Bristol Rovers 1 Gillingham 1

An 84th-minute equaliser denied Gillingham a crucial away victory at Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

The Gills took the lead seven minutes before half-time when the returning John Nutter got on the end of a Nicky Southall centre and headed in past Rovers keeper Steve Phillips at the far post.

But Rovers levelled out of nothing six minutes from time when the ball dropped to defender Steve Elliott 35 yards out and he thumped it magnificently into the top corner beyond Derek Stillie.

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It was a sucker punch, especially after the Gills had almost doubled their lead in the 43rd minute but Andrew Crofts' effort was scrambled off the line by Aaron Lescott.

Byron Anthony had come close to an equaliser in the 72nd minute but he somehow header over from almost on the line.

Earlier, Gillingham had nearly broken the deadlock on 32 minutes when Southall's corner was headed against the crossbar by Georges Ba and then Kevin Maher put the rebound over.

Sean Rigg wasted an excellent chance for the home side in the ninth minute when he failed to hit the target after capitalising on Garry Richards' weak back header. Then Derek Stillie pulled off a superb save from Richard Lambert's header as Rovers dominated the early stages.

Manager Mark Stimson said: �We were lucky to be in the game after the first 20 minutes because Derek Stillie pulled off a good save and they had a couple of good half chances, but after that, we got into it and maybe we could have got a second goal. It�s hard to take because the strike was so good.

�We�re disappointed, but I said to the players �don�t be too disappointed�. There are still six points to play for and if we get those six then I�m convinced that will be good enough.�

Gillingham: Stillie, Cullip, Richards, King, Southall, Nutter, Maher, Crofts, Lewis (Griffiths 87), Ba (Mulligan 58), Jackson (Simmonds 77).

Subs not used: Kiely, Clohessy.

Attendance: 6,614.