Gillingham 1-4 Grimsby Town: Second-half collapse sends Gills down to mid-table

Gills boss Gareth Ainsworth made two changes to the starting lineup, bringing in Gareth McCleary for Tom Eaves, who dropped to the bench, while Robbie McKenzie returned to the starting lineup in place of Ethan Coleman.

The first hint that it wouldn't be Gillingham's day came early on as they conceded the opener inside the first 10 minutes. Mariners centre-back Harvey Rodgers latching onto a headed clearance and spanking an absolute rocket into the top corner past the helpless dive of Ollie Wright.

The visitors looked the more accomplished side, but Gillingham started to work their way back into the contest and a great cross from the right flank somehow eluded Ronan Hale in the six-yard box, with the Northern Irishman whiffing with an air-shot with the goal at his mercy.

However, Hale made amends on 37 minutes when Garath McCleary cur inside and slid a perfectly-placed ball into his path. Hale didn't even look up as he turned and smashed a low effort through Christy Pym and into the net.

The pivotal moment of the game came eight minutes into the second half, when Armani Little allowed Kieran Green to get the wrong side of him on the edge of the penalty area. Green then surged into the box and Little inexplicably pulled him down. It was a clear foul, and the award of a penalty kick was a mere formality.

Iwan Morgan stepped up and scored from the spot to put Grimsby ahead, and the game was effectively over as a contest from that moment on.

With the rain pouring down and the wind starting to gust around Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham's players needed to stand up and be counted. Unfortunately, they failed to do so as they collapsed and conceded two more Grimsby goals to give the visitors a memorable away win.

First, another defensive disaster allowed Geza Turi the opportunity to stab home from close range, then Turi turned provider as he played a superb pass to take Conor McManus out of the game and send substitute Sonny Finch through to score.

It was Gillingham's sixth defeat of the season, with all six seeing Gareth Ainsworth's side concede three or more goals in the process. It also came against a Grimsby side that had lost four and drawn one of their last five games, with the Mariners fans heading home jubilant after snapping their winless streak in emphatic fashion.

The result sees Gillingham drop to 12th in League Two, with a record of four wins, five draws and four defeats, with 18 goals scored and 18 conceded.

Now Ainsworth will go back to the drawing board to work out how to redeploy the fit players in his injury-plagued squad to avoid the season going the same way as the last two seasons, which both finished with Gillingham in 17th place.