Gills put in professional display to defeat Concord Rangers.
Gillingham put in a professional display to overcome Concord Rangers 4-0 in a friendly fixture on Tuesday evening.
Aaron Simpson found the bottom left corner early in the game on his weaker foot to give Gills the lead before Mbo, from a slightly tighter angle, increased the advantage before the half-time interval.
Concord enjoyed more opportunities after the break to try and get themselves back into the game, but as the half progressed the quality of the visiting side was clear to see with Nash narrowly missing out on adding to the scoreline before Leroy Hlabi came off the bench to score an excellent header in the closing stages with Mbo bagging a second not long after.
Jason Lillis and Ian Cox were at the helm for the game with Louie Catherall, currently on loan to Herne Bay, allowed to feature in goal.
Darren Oldaker started in midfield alongside Bradley Stevenson with Mbo partnering Nash in attack.
In a first-half which Gills dominated for long periods, Stevenson and Ben Chapman came close to open the scoring before Simpson finally did break the deadlock with a smart finish from inside the box on his weaker foot. With Mbo in close company, Simpson found a yard of space to make an angle for a shot and found the bottom left corner with a clinical effort.
Catherall had to make two excellent saves within the space of a few seconds to deny Concord an equaliser; first palming a powerful shot away before getting up quickly to block with his legs. The resulting corner was eventually cleared.
Chapman saw another effort go close, this time a header from 12 yards which narrowly missed the top left corner, but fortunately for Gillingham these missed chances seemed irrelevant before the break when a second goal was finally scored.
A through pass split the Concord defence, Mbo peeled off to the right hand side to make space for himself and he shook off a challenge from an oncoming defender before placing an effort across the keeper from a tight angle and into the corner.
H/T: 0-2
Concord came out of the traps quickly in the second half, eager to pull a goal back as early as possible but an early effort was fired wide of the left post before a loose ball inside the six-yard box was prodded inches past the woodwork.
Nash had a golden opportunity to put the result beyond all doubt on the hour mark but his left footed shot from just inside the box cleared the post by a matter of inches.
The forward, before coming off, had another chance shortly afterwards on the opposite flank but, under more pressure this time, prodded an effort beyond the right post. Penalty appeals were waved away.
Hlabi was introduced with under 20 minutes to go, but he certainly made the most of his time on the pitch. A deep cross from the left looked out of the striker’s reach, but his leap was excellent and his header was guided across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner to put the result beyond all doubt.
And a fourth came not long afterwards; a series of short passes were exchanged between Chapman, Oldaker and Bramble before Mbo was found on the edge of the penalty area. His strike hit the underside of the keeper before nestling in the net.
F/T: 0-4
Gills: Catherall, Huckle, Tucker (Sheminant 85), O'Mara, Chapman, Simpson (Bramble 74), Oldaker, Stevenson (Woods 58), Nasseri (Yeboah 58), Nash (Hlabi 73), Mbo.