Gillingham 3  Sturminster Marshall 2

Stur Line-up:

1.Paul Maitland, 2.Danny Bagg, 3.John Elliot, 4.Phil Sweetland, 5.Lloyd Bird, 6.Graham Duff, 7.Fedja Selimovic, 8.Matt Lambert, 9.Darrell Williams, 10.Mark Henson, 11.Rob Morley

Substitutes:

12. Ross Humphrey (for Selimovic 45), 14. Matt Jones (for Bagg 75), 15. Joe Wood, 16.Gareth Thomas (for Lambert 60), 17. Jules Starling

Goals:

Gillingham: Isaac (2), Foster

Stur: Williams (2)

Star man:  John Elliot

A brace of goals from Darrell Williams was not enough to save Stur from an opening day defeat at Hardings Lane.

Stur looked rusty and disjointed during the early exchanges and Gillingham had the better of the opening period. The early pressure paid off when Gills opened the scoring after 20 minutes, Isaac heading home from close range. Things got worse for Stur when Gills extended their lead on the half hour, Foster firing home from close range after the defence failed to clear a right wing corner. Stur were left shell shocked when Isaac beat the offside trap and rounded Maitland before slotting home his second and Gills third.

From this point the complexion of the game changed completely. Stur were hurt and they gritted their collective teeth and began to force their way into the game. Williams chased a lost cause and his persistence paid off when he cut inside a covering defender and forced the ball home.

The first half had belonged to Gillingham but the second half was a different story. The introduction of Humphrey for the injured Selimovic galvanised Stur and they forced Gillingham onto the back foot from the off. Williams reduced the arrears when he grabbed his second of the game when he took a pass from Humphrey in his stride and fired past the advancing keeper.

The game from this point on was about constant Stur pressure and desperate Gillingham defending. Stur laid siege to the Gills goal, but the equaliser just would not come. The relief with which the Gills players and bench greeted the final whistle told it’s own story.