Pompey take the points at ME7.
Gillingham slipped to their second defeat in the space of four days after losing 2-0 to Portsmouth at MEMS Priestfield Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Steve Evans made a number of changes to his starting XI with Christian Maghoma and Declan Drysdale coming into the heart of defence and Tommy O’Connor joining Josh Eccles and Jacob Mellis in midfield.
Vadaine Oliver, Dominic Samuel and Jordan Graham started in attack.
Gillingham had the better of the opening exchanges and attempted to put Portsmouth on the back foot from the get go. Dominic Samuel had a shot blocked and a couple of crosses from Jordan Graham required defensive intervention.
However, Portsmouth turned the game on its head within a matter of moments. Firstly former Gills loanee John Marquis went on a solo run on the edge of the box, moving to his left before producing a shot across the advancing Jack Bonham into the opposite corner to give his side the lead.
This appeared to unsettle Gills slightly and moments later it was two-nil with Michael Jacobs fending off an incoming interception to prod the ball beyond Bonham inside the box.
Gills, now with an uphill battle, had their chances to at least halve the deficit with Vadaine Oliver’s close range header going over the bar following a Jordan Graham free-kick. The winger himself had an equally good chance shortly after when Eccles produced a fine pass into the box, Samuel got a touch which allowed Graham the space to pick his spot, but he sent his effort inches wide of the top corner.
Portsmouth could have added a third when Tom Naylor’s glancing header came off the inside of the post before being cleared.
H/T: 0-2
Pompey started the second half as they had finished the first; looking for a third goal and they nearly got it when a deflected shot inside the box ran inches wide of the post for a corner which was well defended.
Tom O’Connor’s effort at the other end came off the foot of a Pompey defender for a corner, and shortly afterwards Lee Brown’s header back to Craig MacGillivray narrowly escaped the back of the net, with the pace on the back pass far too much for the Pompey number one. Fortunately for the visitors it went the other side of the post.
Oliver had a half chance to pull one back when a header of his cleared the bar, with the striker leaning back to try and make the desired contact.
Marquis had a glorious chance to add a third for Portsmouth, but his header from six yards missed the target. Marcus Harness was played through on goal a few minutes later and only had Jack Bonham to beat, but the keeper came out and stuck out a left leg to deny an almost certain third goal.
Drysdale and Bonham had to be alert, and put bodies on the line to block efforts inside the Gills box who threw everything they could at the visitors in the closing stages, but crosses were very well defended and Portsmouth held on to secure their clean sheet, and maximum points.
F/T: 0-2
Gills: Bonham, Jackson, Drysdale, Maghoma, Ogilvie, Mellis, Eccles, O’Connor, Samuel (Akinde 55), Oliver (MacDonald 84), Graham.
Unused subs: Walsh, Tucker, McKenzie, Robertson, Coyle
Portsmouth: MacGillivray, Johnson, Brown, Naylor, Whatmough, Williams, Raggett, Jacobs (Pring 90), Cannon (Curtis 74), Harness (Close 74), Marquis.
Unused subs: Bass, Stanley, Morris, Nicolaisen
Referee: Mr D Rock