Gillingham came back from a goal down to take a point from their League 2 opener at Accrington Stanley.
Tyler Walton put Accrington ahead midway through the second half before the Gills levelled from Armani Little’s corner, turned in by home defender Devon Matthews to make it 1-1.
Gillingham boss Gareth Ainsworth was without his two summer attacking recruits with Sam Vokes and Seb Palmer-Houlden both missing out injured.
There were just four changes to the starting line-up from the previous time the Gills were at Accrington – a 1-1 draw under John Coleman.
Armani Little continued to wear the captain’s armband too, chosen by Ainsworth from his group of senior leaders.
Gillingham’s record at Accrington over recent years has been pretty impressive.
Since suffering 7-4 and 4-3 defeats to Accrington, the Gills had been to the north west club on seven occasions, recording five wins and two draws.
Former chairman Paul Scally was among the invited guests at the Wham Stadium as the Gills kicked off a new campaign.
Elliott Nevitt led the Gills from the front in a 4-2-3-1 set-up and it was a bit of a frantic start, the home side first to have a go at goal, Donald Love sending a shot wide after Ogie’s defensive header dropped into his path.
Issac Sinclair had a shot blocked for Accrington as they looked the more likely to break the deadlock in the early stages.
Gillingham’s best chance of the half came from a Max Clark corner that dropped invitingly, but Robbie McKenzie couldn’t get his effort on target from close range, with the goal at his mercy. Conor Masterson had gone for the same ball which didn’t help.
Joe Gbode put another chance over the bar for the Gills while Farrend Rawson and Devon Matthews both headed wide for the home side as the game reached half-time goalless.
Both teams were committed but neither had found the quality needed.
Gbode put an early second-half header wide and Nevitt had a shot blocked after Remeao Hutton had turned defence into attack.
Gills keeper Glenn Morris hadn’t had too much to do, particularly at the start of the second half, but he showed a safe pair of hands as Josh Smith tried his luck from a tight angle.
Josh Woods put another chance over the bar for the home side before they took the lead.
Walton ran the ball into the Gills box after chasing a ball over the top of the defence, getting the better of Masterson and then Hutton, before stroking the ball past Morris for a 67th minute lead.
Ainsworth responded by introducing Nelson Khumbeni and Josh Andrews from the bench.
Andrews first job was to hack the ball clear after a free-kick came close to being converted by Stanley.
It was an own-goal that got the Gills level. Little swung in a corner to Andrews at the near post but home defender Matthews got the touch to send it past keeper Michael Kelly.
Accrington pushed late on for a winner, with Masterson blocking one shot and McKenzie heading another clear from in front of goal.
Gillingham: Morris, Hutton, Clark, Masterson, Ogie, McKenzie, Little, J Williams (Andrews 74mins), Dack (Khumbeni 74mins), Gbode (Gale 85mins), Nevitt (Wyllie 81mins). Subs not used: Turner, Coleman, Smith.
Accrington: Kelly, Love, Grant, Rawson, Coyle, B Woods, Sinclair, Matthews, Caton ( J Woods 58mins), Walton (Mooney 85mins), Smith. Subs not used: Wright, Henderson, Popoola, Brown, Conneely.
Referee: Ollie Yates
Attendance: 2,302 (610 away)
