Blast for ref after ‘dominant’ Gills lose
STEVE Evans insists Gillingham have to sharpen up in front of goal after they wasted several golden chances in their loss at AFC Wimbledon.
Scott Wagstaff’s first-half strike was enough for the Dons to secure a first win in four games but Evans was purring with his own side’s performance – less so the referee’s.
Official Kevin Johnson waved away claims for a penalty when Olly Lee was seemingly dragged down by Mitch Pinnock, while substitute Ben Pringle was sent off for dissent in stoppage time.
The Gills also missed great chances for Brandon Hanlan and Mikael Mandron.
Evans said: “We’re not going to talk about the referee publicly; we’ll talk to him privately. I’ve got to remain private as to what my thoughts are on Kevin Johnson’s performance – if I said them publicly I’d be in trouble.
“It’s a smack in the face. I feel for the players, I feel for the supporters. The fans are going around the M25 tonight wondering how we’ve lost that game. I know that when I get home I’ll shake my head because we’ve come away from here with absolutely nothing. It’s criminal.
“We let ourselves down in the penalty box. We made five or six golden opportunities to score. If we had scored one and gone in front we’d have won by four.”
The Gills dominated early on as Hanlan shot at
Nathan Trott and Mandron headed wide, but Wagstaff curled past Jack Bonham to put the Dons ahead with their first shot on target.
A last-ditch tackle by Luke O’Neill denied Hanlan a quick-fire equaliser. The Gills striker then shot inches wide under pressure from Ryan Delaney.
Pinnock almost added to the visitors’ frustration when his first-time shot from 25 yards forced Bonham into a fingertip save.
Max Sanders’ deflected cross cannoned off Bonham’s crossbar but the Dons had done enough.
Boss Glyn Hodges said: “We knew that Gillingham would come up to have a battle and that’s exactly what it was.
“We knew the players would have to stand up and be counted and they did that. We put a lot of blocks in – good football isn’t always about pretty patterns, sometimes you’ve got to get your head in and your foot in.”