Dennis Oli celebrates his strike against Charlton at The Valley that put Gillingham 2-1 in front at half time. Picture: Barry Goodwin.

by Andrew Gidley

Gillingham are still searching for of a first away win of the season, but came mighty close to breaking their duck with a hard-earned 2-2 draw against Charlton on Saturday.

Dennis Oli thrilled 3,000 travelling fans by putting Gillingham in front in first half stoppage time.

Hard-working Oli deserved his reward, knocking the ball in from close-range after Rene Howe's effort has been blocked by Charlton goalkeeper Rob Elliott.

Earlier, two goals in the space of as many minutes sparked the first meeting between the two sides at The Valley for 29 years to life.

Gillingham goalkeeper Alan Julian was at fault after 31 minutes, allowing Charlton defender Fraser Richardson's low effort from the edge of the box to slip underneath him and into the net.

However Gillingham's response was immediate and effective, as Andy Barcham cut inside and unleashed a spectacular 30-yard strike that flew past Rob Elliott, much to the delight of around 3,000 Gillingham fans, housed behind the goal.

Gills were under the cosh early on, but Julian made amends touching Deon Burton's effort onto the bar five minutes before the break. It was the Charlton striker's last action as he limped off soon afterward to be replaced by Akpo Sodje.

After the break, Darren Randolph replaced Rob Elliot between the sticks for Charlton, who began putting pressure on the Gills defence.

Julian tipped Nicky Bailey's header over and then denied striker David Mooney, who was put through by Lloyd Sam.

Mooney was back testing Julian soon after and grabbed the equaliser on the hour. He controlled a low Therry Racon cross before spinning sharply and firing into the roof of the net.

Akpo Sodje then saw a header tipped round the post by Julian, while Randolph made a good close-range stop from Oli.

The Gills held on for a point, with striker Simeon Jackson coming on for the last 18 minutes having not been started due to a hamstring strain.

Boss Mark Stimson was pleased with a point in the fight for survival, but disappointed not to have capitalised on their half-time lead.

He said: "We knew we would be tested because we were playing against a very good Charlton side, obviously still hurting from last week's defeat against Millwall.

"It was a pleasant surprise to be leading 2-1 at half time and we wanted to try and maintain the way we had played in the first half. But disappointingly, we didn't do that.

"It was always important to try and score quickly after going behind. The goal was unfortunate because up until then, the game had been quite even, with quite a few chances at both ends.

"Charlton looked good at set pieces and it was great we responded with a good strike by Andy Barcham. It was also nice for Dennis Oli to get on the scoresheet because he has certainly put some work in in the last couple of weeks, without getting time on the pitch.

"We couldn't risk Simeon Jackson from the start and Dennis took his opportunity well, but ran out of legs because he hasn't played much football recently."

Charlton: Elliot (Randolph 46mins), Richardson, Borrowdale, S Sodje, Dailly; Sam, Semedo, Racon (Reid 79mins), Bailey; Mooney, Burton (A Sodje 43mins). Subs not used: Solly, Llera, Wagstaff, Shelvey.

Gillingham: Julian; Lewis, Nutter, Dennehy, Richards; Miller, Jackman, Weston (Jackson 72mins), Barcham; Oli (Bentley 89mins), Howe (Walker 82mins). Subs not used: Royce, Payne, Maher, Palmer.