Richard Pacquette was making his comeback from the hamstring injury sustained in pre-season against Charlton. He was partnered up front by Eric Sabin who has quickly found himself on the periphery of the first team after barely a month.

The first half was one of few chances as both sides had plenty of the ball but succeeded in doing very little with it. The main exception for Rangers was Marcus Bean who was driving forward from midfield at every opportunity. It was clear that his fine cameo on Saturday had boosted his confidence and he was the best Rangers player by a long chalk.

Richard Pacquette smashed a shot into the car park from twenty five yards and Ben Walshe also went close after battling his way into the box. Walshe was linking well with yet another diminutive left back by the name of Danny Murphy. On the right Daniel Lewis was showing some nice touches and delivered several fine freekicks.

It was goalless at the break and it was notable for the dire performance of referee Singh. He would fail to give a freekick for a foul and then would flash a yellow card for minor petulance. The only booking of worth in the game was awarded when Pacquette parted Paul Smith's pubic hair with his boot. There was not a man in the crowd that didn't wince at the site of his clackers taking a hell of a pounding.

Gillingham took the lead early in the second half through Jones Awuah. He charged onto a cross from the right and duffed a poor effort at Culkin. I think the sheer lack of pace surprised the big keeper and he spilled it back to Awuah to finish from a tight angle.

The second goal came from a corner when Marian Ifura was off of the field having treatment. Having done brilliantly to block a cross in the corner he went down clutching his calf. In the ensuing confusion Gillingham scored with a near post header that the diminutive Murphy could not hack clear. They had barely won a header in attack all night such was the dominance in the air of Ifura and youngster Ryan Johnson and only when one was off the field did we pay.

Rangers had a chance to pull one back when Bean danced his way into the box and crossed only to see substitute Martyn Williams pull a poorly struck shot wide. Gillingham keeper Bossu, on trial from Hayes and previously a trialist with Rangers, saved well from Walshe but there were precious few chances.

This was a decent performance from some very young players. Chris Mills played out of position in central midfield and proved to be an excellent foil for Bean, allowing his usually defensive counterpart more time on the ball. Johnson and Ifura did well at the back as did Murphy and Lewis looks a decent prospect on the right. Pacquette only had a half and looked to be at about 45-50%, he will look for 90 minutes next time out.

Unfortunately, the two poorest performers for Rangers were Sabin and Edghill. Sabin showed some nice touches only to let himself down with his next one. Edghill looked well out of shape and will be in need of some serious fitness work if he wants to persuade Olly to extend his current one month deal.

Finally a word about the pitch. Last season it was selected as it was nice and flat, lush grass and pretty sizeable. These days it looks like a Sunday morning pitch with a fence round it and they seem to have pinched a yard or two from the sides. It doesn't help the game when the ball won't roll five yards without jumping to knee height. Things need improving and I don't think it would hurt the good people of Northwood to show it a hose every now and then.