by Luke Cawdell

Andy Hesssenthaler blamed some poor decision-making for his team’s defeat on Saturday.

The Gills boss had no complaints over the dismissal of Danny Spiller late in the game and felt it was a moment that summed up the side’s day.

Hessenthaler said: "It was always going to be difficult with 10 men.

It was hard enough against them with 11 because they are a very good young team and they move the ball around well.

"There wasn’t much in the game, first half. They had a bit of the ball and the goal was a tremendous strike, but you can’t really do too much about that other than putting a bit more pressure on the ball.

"We changed it slightly at half-time and went 4-4-2. Straight away we got an early goal and we were thinking we could repeat what we did against Barnet and go on and win the game, but then we make a couple of poor decisions defensively.

"It was a poor day for us in respect of making decisions and in the end it’s cost us the game."

The Gills had fought back to 3-3 but Spiller’s dismissal made life tough for the last 10 minutes and in injury-time the killer goal arrived.

"A lot of teams would have been dead and buried at 3-1 down but we kept going," said the Gills boss.

"We could have easily dropped our heads but we got it back to 3-3 and the momentum was with us. We went down to 10 men through a poor decision and that probably summed it up for us. Over the 90 minutes we made some real poor decisions. If we hadn’t have made those decisions we may well have been sitting here with five wins out of five."

What did rile the Gills boss was a caution for Lewis Montrose on 71 minutes for a challenge which he felt was fine. It was Montrose’s 10th booking of the season and earns him a two-game ban. Hessenthaler confronted referee Keith Stroud after the game.

"It was never a booking," said the Gills boss. "It was a clear clean tackle. The sending-off was right and we are disappointed we conceded in the last 20 seconds but that decision was my main problem. He has clearly won the ball along the floor with a great tackle."

Hessenthaler’s side have emerged from a busy schedule and he believes some were showing the signs of that on Saturday.

"A few of the boys looked tired," he said. "We played an hour with 10 men last week and then played again in midweek, and I think it’s starting to take its toll."

Do you agree with Hessenthaler that poor decisions cost the Gills? Have your say below.