by Matthew Panting

Frustrated Gillingham boss Andy Hessenthaler laid the blame firmly at the door of his defence after the Gills lost 5-4 in a roller-coaster game at Bury on Saturday.

Gills conceded five goals and, despite scoring more times in the second half than they previously had all season, their long wait for an away win continued.

"It's a manager's nightmare," confessed Hessenthaler (pictured): "It was such a roller-coaster game. The players should be ashamed of the way they played in the first half.

"Since I've taken over they've given me everything, the performances have been good and I've said that to them - but we can't play like we did in the first half.

"We conceded a goal through poor defending, had no urgency and the second goal was never a penalty, was it?

"That (decision) disappoints me as it came down to that when you look at the scoreline at the end of the game.

"It was a poor decision but we can't start talking about the referee, we need to talk about ourselves. If you defend like that you're not going to win any games."

What is your reaction to Hessenthaler's damning verdict? Have your say below.