Gillingham 1 Tranmere Rovers 1

DARREN BYFIELD'S eighth goal of the season rescued a point for Gillingham against Tranmere on Saturday and extended the club's unbeaten run at Priestfield to 12 matches.

The equaliser came on 73 minutes when on-loan winger Tommy Black whipped in a free-kick from the right that Byfield converted with a fine finish at the far post.

Tranmere had taken a 48th minute lead when the breaking midfielder Stephen O'Leary found some space in the Gillingham box and managed to hold off the challenge of Leon Johnson before hooking the ball high past Jason Brown.

It was probably a fair result after a tight game between two sides who were evenly matched on the day.

The visitors came close to breaking the deadlock midway through the first half when Danny Harrison drilled the ball across the Gills box but no-one in a Tranmere shirt gambled at the far post and the danger passed.

New midfielder Justin Cochrane, who grew in confidence as the game progressed, had the Gills' first decent chance five minutes before the break but his shot from the edge of the area was well saved by Dino Seremet. Seremet later produced an even better save to deny the same player a debut goal.

In a game littered with stoppages the referee Mr Hegley booked 10 players, including four from Gillingham.

Gillingham: Brown, Clohessy, Hope, Johnson, Jackman, Black, Spiller (Mulligan 66), Crofts, Cochrane, Harris, Byfield.
Subs Not Used: Crichton, Rose, Sancho, Grant.
Attendance: 6,803.