Ollie Clarke and Lucas Akins score the goals to give Mansfield victory at Field Mill.
Mansfield Town scored two first half goals to seal a 2-0 win over the Gills at the One Call Stadium on Saturday.
Ollie Clarke’s deflected left footed shot went in off the post before a 35th minute penalty was converted by Lucas Akins.
Timothee Dieng and George Lapslie went close for Gills in the second period but ultimately the visitors went home empty handed.
Neil Harris named an unchanged XI following the win over Crawley at ME7 a week prior, meaning Tom Nichols and Oli Hawkins were passed fit. Joe Gbode didn’t make the squad, with only six subs named.
Tristan Abrahams and Aiden O’Brien provided the forward options from the bench, with George Lapslie also among the substitutes against his former side.
Gills started well and won a couple of early corners which were dealt with by the Mansfield defence before Clarke prodded a shot wide for Nigel Clough’s men just short of the ten minute mark.
The hosts enjoyed a good spell of pressure and took full advantage of it when Clarke opened the scoring on 21 minutes when his powerful left footed strike from 20 yards hit the inside of the post, via a deflection, before crossing the line.
Mansfield had the opportunity to extend their advantage on 35 minutes when Max Ehmer committed a foul inside the box and, despite protests from most of the Gills squad, the spot kick was given and Lucas Akins made no mistake, beating Glenn Morris for power to his left side.
Shortly afterwards and the Stags had the chance to add a third when Hewitt’s cross into the danger zone was headed wide by James Perch. Akins forced Morris into a routine stop a few minutes later.
Just before the break Gills created their best chance of the game when Williams’ cross into the mix was headed inches wide by the oncoming Timothee Dieng. A corner was awarded shortly afterwards, with Hawkins winning the header but it was a comfortable stop for Scott Flinders.
H/T: Mansfield Town 2-0 Gillingham
Glenn Morris made an excellent save shortly after the interval to keep Gillingham in the game. Stephen Quinn’s corner was met by Akins, Morris saw it late but clawed the ball away at full stretch using his right hand and a second corner was well dealt with.
A triple sub from Neil Harris saw George Lapslie, Aiden O’Brien and Cheye Alexander all introduced but the hosts remained defensively resilient and reduced Gills to few clear opportunities.
However, on 73 minutes, the visitors very nearly pulled a goal back when Dieng’s ball into the box was met by Lapslie, and Flinders had to be alert to push the header from close range over the bar for a corner.
Gills sent bodies forward to try and set up a tense finish, a low drive from McKenzie was well kept out but as the visitors committed more men in an attacking sense it nearly cost them a third at the other end. Will Swan, on as a sub for the Stags, went through on goal but Morris stood tall and made an excellent stop.
F/T: Mansfield Town 2-0 Gillingham
Mansfield: Flinders, Hewitt, Harbottle, Clarke, Maris (Boateng 84), Perch, Quinn (O’Toole 84), Wallace (Bowery 73), Kilgour, Keillor-Dunn (Swan 79), Akins.
Unused subs: Pym, Johnson, Law
Gills: Morris, McKenzie (Wright 88), Ehmer, Masterson, Tutonda (Alexander 55), Williams (Abrahams 88), Jefferies (Lapslie 56), MacDonald (O’Brien 56), Dieng, Nichols, Hawkins.
Unused subs: Turner
Attendance: 6937 (631)
Referee: Mr Thomas Kirk