Gillingham ended the year by adding another defeat to their tally at AFC Wimbledon.

Matty Stevens scored the winner for the Dons from a corner early in the second half after a much-improved performance from the Gills failed to produce a goal.

The Gills could feel a little aggrieved on the night after being denied a clear penalty and conceding a goal which seemingly went in off an arm.

Gillingham had some making up to do at Wimbledon and they certainly played with more energy than on their previous outing but they were still lacking where it mattered. They didn’t get some big decisions on the night but didn’t do enough in the attacking third.

Captain Max Ehmer spoke about repaying their own fans with a “massive performance” after the sloppy Boxing Day show, losing 2-0 at Colchester United.

The U’s that day weren’t just better players, they were more switched on, more imaginative, creative, harder working, clearly up for it and in the end deserved winners.

Manager Mark Bonner reacted to that by making some interesting changes.

Armani Little was an obvious pick, fit again to start against his former team. Two of the other three changes to his XI raised more eyebrows.

Bradley Dack made his first league start since rejoining in the summer and there was a league debut for young Sam Gale - preferred in defence ahead of more experienced Shad Ogie.

Gale started the season on loan at National South Chelmsford City and was recalled in early December. He was in a three-man central defensive unit in a switch back to a 5-4-1 formation, matching up to a wing-back system played by the Dons.

The Gills started the evening trailing the Dons by four points. They had catching up to do if they wanted to start showing they were serious about promotion this term but a wide open division meant anything was still possible - regardless of the result on Monday.

It was a lively start from the Gills, with a trio of Gillingham corners coming to nothing more than a blocked shot from Conor Masterson.

The Gills were showing so much more passion than they had at Colchester but despite all of the best efforts home keeper Owen Goodman didn’t have a save to make in the opening half.

Wimbledon were looking to get at the Gills from the flanks, with Josh Neufville keen to take on defender Max Clark at every opportunity, but the defence stood firm, defending in numbers to swamp the area at times.

The closest the Dons got in the first half was a close-range header from Matty Stevens that Glenn Morris saved one-handed.

Gills striker Elliott Nevitt was unable to get the better of defender John-Joe O’Toole who was sticking to him closely - to close at times as referee Sam Purkiss had to intervene as the two men bickered.

O’Toole had got away with an early challenge on Masterson from a corner that the referee missed, the Gills player put in a headlock and hauled over. It would have been a penalty in the VAR-world of the Premier League but not at Plough Lane.

Wimbledon were ahead on 51 minutes through Stevens, turning in a corner at the near post after getting away from Robbie McKenzie. Replays showed he converted with the top of his arm but there were no complaints from the Gillingham players.

The Gills had their first shot on target just past the hour mark when Clarke’s tame effort was held by Goodman and moments later Nevitt wasted a good chance after a mistake at the back when he fired over.

Gills went to a four-man defence when Aaron Rowe replaced Gale while Ogie was also introduced after Conor Masterson picked up an injury.

Little forced Dons keeper Goodman into a save with a free-kick from the edge of the box.

Wimbledon were quite loose with their passing at the back on several occasions and it needed Goodman to come out to the edge of his box to save them, handling outside of the area but getting away with it. Dack was booked for protesting.

Rowe shot wide for the Gills late on and stung the hands of the keeper in stoppage time as the visitors put pressure on the home team’s goal but couldn’t convert.

The Gills started the year 10th in League 2 and ended it in 13th – not the progress the club have been looking for.

League 2 table