Grays 1 Gillingham 0

Gillingham suffered a narrow defeat in their third pre-season outing at Grays on Saturday.

Danny Kedwell’s 27th minute header was all that separated the sides during a well matched tussle in Essex.

Irish striker Gary Mulligan should have given his side the lead, when Rob Gier’s back-pass put him in the clear, but he failed to beat keeper Joe Woolley on 23 minutes.

Grays took the lead four minutes later when former Chatham Town youngster Danny Kedwell headed in from Sam Sloma’s corner kick.

The Blue Square Premier side gave Gillingham a real test in the opening half and had a number of chances to double the lead.

Simeon Jackson led the Gills attack in the second period and he came close six minutes into the second half when a powerful shot went just over.

Gills manager Mark Stimson experimented with a fresh eleven for the second half and once more included trialists Leo Roget and Frenchman Nigel Atangana in midfield.

A controversial decision by referee Fred Graham left Gillingham facing 10 men for the final 17 minutes when he refused to let Grays replace injured John Munday with Jamie Stuart – who had already appeared in the first half.

There were few chances of note in the second half with Jackson’s rare chance in front of goal on 78 minutes being headed over.

Stimson said: "It was one of those games you have to play and you have to get them out of the way.

"You want to come away with two things. One with no injuries and two with a performance. We didn’t get that for some unknown reason.

" The players knew it was their last chance to impress me for this so called best starting eleven to play against Ipswich on Wednesday night but there wasn’t enough people who stood out and took responsibility."

Gillingham, first half: Royce, Fuller, Wynter, Crofts, King, Bentley, Miller, Thurgood, Rooney, Mulligan, Howard. Subs not used: Clohessy, Kiely, Bell, Bailey

Second half: Julian, Walder, Nutter, Lewis, Richards, Roget, Hill, Atangana, Jackson, Oli, Thomas. Subs not used: Clohessy, Kiely, Bell, Bailey.

Attendance: 425.

Read Monday's Medway Messenger for more reaction from Saturday's defeat and all the latest Gills news.