Cody McDonald is congratulated by Deon Burton after he scored Gillingham's winning goal at Chesterfield. Picture: Barry Goodwin.

by Luke Cawdell

Gillingham made history at Chesterfield on Saturday as they tasted victory on the road again.

Cody McDonald headed the Gills in front early in the second half and that goal proved enough to seal the points.

It was the Gills' 11th away win of the season and they extended their run without conceding a goal on their travels to 471 minutes.

The Gills' previous best winning tally away from Priestfield was 10 away victories in the 1984/85 season under Keith Peacock.

Boss Martin Allen made just one change to the team that started last weekend’s home game against Dagenham with Andy Frampton (concussion) replaced in midfield by Steven Gregory.

Gregory’s promotion from the bench left a space in the squad which was filled by Callum Davies.

Gillingham had not conceded an away goal since December 8, at Rotherham, and they went into the game two points clear at the top of League 2.

Chesterfield had several chances in the opening half, but Gills keeper Stuart Nelson had nothing to save in the first 45 minutes.

Instead, the best of the opening opportunities fell to the Gills, with Chris Whelpdale forcing a save from Tommy Lee, while McDonald was unlucky after running on to Steven Gregory’s ball over the defence and seeing the resulting shot deflected wide.

The Gills had been forced into an early reshuffle when Matt Fish went off injured. Whelpdale dropped to right-back, while Deon Burton came on to join McDonald upfront.

With just five minutes of the second half played the Gills went ahead as Myles Weson’s inswinging corner was headed home by McDonald – his fourth goal since rejoining the club.

Chesterfield came as close as they had been all match just before the hour when Whelpdale cleared a Neal Trotman header off the line. Conor Townsend fired over moments later as the hosts looked to get back on level terms.

McDonald left the field to be replaced by Davies after he picked up a knock. It left the Gills with two banks of four to defend Nelson’s goal, with Burton and Weston providing an attacking outlet for the last 30 minutes.

Chesterfield’s aim didn't get much better as Liam Cooper attempted a shot from distance but it drifted well wide. At the other end, Leon Legge had a header cleared off the line shortly after he had made a great block to deny Jack Lester for the hosts.

Lester went close again, with a shot on the slide, that Nelson had to be alert to save while both Anton Robinson for the Gills and Lester for the hosts had the ball in the net in the final minute, but both efforts were ruled out for offside as Gillingham hung on for seven minutes of injury time to claim yet another away win.

Gillingham: Nelson, Fish (Burton 28mins), Martin, Legge, Barrett, Gregory, Whelpdale, Robinson, Lee, McDonald (Davies 59mins), Weston. Subs not used: Forecast, Richardson, Dack, Williams, Birchall.

Chesterfield: Lee, Brindley, Trotman (Clark 81mins), Cooper, Smith, Togwell, Clay (Lester 53mins) Talbot, O'Shea (Henshall 53mins), Townsend, Richards. Subs not used: Barrington, Randall, Whitaker, Hazel.

Attendance: 5,235.