Four different scorers on target as Gills win FA Youth Cup tie at Priestfield.
Four different scorers were on target as Gills beat Corinthian Casuals 4-1 to advance to round two of the FA Youth Cup.
Joe Gbode, Kai Garrett, Sam Gale and Ronald Sithole all found the back of the net as the hosts won the tie in convincing fashion.
Mark Moss named a few familiar names in his starting XI with Gbode, Alex Giles and Gale all featuring on the teamsheet.
Taite Holtam started in goal with Sithole and Josh Bayliss supporting Gbode in attack.
Julian Kuhr was named among the substitutes.
Gills had more of the possession in the opening stages but were patient with their build-up as Corinthian held their shape and restricted opportunities. The first one fell to Kai Garrett on 14 minutes with his right footed effort from 25 yards being struck straight at Reggie Rose.
Garrett was involved again a few minutes later when, inside the box, he turned inside and out as two defenders did their best to at least prevent him from having a shot. They failed to do so and the youngster forced a fine save.
Moments later and Gills took the lead. Dempsey had opportunity on the left wing to deliver a ball into the box, Gbode stole a yard off his man and guided an excellent header into the corner.
After a comparatively quieter period of the first half, Gbode had another chance on 39 minutes when another cross from the left was met by the powerful striker. His header struck the ground and skipped off the turf and over the bar.
However, a few minutes later Gills had a second. A corner from Ronald Sithole was punched away by the keeper and then cleared as far a Gbode whose right footed effort was well saved. The loose ball landed at the feet of Kai Garrett who was denied with a first attempt, but his second struck the inside of the post and rolled into the corner of the net.
H/T: Gillingham 2-0 Corinthian Casuals
Corinthian came out stronger in the second half and Gills had to be defensively resilient to prevent the visitors from getting back in the game.
Sam Gale made a goal saving challenge to deny Chukwuka Uzor-Greey a free shot at Taite Holtam, with a couple of corners falling the right side of the woodwork from a Gills perspective.
And it was Gale who put the result beyond all doubt with 20 minutes left to play. Sithole played a good ball in towards the near post, Gale gambled and made excellent contact to guide a header beyond Reggie Rose.
As the game approached the final few minutes, Corinthian Casuals pulled one back via the penalty spot with Dimitri Nicolaou converting the spot kick following a pull of the shirt inside the box. However, seconds after the restart Ronald Sithole netted a fourth goal when he controlled a poor clearance from the keeper who was out of his area. The forward got enough power on his shot to find the back of the net from distance to seal the tie in style.
F/T: Gillingham 4-1 Corinthian Casuals
Gills: Holtam, Moore, Gale, Giles, Dempsey (Woodliffe 77), Skipper (Heasman 90+2), Hutcheon (Kuhr 62), Garrett, Sithole, Bayliss, Gbode.
Unused subs: Smith, Woodfine, Waldock, White.
Corinthian Casuals: Rose, Lamptey, Darwish, Edwards, Nicolaou, Grey, Ince, Campbell-Jones, Uzor-Grey, Francisco, King (Dada 72)
Unused subs: Ofuyaekpone-Shombe, Hilaire, Beqiri, Esa, Mundle-Smith, Apena
Attendance: 476 (145)
Referee: Mr K Dempster