Gills find their age range

Youth and experience combine as Gills see off unbeaten Tranmere

Gillingham 2

Dobbs 68, Hale 80

Tranmere Rovers 0

Attendance: 5,611 (349 Away Fans)

Gillingham’s first home win of the season was delivered from opposite ends of the age

range.

Nineteen-year-old Logan Dobbs headed his first League goal to break the deadlock against previously unbeaten Tranmere Rovers. Twenty years Dobbs’ senior, Garath McCleary came from the bench to change the complexion of the contest before supplying the pass from which Ronan Hale sealed a 2-0 victory.

Around them were further opportunities for Gillingham’s younger players. By the end of the game, five under-20s had featured as Gareth Ainsworth’s side extended their unbeaten league run to five games and recorded their first home clean sheet of the season.

Ainsworth had been forced into two changes from the side that won 4-1 at Rochdale. Eli King replaced the injured Zech Obiero, while Robbie McKenzie came in for Will Goodwin, leaving Hale as the lone striker in a 3-4-2-1 and James Brophy and Harry Waldock operating behind him.

Hale worked hard, as ever, but was often isolated against Tranmere's back four and Gillingham struggled to find the fluency that had characterised their second-half dismantling of Rochdale. After a good run down the left by Conor McManus, Waldock's low delivery was cut out before Hale could meet it. The clearest first-half opportunity came when Omar Beckles met Brophy's free-kick with a diving header that goalkeeper Luke McGee pushed around the post.

Tranmere carried a threat of their own. Brophy needed to make a sixth-minute goal-line clearance after Ollie Wright had initially blocked a low cross, while Dylan Jones and Sam Finley both failed to make promising positions count. Goalless at the interval felt about right.

The game began to change five minutes after the restart. McKenzie shot wide on the turn before Waldock, who had been struggling with illness, finally succumbed and was replaced by McCleary.

The effect was almost immediate. Gillingham became more direct and incisive. McCleary found himself in dangerous crossing positions and struck a fierce shot that stung McGee’s hands at the near post. Suddenly, it felt a question of when, rather than if, Gillingham would score.

The breakthrough arrived after 68 minutes. Hale found space on the left and lifted a cross into the six-yard box, where Dobbs had escaped his marker. The 19-year-old guided his header beyond McGee for his first League goal in front of a jubilant Rainham End. It was difficult to tell who enjoyed it more: Dobbs or those celebrating directly behind the goal. Interviewed about his goal after the game, Dobbs said, ‘That's something I've been dreaming about.’

There is a broader story here than Logan Dobbs' first League goal. Five academy products were named in Saturday's squad, while 17-year-old Sully Booth's first three-year professional contract was announced before kick-off. The opportunities currently being afforded to Gillingham's young players may, in part, be the result of a lengthy senior injury list. Nevertheless, they also reflect the strength of the club's Academy and an apparent recent improvement in recruitment.

Dobbs clearly sees the opportunities being offered to his generation, but also the expectations that accompany them. ‘Even though we are young, we don't get treated as young players,’ he said afterwards. ‘We get treated as senior players.’

If the opening goal belonged to one of Gillingham's emerging generation, the second carried the mark of their most experienced outfield player. Hale won possession midway inside his own half and fed McCleary on the right before continuing his run towards goal. McCleary then curled a pass around the Tranmere defence and back into Hale's path. The striker reached it inside the box and poked the ball beyond McGee for 2-0.

But - with Gillingham, there so often seems to be an injury-related 'but' - Hale was injured even in the act of scoring. Unable to join the celebrations behind the goal, he lay crumpled on the goal line clutching his left ankle and had to be replaced by Lamin Sillah.

It initially put a bittersweet edge on an excellent Gillingham goal, although Ainsworth's post-match update was more reassuring: ‘It is just a kick.’ The ankle had swollen significantly, but the implication was that this was not another long-term casualty.

Ainsworth continued to trust youth in the closing stages, with Jack Daley, Sheldon Kendall and Michael Luxton all getting minutes as Gillingham saw out the victory.

Tranmere had arrived fourth in the table and unbeaten in their opening five league games. They left having suffered their first defeat, while Gillingham moved level with them on nine points. More significantly, The Gills are now unbeaten in five league matches since the opening-day defeat by Walsall, with six goals scored and only one conceded across their last two.

Before the game Ainsworth had spoken of turning Priestfield into ‘winning territory’. Afterwards, his verdict was rather more visceral: ‘Priestfield was rocking today.’ 

One victory doesn't make a fortress, but this felt like another step towards the team Ainsworth has spent months saying he is trying to build. Against Tranmere, a 19-year-old supplied the breakthrough and a 39-year-old helped finish the job. Gillingham found something at both ends of their age range.