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Gillingham manager Neil Harris admitted he couldn’t have been happier after his side’s dominant performance against Tranmere.
The Gills grew into the League 2 match, taking a 32nd minute lead through captain Shaun Williams and then coasting to victory, sealing it with a late second scored by Conor Masterson. Tranmere barely threatened.
Harris said: “A clean sheet, two goals, we could have had more, we had to build into the game, we looked a bit like a team who had just had five games in 14 days and a third game in a week, after two long trips, even though we freshened it up (with four changes).
“We didn’t really get going with a tempo, then we burst into life before the goal, we scored the goal and dominated the rest of the half. Second half there was only one team in it.
“I am delighted, delighted with the performance and the lads who came into the team, the lads who came off the bench and delighted with the squad in general because they are a pleasure to work with every day, they are at it and they’re enjoying it. The atmosphere in the stadium on a freezing day was really good, I just can’t be happier, three points.
“It’s another step in the right direction, still with a lot of work to do, but there was only one team going to win that game.
“It’s another three points gained on those around us, below and above, the clean sheet and the comfortable nature of the end result.
“I think we created that environment, created that performance. Tranmere have been really good, 10 points in six games (before Saturday), played some good sides in that run as well, been really good. I thought the game was very even for the first 20 minutes until we scored and then it was one way traffic for the rest of the game.
“That maybe gives a bit of confidence to the players and drains the opponent, decision making was key, first 20-25 minutes maybe it wasn’t, we turned the ball over too cheaply, didn’t play in the right areas, second half we played with a lot more control.
“Once the goal went in I thought that gave belief in the stadium, and for the players, and second goal was key, although I didn’t feel at any stage second half that we were under the cosh, they didn’t build any sustained pressure on us at all.”
