Desperate Gillingham were thrashed by Rotherham at the New York Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

They were three down by half-time and while Cody McDonald replied midway through the second half, the Millers soon made sure of the points.

Gillingham fell behind in just the ninth minute with crowd favourite Nouha Dicko cutting in from the left and bending the ball past Stuart Nelson.

Midweek match-winner John Mousinho pulled up with a hamstring injury running on to Danny Kedwell's pass midway through the half.

And the visitors were playing with 10 men - Myles Weston waiting to come on - when the impressive Ben Pringle's cross from the left led to Kieran Agard doubling the lead on 23 minutes.

Weston's introduction saw Gills push Cody McDonald up front alongside Kedwell in a switch from 4-3-3 but Rotherham were well on top and needed no invitation to take advantage of the extra space in midfield.

Gills were wide open when Pringle ran through unchallenged and found the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

The hosts were on top in every department and had chances to add a fourth before the break, the best of them falling to Dicko after Pringle was allowed to run from the edge of his own box.

Pringle continued to run the show after the break, launching a move that ended with Nelson producing a wonder save from James Tavernier's 25-yard strike.

Gillingham pulled a goal back on 65 minutes, seconds after Adebayo Akinfenwa replaced Kedwell.

With his first touch, Akinfenwa played in Cody McDonald, who eased the ball past keeper Adam Collin.

Gillingham briefly rallied but their comeback hopes were ended on 76 minutes when on-loan Newcastle defender James Tavernier took a pass on his chest, burst into the box and thumped home a debut goal.

Gillingham: Nelson, Harriman, Martin, Daniels, Barrett, Hollands, Mousinho (Weston 24mins), Lee, Kedwell (Akinfenwa 64mins), McDonald, Whelpdale (Hessenthaler 85mins). Subs not used: Howard, Davies, Dack, Carter. Attendance: 7,152