Debutant Rene Howe fires in a shot on goal Picture: Barry Goodwin

by Luke Cawdell

Gillingham finished a game of few chances with a point at Priestfield in League 1 on Saturday.

The goalless draw against promotion-chasing Colchester followed on from successive defeats to Swindon in the league and Accrington in the FA Cup.

Manager Mark Stimson was delighted with the point which lifted the Gills up two places to 18th in the table.

“I’m very happy,” said Stimson. “That was a very strong Colchester team and you can see why they are sitting fourth in the league.

“They ask you to defend for your life and we did that. There were a lot of changes in the team with new players coming in and overall there were a lot of positives to take from the game.

“(We were) against a team who have just conceded five and seven they weren’t going to come here and play like that again.

"They were going to be as drilled and tight at the back as they could be and we had to be at our end because we’ve conceded a goal at Accrington and three at Swindon. We defended really well.

“We didn’t create as many chances as we would have liked but we’ve got a point and I’m really pleased.”

Stimson made numerous changes to the team with a trio of new signings all starting.

“We had to make changes because the other night wasn’t good enough,” he said.

“The boys who came in on loan have all done their shift for the team. Rene Howe was strong up the top and had a little bit of link-up play with Jacko.

“Darren (Dennehy) at the back was nice and strong and Tristan (Plummer) probably didn’t get as much ball as he would have liked but when he got it sometimes he showed that little bit of quick feet. There were some encouraging signs.”

A first half of few chances ended goalless as the new-look Gills line-up sought to avenge Tuesday night’s cup loss. The second 45 minutes was more entertaining, but neither side managed to make the breakthrough.

Gillingham’s closest chance of the opening half came just four minutes in when Simeon Jackson lobbed keeper Ben Williams, but saw the effort bounce just wide.

Colchester were being thwarted by some committed Gillingham defending and, despite looking the visitors dangerous, keeper Alan Julian wasn’t overly tested.

The Gills started the second half at a good tempo, but it took until just after the hour mark to really make an impression in the United box.

Substitute Luke Rooney shot low at goal, but was denied by a good save from Williams and Andy Barcham, who switched from right wing to left for the second half, was looking a big threat.

With five minutes left the visitors nearly snatched all three points as Kevin Lisbie hit the bar with a header from Christian Ribeiro’s cross.

The Gills were put under pressure in the closing stages with four minutes of injury time added on but hung on for a point.

Gills: Julian, Fuller, Wynter, Dennehy, Gowling, Payne, Bentley, Barcham (Yussuff 83mins), Plummer (Rooney 63mins), Howe, Jackson. Subs not used: Royce, Nutter, Miller, Oli, Lewis.

Colchester: Williams, Okuonghae, Reid, Tierney, Ribeiro, Izzet, O’Toole, Ifil, Wordsworth, Platt (Lisbie 74mins), Odejayi (Gillespie 67mins). Subs not used: Cousins, Fox, Batth, White, Elito.

Attendance: 4,948