Gillingham boss Mark Bonner described Saturday’s win as a dream result after beating in-form MK Dons.
The Dons had won six in a row in the league prior to Gills’ weekend arrival but a goal from Robbie McKenzie saw Bonner’s side take the points with a 1-0 victory.
Report: MK Dons 0 Gillingham 1
Asked how he felt after the game, Bonner said: “Exhaustion, probably. Same as the players, I think.
“I hope they get the credit they deserve because they’ve had some pelters thrown at them recently, but the last two games have been brilliant in terms of the commitment to the game, the effort in the game.
“It’s a massive win. Away wins are hard to come by, clean sheets are hard to come by. We’re doing very well in that regard, clean sheet-wise.
“Cat’s (Goalkeeper Glenn Morris) had a great game. The scramble at the end (to deny Liam Kelly) was just crazy. I don’t even know what happened there.
“But we will take it very, very gratefully and it backs up last week (beating Salford City 1-0 at home) , which is great. To come here (to MK Dons) and win was probably a dream result for us, really. We hope it helps maybe kick-start a bit of momentum.
“We need to try and keep backing that up and get rolling. But a big day for us, a big gain for us.
“A huge credit to the lads, for the ones that started, the ones that finished the game. I thought they made a good impact in it as well.
“We changed quite a bit during the game, but they coped really well.”
The Gills didn’t create much themselves against a side who had 77% possession and out-shot Bonner’s side 12-5 but they worked hard and defended resolutely against an MK Dons team who had been a top form.
Bonner said: “We had a handful of counter-attacking moments which we didn’t use well, first and second half.
“It’s tough because when you are starved of the ball and they make the pitch as big as they can. I think it’s the biggest pitch in the league, and they make it huge.
“They are so calm, so controlled with the ball. It’s very, very difficult to get pressure to the ball and then when you win it back, you’re tired first, and then you think, ‘right, it becomes a counter-attacking game’, so we’ve got to go fast but then you turn the ball over, and then you’re in trouble, because it’s a long time when you’ve not got it.
“In the end, once we got ahead, the way in which we defended our half and our box was brilliant and we turned them into a direct and crossing team, which was fantastic.
“They made a lot of changes, a lot of forwards on the pitch, a really good threat.”
It’s a second successive 1-0 win, after beating Salford City through Jayden Clarke’s strike the week before. Six of Gillingham’s nine league wins so far this season have been by the same 1-0 scoreline.
Bonner said: “Whether it was people blocking and defending and crosses, we dealt with players like (Alex) Gilbey and (Stephen) Wearne and (Scott) Hogan in the box so well.
“They’re such a threat, and (Aaron) Nemane, the cross put in was about 400mph right at the end when he’s just offside on the header.
“They’ve got so many threats in the team, and they are in great form at the moment and winning games.
“It was really tough for us to defend for such large periods but I thought the concentration and the personality of the players was very, very good.”
