Gillingham put in an excellent performance against Crewe at MEMS Priestfield Stadium but were held to a 0-0 draw.
The hosts had plenty of chances in the second half. Andy Smith saw a header cleared off the line, while Sam Gale had two headers well saved by Filip Marschall. Max Ehmer's close-range attempt was saved before being cleared off the line in the dying moments. Bradley Dack also had a goal disallowed.
Crewe were reduced to ten men on 75 minutes after Ryan Cooney was shown a second yellow card after a foul on Dack, who had just come on as a substitute.
John Coleman made one change to the starting XI that drew at table-topping Walsall on Tuesday night. Joe Gbode missed the fixture, with Jimmy-Jay Morgan coming into the line-up. Nelson Khumbeni returned to the matchday squad, having missed the game in midweek.
Robbie McKenzie had the first opportunity in the eighth minute. Morgan did well down the left-hand side to cut into the box on his right foot before shooting. He saw his effort blocked, which fell to McKenzie. After his heroics against Walsall, he struck it first time, with his attempt flying over the crossbar.
Gills had a huge let-off when Jack Powell received a misplaced pass, which left Glenn Morris off his line. Powell struck it first time, fortunately sending it well wide of the target.
A smart corner routine nearly paid off on 20 minutes. Dom Corness passed the ball to the penalty spot for an unmarked Armani Little to latch onto, striking first time. Unfortunately, he could not keep his shot down, and it cleared the crossbar.
McKenzie had another attempt when he received a pass on the edge of the penalty area, side-footing a first-time effort towards the near post. It was well-blocked by a Crewe defender for a corner, which came to nothing.
The visitors came close again through excellent work from Shilow Tracey. The Crewe striker did brilliantly to get past three Gillingham defenders before getting into the penalty area. He was quickly closed down by Morris, who made a brave save before the rebound came out to Matus Holicek. He struck the ball first time, sending it over the crossbar with Morris still out of his goal.
Joel Tabiner saw a shot well blocked after a period of pressure on the Gills penalty area. Holicek quickly regained possession after a blocked attempt before offloading it to Tabiner on the left side of the box. He cut inside onto his right foot before shooting through a sea of bodies. It was blocked away from the goal by a Gillingham defender, but Morris seemingly had it covered.
Remeao Hutton’s cross kept Marschall guessing as it floated onto the top of the crossbar before staying in play. Elliott Nevitt was battling to win the second ball but was crowded out by the recovering Crewe defenders.
Morgan was denied by a strong save from Marschall in the 42nd minute. Max Clark’s free-kick directed towards the penalty area was headed down to Max Ehmer, who did brilliantly to bring the ball under control and create space before finding Nevitt inside the box.
His shot was blocked by a defender, with the loose ball coming out to Morgan in space on the left side of the box. He brought it onto his right foot, sending a low drive goalward. Marschall got down, getting a solid hand onto the ball, and it went back into a dangerous area. Andy Smith was charging it down, but a Crewe defender was on hand to make the crucial last-ditch intervention.
HALF-TIME: Gillingham 0-0 Crewe Alexandra
The hosts started the second half brightly, and Nevitt was denied by a big block from a Crewe defender. Max Clark went down inside the penalty area, but the referee was quick to shut down any penalty appeals. The left-back quickly regained possession before offloading to Morgan. The ball was worked to Nevitt, who created space for himself to shoot from just inside the box. His attempt was deflected and looped out of play for a corner.
From the resulting corner, a clearance off the line stopped Gillingham from going a goal in front. Corness’ centre found Smith, who headed goalward. His effort beat Marschall in the Crewe goal before being headed off the line by Holicek.
Sam Gale came very close to scoring his first Gillingham goal in the 56th minute. Little curled a free-kick from midway in the Crewe half to the right of the penalty area. Gale rose the highest, heading into the ground towards the goal. Marschall had to react quickly, saving with his feet.
Marschall did brilliantly to deny Gale again after 65 minutes. A long throw by Hutton was flicked on by Smith towards Gale, who looped a header goalward. The Crewe goalkeeper had to get across at full stretch to claw the ball over the crossbar.
Two massive blocks from the hosts denied Crewe from going in front. Adrien Thibaut did well to hold up the ball before playing it out wide. The play progressed until Holicek made his way into the penalty area before shooting. His goalbound attempt was bravely blocked by Gale before the rebound dropped to Tom Lowery, who saw his strike blocked behind for a corner by Clark.
In the 69th minute, Gillingham made four substitutions. Oli Hawkins, Bradley Dack, Jack Nolan and Jayden Clarke replaced Morgan, Corness, Clark and Hutton.
Ryan Cooney was sent off six minutes later. The Crewe defender upended Dack from latching onto a pass forward by Hawkins, leaving the referee with no choice but to show him a second booking, having been yellow carded earlier in the half.
Hawkins came close when Nolan’s cross from the left found him at the back post, with his headed attempt nestling onto the roof of the net.
Gillingham had the ball in the back of the net soon after, but it was ruled out. Little curled a cross deep into the penalty area for Hawkins, who looped a header back across the six-yard box. Marschall attempted to catch the ball but could not keep it within his grasp before it bounced off a Gills player and into the back of the net. However, the officials believed there had been a foul on the Crewe goalkeeper, disallowing the goal.
There were eight minutes of stoppage time awarded as Gillingham went on the hunt for a late winner. Deep into the added period, a long ball into the box dropped to Nevitt, who thumped an effort goalward. His goalbound strike seemed destined for the bottom corner had it not been for a brave block, which took the ball out for a corner.
From the resulting corner, the deadlock was nearly broken. Marschall attempted to claim the corner, fumbling the ball into the six-yard box. There was a mini scramble until it broke to Ehmer, who thumped goalward.
Marschall got a hand on the strike before it bounced off a defender and was cleared off the line, with massive appeals for handball by the Gillingham players and the Rainham End. However, the referee and his assistant were quick to wave it away, as the full-time whistle sounded soon afterwards.
FULL-TIME: Gillingham 0-0 Crewe Alexandra
Gillingham: Morris, Hutton (Clarke 69’), Smith, Ehmer, Gale, Clark (Nolan 69’), McKenzie, Little, Corness (Dack 68’), Nevitt, Morgan (Hawkins 68’)
Unused Substitutes: Turner, Ogie, Khumbeni
Crewe Alexandra: Marschall, Cooney, Sanders, Tracey (Thibaut 55’), Tabiner, Holicek, Powell, Conway, O’Riordan, Billington, Lowery (Agius 82’)
Unused Substitutes: Booth, Dancey, Moore, Armstrong
Referee: Jamie O’Connor
Attendance: 5663 (222 away fans)
