Gillingham manager Mark Bonner admitted it was an opportunity missed for his side on Friday night.
The Gills led 1-0 through Jayden Clarke but then conceded twice and it needed an equaliser from substitute George Lapslie to ensure they got something from the match.
Report: Gillingham 2 Cheltenham 2
Reflecting on a good performance but a frustrating result, in a game that ended 2-2, Bonner said: “I thought it was a good game, an entertaining game and we had a real good go.
“We had a lot of chances, I think we were the more likely to win the game, one right at the end as well (when Bradley Dack hit the crossbar).
“There’s parts of it we’re really pleased with, parts of it we’re disappointed with, overall I think the lads are disappointed, frustrated with what we conceded and also the fact that we haven’t taken three points from the game because it’s probably a bit of an opportunity missed for us that.”
The Gills went into the match off the back of two successive wins. It was looking good for a third before Luke Young levelled with a well-hit free-kick to stop Bonner side in their tracks.
George Miller had a free header to put the Robins ahead but Lapslie levelled and Dack was only denied a late winner by the woodwork.
Bonner, looking at the positives first, said: “I’m really pleased that we’ve kept a little run going, which I think is real key. What we haven’t done enough this year is, if we couldn’t win, we got beat too often.
“I’m just pleased that we’ve kept the total going and got another result.
“There were times where we looked really good, so it’s promising going into a busy spell where more and more players are coming back.
“I enjoyed the game, I thought it was quite eventful, I thought we could have won it but I’m really happy we didn’t lose it.”
Clarke’s opener had been cancelled out with 36 minutes gone as Young’s long-range free-kick beat goalkeeper Glenn Morris and went in off the far post.
Bonner said: “I didn’t like the build-up to their first goal, I thought we were passive in lots of our defensive moments and then he just hit a worldy of a free-kick, so you just have to accept that but I can’t accept the bits that led to it.
“I hated how we started the second half, I thought we lacked intensity.
“I thought the second goal we let in was absolute toilet and we don’t normally let in goals like that, so that’s really disappointing in terms of our connection, in terms of our intensity to land on a ball, in terms of our recovery speed, in terms of affecting players in and around the goal mouth.
“We’ve left a centre-forward a free header in the box – you just can’t do that.
“What we’ve done a couple of times recently when we have conceded is we’ve responded well and I liked how we responded.
“We changed quite a few things, and quite a few times within the second half, and looked threatening and I liked the atmosphere in the stadium, I liked the team, the team were really driven, you could just see the body language of a team chasing, wanting to try and nick the win.
“There were times where we may have deserved that as well. But the moment at the end, how he (Dack) hits the crossbar, it’s a brilliant effort and it doesn’t quite go where we want it to and then it just falls right into the goalie’s hands.
“There were probably a couple of those moments, even in the first half, where we’ve got good numbers in the box and it doesn’t quite bounce where we want it to.
“Our two goals were really good ones. Elliott Nevitt’s part in both goals was exceptional and Remeao Hutton in the second one, his ball down the side, Nev’s cut back, George Lapslie with a brilliant finish.
“The first one with Jayden again, off of a Nev strike from a good ball carry where he’s made good distance up with the game.
“I was really pleased with lots of parts of it and as always there’s loads of little things we’ll talk about (on Saturday) and show, because for all the good stuff there’s a handful of moments why we don’t win, and they’re the bits we have to really focus on.
“We also have to keep the good vibe and the good energy going from another decent performance and an okay result.”
