Manager Mark Bonner sees his team’s red cards as lessons to be learned after picking up a third of the season on Saturday.
For the second home game running the Gills found themselves down to 10 men. This time it was a second yellow card for Ethan Coleman that led to his dismissal, sent off by referee Will Finnie with an hour gone.
Report: Gillingham 3 Tranmere 0
The Gills managed to still win 3-0 after scoring two late goals on the counter-attack.
Coleman’s red card came two weeks after Max Ehmer was also sent off for a couple of bookable offences in a 1-0 home win over Chesterfield.
Euan Williams picked up a red card in the League Cup loss at Swansea.
On the latest dismissal, Bonner said: “It’s a yellow card. He can’t make the tackle. He’s been fouled himself. It was a bad tackle on him but it doesn’t make it the right reaction for Ethan to go and make the foul again.
“I think both yellow cards are right. They’re a bit harsh and he’s very quick to make bookings on both occasions.
“That’s where we’re probably hurting ourselves a little bit and making it a harder game or a more different game than it need be.
“But they’re all lessons that we can learn and we’ve come out of it really well.
“The cost to us is, we’ll have a couple of players back next week but then we lose Ethan. We’re never quite able to get the rhythm yet.
“I don’t mind us being a nasty team. I don’t mind us getting bookings. I want them for the right things.
“I don’t want it for slamming a ball on the ground or making fouls in moments when they don’t need to be made.
“It’s just learning that we’ll get there with that and the lads have got through again for us and got us a really good result.”
