Goals from Lyle Taylor and John-Kymani Gordon were the difference as Gillingham were beaten 2-0 by Colchester United at the JobServe Community Stadium on Boxing Day.
Mark Bonner named an unchanged starting XI after the 2-2 draw against Cheltenham Town. Tim Dieng and Armani Little returned from injury lay-offs to be named among the substitutes, while Bradley Dack was fit enough for the bench too.
Taylor opened the scoring after six minutes. Owura Edwards made his way towards the box before cutting it back to Jack Payne, who saw his effort well-saved by Morris. The rebound came out to Taylor, who made no mistake from a few yards out, finding the left corner.
The hosts thought they had doubled their advantage a couple of minutes later. Edwards was at the heart of the action again, creating space for himself before playing a low ball across the box. Oscar Thorn met it, slotting it into the back of an empty net. Fortunately, he had done so from an offside position, according to the linesman, ruling the goal out.
In the 19th minute, Morris was called into action. Edwards struck a low-driven shot from outside the box. The Gills goalkeeper got down to his right to pull off a routine save, comfortably gathering.
There was a huge let-off for the visitors when Arthur Read drilled the ball across the Gillingham six-yard box. Fortunately, there was nobody in the vicinity of the cross, with it needing the simplest of touches to find the back of the net.
Remeao Hutton made a crucial goal-saving challenge after 27 minutes. The ball was played into Taylor, who spotted the run of Edwards. The Colchester man would have just had Morris to beat if not for Hutton, who provided a last-ditch sliding tackle to take the ball from his feet before the visitors cleared their lines.
Jack Nolan had Gillingham’s first opportunity of note a couple of minutes later. Robbie McKenzie played a smart pass out to Jayden Clarke on the left, who brought the ball inside before laying it off to Nolan. The attacking midfielder set himself before shooting from around 20 yards, sending his shot over the crossbar.
Taylor rattled the top of the bar a few minutes before half-time. Edwards got in behind down the left, keeping the ball in play before finding Taylor, who had come out wide to provide support. The striker was afforded the time and space to set himself before curling his shot towards the far top corner, which looped onto the top of the crossbar before going out of play.
Matt Macey was forced into action for the first time soon after. Nolan had a shot to the left of centre from 20 yards out, which bounced just in front of Macey. The Colchester goalkeeper had to push it away, with it just evading Elliott Nevitt. The rebound came to Hutton on the edge of the penalty area, who tried placing his attempt towards the bottom corner at the near post, proving a simple save for Macey.
HALF-TIME: Colchester United 1-0 Gillingham
Gillingham made two half-time substitutions, with Armani Little and Shad Ogie replacing Nolan and Max Clark.
Payne nearly took advantage of some defensive miscommunication less than 90 seconds into the second period. Mandela Egbo played a low cross into the box, which Payne met ahead of the oncoming Morris. He prodded it beyond the Gills goalkeeper, sending it just wide of the post.
Taylor had the ball in the back of the net again. However, he saw it ruled out. A free-kick into the box bounced before falling to the forward, who drilled the ball into the bottom corner. However, the referee spotted an infringement inside the box, awarding Gillingham a free-kick.
Thorn had a great opportunity after a quick attack from Colchester. Egbo played the ball out to Thorn, who had plenty of space as he made his way into the box. Fortunately, he got his shot all wrong, blazing it well over the crossbar.
The visitors made two more changes in the 63rd minute. Dieng and Dack came into the game, replacing Conor Masterson and Aaron Rowe.
Dack had Gillingham’s first chance of the half soon after. Gills won a free-kick 25 yards from the goal after Clarke was brought down to the left of centre. Dack took the set piece, curling his effort around the wall, with Macey catching the shot.
In the 76th minute, McKenzie was denied by a brilliant Macey save. Ogie looped the ball into the penalty area, with the ball headed down to McKenzie on the edge of the box. The midfielder struck a half-volley goalward, with Macey having to get his fingertips on the ball to send it over the bar for a corner, which came to nothing.
Gillingham made their final substitution with less than ten minutes remaining, as Josh Andrews came on for Ethan Coleman.
John-Kymani Gordon, who replaced Edwards, doubled Colchester’s advantage on 85 minutes. Tom Hopper took advantage of a mishap in the Gillingham defence before carrying the ball towards the box. The ball was taken from his feet, with it falling Gordon, who drilled a shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
Payne nearly added a third during stoppage time. Gordon carried the ball forward before playing it through to the attacking midfielder, who tried to set the angle for himself before shooting. However, he could not hit the target, sending it wide of the post.
Hutton had a good opportunity in the final seconds. Dieng looped a cross towards the right-back, who could not keep his volley down and struck a shot off target.
FULL-TIME: Colchester United 2-0 Gillingham
Colchester United: Macey, Iandolo, Flanagan, Payne, McDonnell, Read (Bishop 73’), Egbo, Edwards (Gordon 73’), Donnelly, Thorn (Anderson 60’), Taylor (Hopper 73’)
Unused Substitutes: Smith, Kelleher, Goodliffe
Gillingham: Morris, Hutton Ehmer, Masterson (Dieng 63’), Clark (Ogie 46’), Coleman (Andrews 81’), McKenzie, Clarke, Nolan (Little 46’), Rowe (Dack 63’), Nevitt
Unused Substitutes: Turner, J. Williams
Referee: Farai Hallam
Attendance: 5934 (884 Gillingham supporters)
