points.
He said: “I thought we grew into the game, I don’t think we were as good as we wanted to be in the first half – we looked a bit slow in our passing and closing down but credit to the players because we picked up the pace of the game in the second half and we had enough chances to win the game.
“But what a goal it was to secure the three points, it wasn’t his [Rory Donnelly] best game today but you want to keep players in form on the pitch and it paid off.
"It was a sublime finish and a great time to score; there was no coming back from that.
“That epitomises not only Rory but this group at the moment, they never know when they are beaten and never give up.
"They are full of energy and even though we weren’t at our best we certainly grew into the game and looked to get after Crewe and on another day we could have had a couple more goals.
“You have to earn any points that you manage to get on the road and I felt we did that. We said to the players that their home form isn’t the best and we showed the right attitude.”
Cody McDonald replaced Luke Norris in the first half with the striker suffering an injury, and although he didn’t manage to get on the score sheet Edinburgh believes it’s a matter of time before he does.
He said: “Goal scorers go through periods like that, the cream always rises to the top and he will do. He will get one that secures the win on another day – we did think it would end 0-0 but with Rory in the form he is he can produce that kind of magic.”
Gillingham went top of the league once more following the win but Justin refused to let his players get ahead of themselves, insisting there is a long way to go.
He added: “We won’t get carried away but it’s about trying to better ourselves every day and that’s what this group does.”