Gillingham 0 Bradford 2

Gillingham slipped out of the League 2 play-off spots after defeat against promotion rivals Bradford at the Priestfield Stadium on Saturday.

Bradford started strongly and came close to opening the scoring after just four minutes when a Nicky Law corner ended up at the feet of Omar Daley, who saw his shot crash into the side netting.

The home side eventually started to settle and almost grabbed the opening goal on 14 minutes when Andy Barcham's cross was headed off target by Jaime Peters.

The high tempo continued into the 18th minute, when Daley crossed into the path of Michael Boulding, who saw his shot well saved by Simon Royce.

Gillingham had the ball in the net just after the half hour mark when Adam Miller�s shot was saved by Rhys Evans. Simeon Jackson put the rebound into an empty net but referee Paul Taylor blew for offside.

Bradford opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time when Michael Boulding found himself in space on the right, before crossing for Daley, who was left with the simple task of slotting the ball home.

In the second half, Bradford continued where they left off and almost doubled their lead on 52 minutes when Law broke through the middle, before hitting a shot which was tipped round the post by Royce.

Miller was lucky to stay on the pitch following a foul on Steve Jones just two minutes later but the referee decided a yellow card was sufficient punishment.

Gillingham side struggled to create much after the break with Barcham just failing to get on the end of Stuart Lewis�s cross on 63 minutes.

Bradford made the points safe on 70 minutes when Mark Bentley slipped and failed to clear Jones through ball. His mistake allowed Boulding to race through and score.

Gillingham manager Mark Stimson said: "Our performance was nowhere near what we expected. We were poor and didn't have enough players on their game.

"I would say we had seven or eight players who were not firing on all cylinders.

"It was an opportunity to get some points and with other games postponed for teams around us, we could have taken advantage of that.

"But we haven't and now we've got to get back to basics."

Gillingham: Royce, Lewis, Richards (McCammon 66mins), King, Nutter, Bentley, Peters (Southall 55mins), Miller, Barcham, Jackson, Oli (Steer 78mins). Subs not used: Mulligan, Cumbers.

Attendance: 4,866.