Manager John Coleman admitted his team were too open in defence on Tuesday night as he set his side up to attack Newport.
In a similar set-up to recent games, the Gills lost their defensive shape early on as they conceded three goals inside the opening 30 minutes and were unable to get themselves back into the match.
Report: Newport 3 Gillingham 1
Newport made the second half stop-start and although Jimmy-Jay Morgan got one goal back and Elliott Nevitt came close to a second, the Gills left empty-handed after a 3-1 defeat.
Reacting afterwards, Coleman said: “Firstly, I’d like to apologise to the travelling fans for the result, really.
“Naivety in defending from us in the first half. I could see after three minutes it was too wide open. We were too wide open, they were too wide open. It was like a basketball game from the first three minutes.
“Normally, you come away from home, you get a foothold in the game. We’ve defended solidly since them three (Ehmer, Smith and Gale) have got together as a back three. With Hutton and Max Clark, we’ve looked really solid. (On Tuesday) we didn’t.
“Maybe I’ve gone too gung-ho in my approach to the game, full stop. So, I have to take responsibility for that.
“I’m trying to get the information on to tighten up. We’re trying to go with an attacking formation. Ultimately, one man’s made a difference in there, Bobby Kamwa (who scored a hat-trick) for them.
“He had his big moments and they resulted in goals. Joe Gbode had some really big moments for us. One resulted in a goal, I suppose. That’s been the difference tonight in the game.
“We defended a bit better in the second half. The game became stop-start because that’s what they wanted it to be, being 3-0 up and it was allowed to be stop-start.
“Probably four or five players going down injured. That was frustrating because you’re trying to get a head of steam on, particularly when we got one back.
“We couldn’t really get going because from the minute we scored, it was free-kick after foul after injury. You couldn’t get any kind of rhythm. I’m not using that as an excuse.
“Overall, my assessment is I’m disappointed because it was a game we could have won. Ultimately, we’ve been responsible for our own defeat.
“I picked the team, I made the decisions about how we play. I thought we played some excellent football in the first half, despite going in 3-0 down.
“We missed a couple of great chances from corners at 1-0. We played some really attractive football, but that’s no good when we’re in the position we’re in. We want to win games.
“I’ve come here to win. I’ve made no secret of that. I’m not going to lie and say I’m going to go to any places away from home and try and draw. I’m going to try and win games of football. We went to try and win tonight.
“There were a couple of moments of really good play by them, ultimately undoes us and a couple of really basic errors.
“Galey’s been pitch perfect for the last five games. He makes a mistake and it leads to a goal. He’s a young lad, he’s learning. There’s nobody who will be more upset than him, or maybe me.
“The first goal, Nev miscontrols it. Little gets turned. Ten yards inside their half. A more cynical player, which happens to us quite regularly, would have fouled him. Ten yards inside their half, he didn’t.
“Then Galey, if he’s going to foul him on the edge of the box, why not foul him 40 yards out? It’s all ifs and ands, so no excuses. It’s just naivety from us, really.
“On the second goal, not winning a header, when we’ve had two opportunities to win a header. I think that was probably our downfall tonight. A little bit defensively. We weren’t as dominant as what we normally are, and we paid the price for that.
“Things haven’t gone our way for a long time now. Even before I came, and that’s probably the reason why I’m here.
“What you can’t fault is the lads’ effort. I think everybody saw that. They kept going right to the end. A bit of naivety has cost us. That’s what happens in football matches when you’re trying to win a game.
“I have to take responsibility for us being too wide open. I could see it after three minutes. I was trying to get the information on, I just didn’t get it on well enough, or quick enough. Ultimately, that is what cost us.
“I’m not scared to take responsibility for the way we played. I just wish we’d have tightened it up quicker. We did tighten it up a little bit in the second half, to be fair.”
