A young Gills side fought hard to earn a 1-1 draw with Sheppey at Holm Park on Friday evening.
Jimmy Heasman was on target late in the first half, latching onto a ball from Alfie Cross as a result of a high press before calmly slotting home.
However, the hosts pulled the game level before the interval courtesy of a well taken free-kick.
Mark Moss had Taite Holtam available in goal with Heasman in a more attacking role, with Louie Dayal and Freddie Carruthers in close support.
In a game of very few chances it took a quarter of an hour for the first opportunity to be created, which was for Sheppey, however a header from close range was guided over the bar.
Twelve minutes later and Gills could have taken the lead with Ben Clark working his way around a couple of defenders before seeing his left footed effort saved by Hadley Glock.
With four minutes to go until the break it was the visitors who finally did break the deadlock. Gills pressed high up and Cross won the ball back before slotting in Heasman, who made no mistake from inside the box.
Sheppey however responded almost immediately, with a free-kick too much for Holtam to contend with.
H/T: Sheppey United 1-1 Gillingham XI
The second half produced less chances than in the first-half with neither team able to create anything clear cut.
The closest either side went to scoring a goal was in the final ten minutes when a long range strike from the hosts was comfortably gathered by Taite Holtam.
However, it also presented a chance for a number of U16 players to show what they could do for the visitors and Gills held out for a hard-fought draw.
F/T: Sheppey United 1-1 Gillingham XI
Sheppey Utd starting XI: Glock, Diallo, Majoyegbe, Christie, Taylor, Trialist, Lambert, Ituama, Trialist, Trialist, Bradshaw
Subs: McCall, Gillies, Trialist, Carr, Trialist, Wisson
Gills: Holtam, Cross, Trialist, Dobbs, Orpwood, Walker (Adams 83), Beszant, Clark (Thebe 71), Dayal, Carruthers (Slater 87), Heasman (Martins 78)
Unused subs: Hegarty
