Andy Hessenthaler got the response he wanted from his players while Nicky Southall congratulates Dennis Oli on the win Picture: Barry Goodwin

by Luke Cawdell

Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler got the response he was looking for at Priestfield on Saturday.

Following last weekend’s 7-4 thrashing at Accrington the Gills were under pressure to bounce back with a win.

“We won the game and that was the key,” said Hessenthaler, after the 2-1 victory over Stockport in League 2.

“We needed a response and it just shows you that the players are together at this football club.

“Since last Saturday we’ve come under some fire and some criticism, and rightly so because we were not good enough then. The players have gone out there this week and they’ve given me everything. They’ve just got to do that on a weekly basis now and if we do that we’ll be a good side.

“We knew what we had to do and the team-talk was easy. When I was a player and got criticised I always bounced back and that’s a sign of a good player. That’s what we did, and that’s what I demand, and they are good players here.

“The first half was tremendous, but then in the second it was a bit scrappy and there wasn’t a lot in it. We deserved to win the game in the end.”

Hessenthaler admitted he took a gamble in the second half when centre-back Matt Lawrence went off the field for 10 minutes to receive six stitches to a gash in the head.

“We took a slight risk to leave it that long, but he came back on and it was like watching Terry Buther with his bandaged up head,” said Hessenthaler.

“Sometimes you have to take a gamble in life. I am a gambling man so it paid off for me.”