Hull clinical at Priestfield on opening day of the season.
Goals in either half condemned Gills to a 2-0 home defeat in their first outing of the Sky Bet League One season.
Keane Lewis Potter and Josh Magennis secured the three points for Hull City on what was a frustrating afternoon for Steve Evans’ men.
The Gills boss brought Connor Ogilvie, Robbie McKenzie, Kyle Dempsey and Stuart O’Keefe in to the starting XI having sat out Tuesday’s win in the EFL Trophy against Crawley.
Former Gills loanee Alfie Jones had to make do for a place on the bench for the visitors while Tom Eaves missed out through injury for the Tigers.
Steve Evans’ side made the worst possible start, going behind in the second minute. The visitors broke into the Gills box down the right hand side and cut the ball back to Keane Lewis Potter, who fired into the far corner. 0-1.
Despite the early set-back the Gills should have drawn level just a couple of minutes after but John Akinde could only fire straight at Matt Ingram from a tight angle inside the penalty area. The forward had broken in behind the Hull backline, but his effort went straight at the stopper from 10 yards.
Hull were looking a threat on the break and nearly doubled their lead in the 20th minute but George Honeyman’s powerful effort went straight into the arms of Jack Bonham. The Tigers were penning the Gills in, and it was tough going in ME7 for a short while.
As the game ticked towards the half an hour mark Steve Evans’ men did slowly start to take control but without any real clear-cut chances. The best opening before the break fell to Jacob Mellis but, following a good knock down from Akinde, the new midfielder volleyed way over the bar. Just before the interval Greg Docherty fired straight at Bonham.
H/T: 0-1
After a disappointing opening half at Priestfield Steve Evans shuffled his pack for the second period, introducing Vadaine Oliver and Scott Robertson. It was the on-loan Celtic man’s first appearance for Gills.
The first chance of the second half went the way of the hosts too. A cross field pass from Jordan Graham was knocked down by Oliver but Stuart O’Keefe’s effort was sliced wide of the post. On the hour mark Kyle Dempsey was replaced by Matty Willock. The Gills skipper twisted his ankle and had to be replaced.
The change certainly disrupted the flow of the Gills who had improved at the start of the second half and following a quiet spell in the game Hull added a second. A free-kick from 30 yards was flicked in by Josh Magennis to leave Bonham with no chance and put the game to bed. 0-2.
It could have been worse for the Gills at the end but De Wijs smashed an effort over the bar before Potter was denied a second goal by a last ditch tackle from former Hull player Rob McKenzie.
F/T: 0-2
Gills: Bonham, Ogilvie, McKenzie, Maghoma, Medley, Mellis (Robertson 45), Dempsey (Willock 63), O’Keefe, Coyle (Oliver 45), Graham, Akinde.
Unused subs: Walsh, Tucker, Woods, Macdonald.
Hull: Ingram, De Wijs, Burke, Smallwood, Wilks, Honeyman (Scott 82), Emmanuel, Lewis-Potter, Fleming, Magennis (Batty 82), Docherty (Jones 86).
Unused subs: Cartwright, Samuelsen, McLoughlin, Jones
Referee: Mr Andy Woolmer