Andy Hessenthaler labelled his side’s first half performance in the 2-1 victory at Aldershot on Saturday as the “most complete” of the season so far.

In the opening 45 minutes the Gills bossed the game and laid a winning foundation thanks to goals from Frank Nouble and Chris Whelpdale.

Hessenthaler (pictured) felt his side could have been in an even more commanding position after a dominant opening half display.

He said: “We expected them to come back at us a bit in the second half but I thought the first half was probably the most complete performance from our team this season, in respect of us playing with the ball and without it.

“The talking and the organising was terrific and if we had gone in 4-0 at half-time it would have probably been the right result.

“We looked like we were going to score every time we went forward and from set-plays we had a couple cleared off the line.”

Aldershot matched the Gills in the second half but only managed the one goal, scored late on, and weren’t able to overhaul the first half lead built by Hessenthaler’s team.

“We are away from home and so we expected an onslaught at times and we had to stay strong,” said the Gills boss.

“They scored with about 10 minutes to go but I thought our defending was terrific. They took risks going forward and we had a couple of opportunities to get a third goal.

“All-in-all, with our first half performance, we deserved to win the game,”

The Gills looked strong in attack – led once again by Danny Kedwell.

“He was outstanding, they all were,” said Hessenthaler.

“We’ve got players who are a threat going forward, like Frank Nouble and Jo Kuffour, who is a livewire. He was unlucky not to score a couple himself.

“Keds, like I said last week, epitomises the football club. You have to work your socks off for 90 plus minutes and he just keeps going.”

Kedwell played despite suffering an on-going toe injury but Hessenthaler decided to risk him anyway.

“We went with him and I am glad we did,” he said.

Hessenthaler made four changes to his side and left Matt Fish out, as he was struggling with a groin injury, while Luke Rooney was left out after failing to agree a contract extension.

Do you agree with Andy Hessenthaler's assessment of the game? Leave your comments below.