Bristol City 6 Gillingham 0

GILLINGHAM slipped into the League 1 relegation zone after a hugely disappointing display at Bristol City on Saturday.

The final score was 6-0 but in truth it could have been worse for Ronnie Jepson's side who produced a worrying defensive performance that leaves the side with a goal difference of minus 18.

City got the ball rolling after 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 for his first ever professional goal.

The Gills offered very little in the opening 45 minutes - the closest they came was a Neil Harris shot that was deflected wide by Carey.

It got no better in the second half as Bristol City scored their fourth less than five minutes after the restart. Craig Woodman's corner found Carey who converted his second of the afternoon, and only the ninth of a career spanning some 450 matches.

It was a case of damage limitation for the visitors who had sacrificed a forward in Harris after Johnson's sending off.

Gary Mulligan should have reduced the deficit in the 52nd minute but his dragged shot from 12 yards with the goal gaping summed up a horrible afternoon for Gillingham.

The home side continued to pour forward and it was no surprise when substitute Luke Wilkshire made it 5-0. Brown was once again left hopelessly exposed by his defenders and Wilkshire had time to take a couple of touches to control a Calvin Andrews cross before firing home.

Gills seemed incapable of stemming the flow of attacks by the home side and City could easily have scored more if it wasn't for some good saves from Brown and a couple of glaring misses.

As it was Mark McCammon's stoppage time header completed the rout.

The result was Gillingham's worst defeat of the season - beating the 5-0 thrashing at Colchester in November - and Jepson faces a tough job to lift his players ahead of the visit of Brentford to Priestfield on Tuesday night.

Gillingham: Brown, Clohessy, Cox, Hope (Sancho 75), Johnson, Black (Jarvis h-t), Crofts, Pouton, Spiller, Harris, Mulligan.
Subs Not Used: Crichton, Sancho, Grant.
Attendance: 10,932.