George Lapslie came off the bench to score the winning goal in Gillingham’s 1-0 win over Morecambe at the Mazuma Stadium on Saturday.
The goal came from a Remeao Hutton corner, which came out to Jack Nolan, who sliced his shot wide of the target. Hutton kept the ball alive before playing it back to Shad Ogie, who saw his shot well-saved by Stuart Moore.
Jayden Clarke was the first man to meet the rebound, fizzing the ball into the six-yard box, where Lapslie was waiting to prod into the back of the net.
Mark Bonner made three changes to the starting XI that beat Carlisle 4-1 on the opening day of the season. Conor Masterson, Tim Dieng and Aaron Rowe all missed the game. Shad Ogie, Jonny Williams and Jayden Clarke came into the line-up.
It was a quiet opening quarter of an hour to the game, with neither side having an opportunity to test the goalkeepers. The closest Gillingham came to mustering a chance came from a ball into the box, which led to a blocked shot before a Morecambe defender dealt with the second ball.
Jake Turner had to be alert to deny Ben Tollitt after 21 minutes. A pass out from the back was cut out by the hosts, and they were quick to play it to Tollitt on the edge of the penalty area. The Morecambe man had to be fast to get a shot away with Ogie closing in. The ball took a slight deflection off the defender, causing movement on the ball, but Turner reacted very well to palm behind for a corner, which the Gillingham goalkeeper dealt with.
The Gills shot-stopper had to be alert a few minutes later. Callum Jones curled a free-kick from the right towards the back post, which Jamie Stott met. Fortunately, his sliding effort lacked the power to test Turner, who got down to make the save.
In the 28th minute, Morecambe were appealing for a penalty. Hallam Hope made his way into the area before going shoulder-to-shoulder with Ogie. The Gills defender outmuscled Hope, who fell to the floor. There were appeals from the home support and some players, but the referee waved away those claims.
Gwion Edwards should have given Morecambe the lead four minutes before the break. The ball fell to the winger with acres of space in the box, as he ran onto it shooting first time, with the effort looking destined to end up in the far bottom corner. Fortunately for the visitors, it went just wide of the target.
Jonny Williams had Gillingham’s first shot on target in the 43rd minute. He received the ball halfway inside the Morecambe half and had room to run into. The former Wales international opted to shoot from 25 yards, with his low-driven effort having to be scrambled around the post by Stuart Moore for a corner, which came to nothing.
HALF-TIME: Morecambe 0-0 Gillingham
The opening minutes of the second half were end-to-end, with both sides trying to take advantage of the space on the counter-attack. The visitors had a half-chance when they took a quick free-kick, allowing Jack Nolan to make his way into the Morecambe half.
The winger was driving towards goal before he was brought down in a central position, 25 yards out. Nolan took the set piece himself, sending it over the crossbar.
In the 62nd minute, Gills made their first two changes. Oli Hawkins and George Lapslie came into the game, replacing Jacob Wakeling and Jonny Williams respectively.
Nolan forced Moore into a strong save in the 69th minute. After some nice build-up play, Nolan brought the ball inside onto his left foot before shooting from distance. However, his effort directed towards the bottom left corner was well-saved by Moore in the Morecambe goal.
Harvey Macadam saw a shot fizz past the post moments later. The ball was played to him on the edge of the penalty and he struck his effort first time. It left Turner rooted to his spot but went the wrong side of the post.
In the 77th minute, Lapslie gave Gillingham the lead. Remeao Hutton’s corner came out to Nolan on the edge of the box, and he sliced his effort well wide of the goal. However, Hutton did well in keeping the ball in play before cutting it back to Ogie. The defender did well to outmuscle his marker, turning goalward and getting a shot away.
Ogie's effort had plenty of power but was well-saved by Moore before it came out to Clarke. He fizzed the ball back into the six-yard box, where Lapslie was waiting to prod the ball into the back of the net.
Hawkins nearly made it two at the death. Gills did well in keeping possession, moving the ball around with pace. It culminated in Lapslie curling a perfect cross into the box for Hawkins to direct his header goalward. It beat Moore in the Morecambe goal but cannoned off the crossbar before the hosts dealt with the rebound.
Morecambe tried their best to fashion a chance at the death, but Gillingham remained resolute in shutting down their opponents as they held on for all three points.
FULL-TIME: Morecambe 0-1 Gillingham
Morecambe: Moore, Hendrie (Millen 90’), White (Slew 68’), Stott, Edwards, Macadam, Hope, Tollitt (Angol 80’), Tutonda (Lewis 90’), Songo’o, Jones
Unused Substitutes: Burgoyne, Taylor, Dobson
Gillingham: Turner, Hutton, Ehmer, Ogie, Clark, McKenzie, Little, Nolan (Gbode 81’), J. Williams (Lapslie 62’), Clarke, Wakeling (Hawkins 62’)
Unused Substitutes: Morris, Giles, Wyllie, Waldock
Referee: Daniel Middleton
Attendance: 3611 (404 Gillingham supporters)
