York City 3-0 Gillingham: 10-man Gills second-best as unbeaten run comes to an end

Gillingham didn't have a chance to settle as they were caught cold by a fast-starting York side, and a defensive mix-up at the back post allowed Joe Grey to scrappily finish past a helpless Ollie Wright in the second minute.

The goal seemed to put Gillingham's defence into panic mode, with the back line and midfield looking like a completely different set of players to the ones who had looked so composed and cohesive through the last half-dozen games.

Things went from bad to worse for Gillingham when striker Will Goodwin was forced off with an injury after just 18 minutes, with Zane Albarus, returning from injury, coming on to replace him.

It meant there was no physical presence up front to hold the ball up for the visitors, and it meant Gillingham had to cope with wave after wave of York attacks.

Ollie Pearce should have made it 2-0 to the hosts, but his weakly-struck effort was superbly saved by Ollie Wright, while a minute later, Alex Newby hit the outside the of the post as the home pressure continued to mount.

Then Gillingham faced another major problem, with midfielder Eli King going down with a knee injury and having to come off on 31 minutes. Garath McClearly came on to replace him, but King's loss deprived the team of their most accomplished passer in the middle of the field.

Newby went close again for York, while Alex Hunt struck the post as York pushed for a second that, remarkably, didn't come as Gillingham held out until halftime with just the one-goal deficit.

It meant the visitors had an opportunity to potentially fight back into the game, but the second half saw more incidents and accidents befall the Gills.

After a triple substitution from Ainsworth brought Bradley Dack, Sheldon Kendall and Jack Daley into the action, Gillingham were sent down to 10 men with referee Scott Oldham marking his inconsistent display by giving Albarus a very soft second yellow card to harshly dismiss the young midfielder on 70 minutes.

With York already on top, and Gillingham a man down, a second goal seemed an inevitability, and Jovan Malcolm twice shrugged off attempted challenges from Daley to fire powerfully past Wright to double the hosts' lead.

And when Pearce eventually got his goal with a shot that went through a crowd of players to find the net, it put a more accurate slant to the scoreline in a match where Gillingham were comfortably second best for long spells of the game.

Despite that, the away side did have chances. Garath McCleary fired wide shortly after the break, and James Brophy hit the crossbar in the closing moments. But in the end, the right team got the right result as York claimed the emphatic victory their performance deserved.

It meant that Gillingham fell to only their second league defeat of the campaign, as their six-match unbeaten run, and three-game win streak, came to an end.

The attention now turns to the injuries to both Goodwin and King, before preparation begins for Gillingham's return to Priestfield for Matchday 9, where they'll take on Newport County on Saturday, October 3.