Bristol City 3 Gillingham 0

GILLINGHAM are staring a heavy defeat in the face after conceding three times in the opening 45 minutes at Ashton Gate this afternoon.

Bristol City took the lead after just 11 minutes when Liam Fontaine's superb diagonal pass took Chris Hope and Ian Cox out of the game allowing Steve Brooker to get clear and he shot low across Jason Brown for his 14th goal of the season.

And it was 2-0 just seven minutes later when defender Louis Carey was given far too much space to control Alex Russell's cross before drilling past Brown.

Brooker almost made it three after the Gillingham defence had been exposed again but this time Brown did superbly to deny him.

But things went from bad to worse for the Gills just before half-time when Leon Johnson held back David Cotterill when he had only Brown to beat from eight yards. The referee had no option but to dismiss Johnson for the professional foul and Cole Skuse slotted home the penalty.

The closest Gillingham have come is a Neil Harris shot that was deflected wide by Carey.

Gillingham: Brown, Clohessy, Cox, Hope, Johnson, Black, Crofts, Pouton, Spiller, Harris (Jackman 44), Mulligan.
Subs: Cichton, Sancho, Jarvis, Grant.