GILLINGHAM manager Ronnie Jepson was a contented man despite seeing his side conceding a late equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Chesterfield.

The Gills made it four points from two long away trips and Jepson knew that on Saturday a point was about all they deserved.

“We’d take that all day long,” he said. “Chesterfield is a difficult place to come, they’ve always got a good side here. They’re experienced and they’ve got good legs in the team, so we’ll take the point.”

The home side piled on the pressure throughout the match and Gillingham endured a torrid time, particularly in the opening half, with Jepson citing tiredness as a contributing factor.

He said: “Whether it was due to a little bit of tiredness during the first half. They had a long trip to Swansea on Tuesday night and coming up here they might have been a little lacklustre in that first half.

“I told the lads in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t good enough.

“To be fair they responded and came out with a lot more urgency in the second half and a lot more belief.

“I asked them to play at a better tempo and with a bit more belief than they did in the first half and they did that in the second half, like they did for the 90 minutes at Swansea.”

Just four minutes after the interval Gillingham took an unexpected lead with loan player Tommy Black scoring his first goal for the club.

Jepson said: “It was a good finish. I’m pleased for Tommy because I think he deserved that after his last few performances.”

Chesterfield soon regained their authority and scored a late equaliser, which denied Gillingham their first back-to-back away wins since December 2002.

Jepson said: “The lead up to their goal Leon Johnson went down as he got the ball where it hurts and he never recovered and he stayed down as they went through.

“If he’d have stayed on his feet then maybe he could have stopped that goal.

“It was disappointing. But you’ve got to give Chesterfield credit. They got plenty of balls into our box to The Chief, Wayne Allison, and he’s a big threat.

“They’ve got some good runners as well with their flicks and the bits that drop down and I thought we defended well.”

Reflecting on the back-to-back trips to Swansea and Chesterfield, he added: “It’s a good four points. The lads will be tired now when they get back. They can have a little break with a few days off and then we kick on and look forward to Tranmere next week.”