A Shilow Tracey brace was the difference as Crewe Alexandra beat Gillingham 2-0 at the Mornflake Stadium.
Mark Bonner made two changes to the starting XI that lost to Grimsby Town in midweek. Remeao Hutton recovered from his knock in time, replacing Ethan Coleman, who dropped to the bench. Robbie McKenzie moved back into the centre of midfield alongside Armani Little.
George Lapslie, who was a substitute in the previous fixture, returned to the line-up in the place of Jonny Williams, who was named on the bench.
There was an early moment of panic when McKenzie went down following a 50/50 challenge. It required him to receive treatment before leaving the field of play. Fortunately, he was okay to continue and returned soon after.
A touch from a Jack Nolan corner would have resulted in a goal after eight minutes. He curled a low cross from the right towards the six-yard box, which bounced just beyond Max Ehmer. The ball then evaded Elliott Nevitt at the back post, who was sliding in at the final moment.
Gills continued to cause their hosts issues with a couple of chances in as many minutes. The first came from a Max Clark cross in the direction of Nevitt, who headed goalward. Unfortunately, he could not guide his effort on target and it went wide of the post.
The second came after good play down the left. Clark and Jayden Clarke linked up before the latter played it down the line for Lapslie. He reached the ball just in time on the byline, cutting it back towards the penalty spot. Nolan made the run onto it but could not make the necessary contact to truly test Filip Marschall in the Crewe goal.
Shilow Tracey gave the hosts the lead after 17 minutes. A loose ball allowed Crewe to break forward with a three-on-three. The ball was played to the right for Jack Lankester, who got beyond Shad Ogie before squaring it for Tracey to slot into an empty net.
In the 25th minute, Glenn Morris had to be brave to deny Tracey a second. A ball was played through for the forward, who was looking to get ahead of the oncoming Morris. However, the Gills goalkeeper got there first, bravely diving in to take the ball off the foot of the Crewe forward.
Clarke and Nolan linked up again after 30 minutes. Clarke latched onto a loose ball down the left before cutting it back into the penalty area. Nolan made the run across to meet the ball, shooting first time. However, his strike was well-blocked before the wide man was left shaken up after colliding with the defender afterwards.
HALF-TIME: Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Gillingham
Gills made a change at half-time as Coleman came on for McKenzie, who was still feeling the after-effects of the challenge he received in the opening minutes.
On the hour, Tracey scored his second. Adrien Thibaut, who had come on at half-time, held the ball up, waiting for the arrival of some support. He had the run of Tracey to his right, playing it out wide for the forward. Tracey took it towards the penalty area before drilling a low-driven effort towards the far corner. The shot went beyond Morris before going in off the inside of the post.
Morris did brilliantly to prevent a third. A corner was cleared as far as Matus Holicek, who drilled a shot from just inside the box through a crowd of players. The Gills goalkeeper did well to remain focused, reacting quickly to palm the strike away before the visitors cleared their lines.
In the 67th minute, Gillingham made a trio of substitutions. Jacob Wakeling, Tim Dieng and Oli Hawkins came on, replacing Nolan, Little and Lapslie.
Joel Tabiner came close from a free-kick from 30 yards out. The ball was in a central position, which he curled up and over the wall towards Morris’ bottom left corner. The Gills goalkeeper got across to push it wide of the post for a corner that came to nothing.
Nevitt tried his luck with a shot on the turn from outside of the penalty area. However, he could not hit the target, sending his attempt wide of the post.
Thibaut was denied by a fantastic reactionary save by Morris in the 76th minute. Tracey got on the end of a ball played down the right before playing a low cross towards the near post. Thibaut tried a fancy backheel to beat Morris, but the goalkeeper was alert, making an impressive save.
Gills made their final change a couple of minutes later, with Joe Gbode replacing Hutton.
Clarke had a half-chance with less than ten minutes remaining. Nevitt saw his shot deflected before the ball ricocheted into Clarke’s path. He struck it first time, shooting into the ground, but it bounced over the crossbar.
In the 88th minute, Nevitt found himself in space as he made his way into the penalty area. He had only Marschall to beat, but the goalkeeper had come off his line, standing up to the forward and blocking his shot.
The rebound came out to Gbode, who saw his curling effort towards the far corner go over the crossbar.
FULL-TIME: Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Gillingham
Crewe Alexandra: Marschall, Knight-Lebel, Demetriou, Z. Williams, Cooney, Connolly, Tabiner (Agius 86’), Conway (Holicek 61’), Breckin (Lunt 86’), Lankester (Thibaut 46’), Tracey (Billington 90’)
Unused Substitutes: Booth, Sanders
Gillingham: Morris, Hutton (Gbode 78’), Ehmer, Ogie, Clark, McKenzie (Coleman 46’), Little (Dieng 67’), Nolan (Wakeling 67’), Lapslie (Hawkins 67’), Clarke, Nevitt
Unused Substitutes: Ashby-Hammond, J. Williams
Referee: Anthony Backhouse
Attendance: 5000 (560 Gillingham supporters)
