GILLINGHAM manager Andy Hessenthaler lavished praise on his side as they hauled themselves away from the danger zone against Palace at Priestfield. After his side had swarmed all over their South London rivals to win 3-0, Hessenthaler said: "We were a little bit shaky in the first 10 minutes and took our time to settle down but once we got the first goal I thought we were just too strong for them.

"The three guys up front were causing Palace all sorts of problems and our midfielders were winning the second ball. Barry Ashby and Chris Hope were both told to do a job on their front two, Dougie Freedman and Clinton Morrison, who are on fire at the moment and they kept them quiet all night."

He added: "It's nice that we have kept a clean sheet in our last three games and to score three goals and the three points has jumped us four places up the table which is also very good. I thought all my lads were first class and you can't really pick any individual out. It was a great team performance."

However, Hessenthaler singled out striker Guy Ipoua who scored twice took his goal tally to six for the season. "Guy took his two goals very well. He can be frustrating at times but he is unbelievable as well. He had a fantastic game and he was desperate to score his hat-trick and probably tried a little too hard."