Gillingham were up against it with 10 men for the second successive game at Priestfield – but the manager took delight in seeing them win again.
The Gills had captain Max Ehmer sent off in a 1-0 win against Chesterfield a fortnight ago and survived another setback when midfielder Ethan Coleman was dismissed with an hour gone against Tranmere. The Gills clinched this one 3-0.
Report: Gillingham 3 Tranmere 0
Bonner said: “It’s a brilliant win against a team that hadn’t conceded chances or goals and hadn’t lost. (It was a) tough game, as we expected it to be.
“I thought we started both halves like a train and then we made the game difficult for ourselves again because of the sending off, so that’s two times really we’ve made it hard.
“But I’ve got to say, the mentality of the team when it goes against us is amazing because, one, you want to respond well with a good result when you’ve had a difficult day like last weekend (losing at Doncaster).”
The Gills were leading 1-0 after Armani Little finished off a great team goal early in the second half. Coleman’s dismissal on the hour came from two bookable offences.
But Jayden Clarke struck twice late on with two counter-attack goals.
Bonner said: “When you have those moments in games, that’s the story you build together. We get the lads over (for a chat) and they’re having a drink, all anyone’s saying is, ‘we’ve been here before’ and when you have those experiences to fall back on, it gives you a little bit of a way of handling that and coming out with a good result.
“We handled it or played in a different way this time to last time, made different changes and everything because of the context of the game and the way we thought it was going, but the impact from those boys was great.
“Two amazing counter-attacking goals and a wonderful result for us.”
The Gills had edged the game in the first half but it was level at 0-0, struggling to find the quality they needed. It wa a burst forward from Joe Gbode that led to the much-needed opener.
Bonner said: “In fairness, we thought they got the ball in the box a few times a bit too easily.
“In the first half, we weren’t landing on a few second balls in moments. They play the game in a way that you have to be so good in those situations. The first pass, the second balls, and they caught us a couple of times.
“We had to make a couple of brilliant blocks in the first half to keep them out. Again, with 11 men. And we did it lots with 10 as well. But that’s where boys are great.
“Even the corner in the 90-whatever minute it was in the end, because it went on forever that game, but whenever that last corner comes, all anyone’s thinking is: ‘See this bit out, don’t concede a goal, 3-0 is better than 3-1’ and that’s the mentality we want to build.
“Clean sheets, wins, gritty performances, and all the best on top of that will come as we get more and more confident, more used to each other. (There was) lots to like in our performance and I’m pleased.
“If you go 1-0, 10 men, 60 minutes, it’s probably a really tough game to think you’re going to win 3-0. The way we did that was exceptional from the lads.”
