Gillingham manager Mark Bonner was very pleased with his side's brilliant performance in the 1-0 win against MK Dons on Saturday afternoon.
Robbie McKenzie scored the only goal of the game in the second-half. Gills had their backs to the wall for large periods of the fixture, but Bonner was delighted with how his side dealt with the pressure throughout the 90 minutes.
There were 1,009 travelling supporters in Milton Keynes, rewarded for their superb backing with all three points. The Gillingham boss was pleased they could enjoy a moment of celebration together come the full-time whistle.
Gills have been boosted by the return of multiple players in recent weeks. Aaron Rowe started his first game since the victory against Chesterfield in August. Bradley Dack and Josh Andrews also made cameos off the bench, with the squad continuing to strengthen in numbers.
Immediate post-match thoughts...
In the last two games, they [the players] have been brilliant in terms of their commitment to the game and their effort in the game. It's a massive win that. Away wins are hard to come by, and clean sheets are hard to come by. We're doing very well in that regard, clean sheet-wise. Cat [Glenn Morris] has had a great game.
The scramble at the end is just crazy. I don't even know what happened there. We will take it very, very gratefully, and it backs up last week, which is great. To come here and win was a dream result for us.
It helps, maybe, kick-start a bit of momentum. We need to try and keep backing that up and get rolling. A big day for us. Huge credit to the lads, the ones that started and the ones who finished the game, I thought that they made a good impact in it. We changed quite a bit during the game, but we coped really well.
The defensive efforts...
Once we got ahead, the way in which we defended our half and box this afternoon was brilliant. We turned them into a direct and crossing team, which was fantastic. They made a lot of changes and brought a lot of forwards onto the pitch and had a really good threat. I thought that we defended the box really well today.
Whether it was people blocking or defending crosses, we dealt with players like [Alex] Gilbey, [Stephen] Wearne and [Scott] Hogan in the box so well today. They're such a threat. They have got so many threats in the team, and they are in great form at the moment and winning games.
It was really tough for us to defend for such large periods, but I thought the concentration and the personality of the players was very good. You have to be proud of the endeavour to get at it.
The travelling support...
I thought that they were amazing in the second-half. The atmosphere and noise there was great. They deserved it. They celebrated it at the end and they applauded the team in the way that they should. The lads got a bit of love, which they deserved today because they gave absolutely everything to get a result. For us to get the three points, we're chuffed to bits.
The returning players...
You look at the team we had, and we made a couple of changes. It was great to see Aaron [Rowe] back out there and the changes we were able to make during the game. We were a strong team that finished that game, and that can give us a nice confidence that some of the boys that have been missing for a while are getting a run of games.
Robbie [McKenzie], Ethan [Coleman], Nev [Elliott Nevitt] and Aaron Rowe. It's so good to have them back. Seeing Dacky [Bradley Dack] on the pitch is so important. Josh Andrews is putting games together. We're starting to develop a much stronger squad, and that will serve us well with the number of games we have got coming.
