by Luke Cawdell

Andy Hessenthaler was delighted to see his side finish the month of February unbeaten despite being held to a draw once more.

The Gills could have snatched the winner late on, when Cody McDonald burst free, only to be pulled back by Shrewsbury captain Ian Sharps.

It earned the home player a red card but Gillingham manager Hessenthaler knows that the defender’s decision denied his team a possible victory..

“Their lad has been quite clever,” said the Gills manager. “He has made the challenge and he knew he was going to be sent off but if he made the challenge any later it’s a penalty and he goes off.”

The Gills should have finished Shrewsbury off well before, having dominated for large periods, but were unable to find the net.

Hessenthaler said: “It was just that final bit at the end where we needed to show more quality. That was the only frustrating thing of the whole game in that we could have actually made it three points.

“I couldn’t have asked for any more from the players, they gave me everything. The stats show we went to a good side and were dominant.”

It leaves the Gills sitting seventh in League 2 and still on a good run of form, with just two defeats from their last 17 matches.

And Saturday’s performance at times really pleased the Gills manager.

He said: “In the first half, it’s the best we’ve played away from home all season. We did dominate and probably should have gone in at half time leading the game.

“We knew that Shrewsbury would come out a better team in the second half. They put a bit more pressure on in the second half, without Alan (Julian) having to make a save.

“Overall we are pleased. Seventeen games and two losses and the month of games where we’ve been playing against all the sides who are up there we haven’t been beaten. It’s been fantastic.”