Leicester 2 Gillingham 0

AFTER four straight league games without defeat the Stan Ternent express train to safety came off the rails at Leicester on Saturday.

The Gills boss started the day knowing that if other results went his way then three points at the Walkers Stadium would move the club out of the relegation places for the first time since early October last year.

But after a disastrous first half that ranks among the worst 45 minutes of football played by the Gills this season, the visitors were left with a stark reminder of how they got into trouble in the first place.

Gillingham were second best in every department and their only achievement in that opening period was to make a Leicester team that has spent the whole season flirting with mediocrity look like a side capable of promotion.

That Gills were not a match for the Foxes in terms of personnel is no disgrace – the home team sheet included a number of players with both Premiership and international experience.

What was disappointing was the way Ternent's men failed to compete with Leicester for effort and commitment during those first 45 minutes.

After a slow start the Foxes gained the upper hand and were soon hunting the opening goal.

Jordan Stewart shot just wide in the 13th minute and winger Keith Gillespie was becoming a thorn in the visiting defence's side.

In the 19th minute the Ulsterman cut inside from the right and fed the ball across to

Danny Tiatto, whose cross-shot was turned into the net from close range by David Connolly. It all looked too easy and questions have to be asked about the Gillingham defence.

Connolly should have doubled the lead four minutes later when a long-range effort from Joey Gudjonsson was deflected into his path but, despite having all the time and space a striker can usually only dream of, he could only head the ball wide.

His miss only postponed the inevitable and Gills found themselves 2-0 down before half an hour had been played.

Gillespie played a dangerous ball into the box and Nyron Nosworthy inadvertently headed the ball past the stranded Steve Banks and into the net.

Leicester continued to dominate, with Banks having to save a Lilian Nalis header, a Connolly shot and a Gudjonsson piledriver before the end of the half.

He also had to help his defence clear up a goalmouth scramble when another Gillespie free-kick almost produced a third goal.

Gillingham were almost non-existent as an attacking force. Their first shot on goal did not arrive until the 34th minute and it was hardly worth the wait - Darius Henderson's wild shot flying high enough to clear four sets of goalposts.

The second half was better for Gillingham but the only thing they threatened to salvage from the match was a bit of pride.

Within two minutes of the restart Henderson had robbed Nikos Dabizas and fired a shot that keeper Stuart Taylor – playing his last game for Leicester before returning to Arsenal – saved comfortably.

But at least it was a shot on target and a sign that Gills had a bit of fight about them, although Connolly's deflected shot that hit the crossbar five minutes later indicated that Leicester were still the dominant force.

Gillingham came closest to pulling a goal back in the 73rd minute when Andrew Crofts made some space for himself in the box and put in a shot that beat Taylor but came back off the post.

Henderson should have scored from the rebound but his effort was blocked, more or less ending any hopes of a fightback.

The game ended with more of a whimper than a bang for the Gills, with Banks having to pull off an incredible save to deny Nalis and Leicester substitutes Dion Dublin and Mark De Vries coming close to scoring a late third goal.

Gillingham: Banks, Nosworthy, Cox, Hope, Rose, Southall, Smith, Pouton (Bodkin 74), Crofts (Hessenthaler 90), Henderson, Byfield (Roberts 76). Subs Not Used: Brown, Ashby.

Attendance: 23,457.

GILLS JURY

"It was a very disappointing performance. The damage was done in the first half-hour. The first goal was down to poor defending by Nyron and the second was an own goal by him. I thought the team selection was awful. Why he dropped Hess and brought Nyron in is anybody's guess. We were gutless." Matt Jeary, Margate.

"A very lacklustre performance, reminiscent of last year under Hessenthaler, saw us slip to a deserved defeat that now sees us three points adrift of safety. Luckily, most of the other results went for us. The team struggled all game and at times couldn't even pass to each other. Nyron Nosworthy should not have been on the pitch as he had a nightmare. Maybe he was still recovering from injury, but I was very surprised to see him reappear for the second half." Keith Pestell, Rainham.

"It was a dreadful performance. In the first half we were not at the races and had it not been for Steve Banks the defeat would have been much heavier. We have nobody up front and unless Mr Scally opens the purse strings we will be relegated. Darren Byfield is a waste of space. At least Darius Henderson tries and he had been playing well, but we simply had no answers on Saturday." Pam Humphreys, Gillingham.

"It was the worst performance since Stan Ternent took over. There was a lot of trying, but it just didn't happen. The two goals we conceded were poor although the defence was probably our strongest area. Darren Byfield was non-existent and although Darius Henderson put in the effort, basically he was up front on his own. We had two shots on goal, which is just not good enough." Chris Jones, Strood.