Gillingham suffered a set-back in their fight for League 1 survival after losing out to Charlton Athletic.

Alex Gilbey put Charlton infront just before the break after Gills keeper Pontus Dahlberg failed to hang onto a shot. Gills pushed for an equaliser late on but lacked the finishing touch.

• Harris: 'We deserved at least a point'

Gillingham made just one change to the staring eleven with David Tutonda replacing injured Ryan Jackson. Absentees meant it was a young bench with four teenagers among the six options for boss Neil Harris.

The Gills knew victory would guarantee they ended the night outside of the bottom four and they were up against a Charlton side who had taken just one point from their last seven outings.

It was Charlton who had the edge in the opening half, with Gilbey finding the net at the third attempt on 41 minutes.

Gilbey had dragged one shot wide and headed another chance just past the post before he was gifted the opener.

Dahlberg - who had retained his shirt after a clean-sheet against Doncaster at the weekend - misjudged a shot from Corey Blackett-Taylor, the ball bouncing off his chest into the path of Jayden Stockley. The Swedish keeper recovered well to deny Charlton’s leading scorer but Gilbey was on hand to steer home the loose ball from 12 yards.

Gillingham hadn’t overly tested the home keeper, making little fuss of a low drive from Stuart O’Keefe and Vadaine Oliver’s headed attempt.

Important challenges from David Tutonda and Max Ehmer kept Charlton out in the second half but the Gills lost yet another play to what looked like a muscle injury as Robbie McKenzie limped off.

Charlton kept pressing for a second but the Gills did manage to create the odd chance and Conor Masterson wasn’t far away with a strike from the edge of the box. Gillingham were starting to ask more questions as the half went on.

Dahlberg might have been at fault for the opener but he got down well to make a one-handed save from Blackett-Taylor, with the Charlton wide-man looking to find the bottom corner.

Gills swapped defender Tutonda for striker Tom Dickson-Peters as they went for it in the last 10 minutes. Stuart O’Keefe and the newcomer both had shots blocked in the latter stages.

Masterson put a good chance over the bar with a minute left and Charlton managed to see out six minutes of stoppage-time to clinch the win.

Charlton: MacGillivray, Purrington, Dobson, Stockley, Gilbey, Washington, Levelle, Matthews, Fraser (Lee 66mins), Blackett-Taylor (Pearce 87mins), Clare. Subs not used: Harness, Gunter, Jaiyesimi, Leko, Burstow.

Gillingham: Dahlberg, Tucker, Ehmer, Masterson, Tutonda (Dickson-Peters 81mins), McKenzie (Lintott 59mins), O’Keefe, Lee, Thompson, Kelman, Oliver. Subs not used: Chapman, Maghoma, Chambers, Akehurst

Referee: Will Finnie

Attendance: 9.728 (1559 away)