Oldham Athletic 4 Gillingham 1

GILLINGHAM'S three-game winning run was ended by an impressive Oldham side at Boundary Park on Saturday.

The Gills got off to a nightmare start as the home side took a fourth-minute lead when Andy Liddell's cross was turned in by Will Haining.

And things got worse for the visitors as Oldham doubled their advantage inside 25 minutes.

Ronnie Jepson's side were caught light at the back as the home side broke from a Gills corner and Chris Porter made them pay.

In a first half that was totally dominated by the home side, Porter and Gary McDonald both spurned fine opportunities to make it 3-0. In contrast, the closest Gillingham came was an Andrew Crofts volley that went comfortably wide.

The Gills did find themselves three goals down in bizarre circumstances just seconds after the break when what looked like a hopeful punt forward by Simon Charlton from inside his own half skipped off the turf and bounced in over a disbelieving Scott Flinders.

To their credit, the visitors gave themselves a lifeline three minutes later when captain Mike Flynn netted from the penalty spot after Gary Mulligan had been felled by Neal Eardley.

But it was never likely to be more than a consolation for Gillingham and the gloss was put on the home side's performance when Porter netted a fourth in stoppage time.

Gillingham: Flinders, Jupp, Cox, Johnson, Jackman, Bentley, Crofts (Spiller h-t), Flynn, Easton (Ndumbu-Nsungu h-t), Jarvis, Mulligan.
Subs not used: Clohessy, Pouton, McDonald.

* See Monday's Medway Messenger for all the action and reaction from Boundary Park.