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Gillingham match-winner Kyle Dempsey is back to his Championship-best according to manager Steve Evans.
Dempsey struck with four minutes left to clinch a win for the Gills against Charlton Athletic, an angled drive into the top corner after bursting into the box.
The Gillingham captain previously had a season playing for Huddersfield in the second-tier, after a big-money move from Carlisle United in 2015, and Evans is seeing that same kind of quality come out of the midfielder in recent months.
Dempsey’s quality finish came in a game where Olly Lee hit an opener after just a minute with a well-taken goal from 20 yards and Connor Ogilvie volleyed one into the top corner from a similar position.
Evans said: “Connor can have the (goal-of-the-season) trophy but Dempsey’s was special as well.
“Kyle Dempsey has been stunning for three months, he had that month out when he rolled his ankle and since then he has been back and he is getting better and better.
“I would be proud of him if he was my son and on the pitch he is special, he does that every day in training, he goes past people like that and his performances in the last three months have reminded me of when he was doing at Huddersfield in the Championship, he is a fantastic player.”
Dempsey was made captain of the Gills in the summer following his move from Fleetwood.
“He is not a vocal captain, he is not one to bash the dressing room door down,” Evans said.
“I have got Stuart O’Keefe to do that, and it was absolutely brilliant to see him back (it was O’Keefe’s first start since his leg-break earlier in the season.
“Me and Paul Raynor (the Gills assistant manager) shout and appeal for everything anyway, we didn’t need another one of them, we needed someone who captained by demonstration, someone who was in early in the mornings, doing extra in the afternoons, someone that led by example and he has done that.”
Evans recently revealed how Dempsey had attracted interest from Championship teams during the January transfer window. The Gills opted against cashing in, rejecting an offer for the 25-year-old.
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Report: Charlton 2 Gillingham 3
