Gillingham substitute Joe Gbode’s stoppage-time equaliser rescued a point at Tranmere on Saturday.
The Gills looked to be heading for a first league defeat under boss Gareth Ainsworth until Gbode scored in the second minute of added time.
It meant a fair result in the end as Tranmere had earlier scored through Omari Patrick – a goal that should have been ruled out for an offside in the build-up.
Gills boss Gareth Ainsworth makes three changes from the side that won in the league against Walsall seven days earlier.
Shad Ogie joins Conor Masterson among the injury list while Joe Gbode drops to the bench.
Sam Gale, Ethan Coleman and Josh Andrews, all on the bench last weekend, come into the starting line-up.
Bradley Dack retained his place in the starting line-up. It was the first time in two years that Dack had started three successive league games, last achieving that sequence with Sunderland in the Championship.
Gills went with a back four, Robbie McKenzie dropped into the middle of the defence with the excellent Sam Gale given a right-back role to thwart Tranmere’s main attacking threat from their left-wing with Remeao Hutton ahead of him.
On the back of a 4-0 home win over Shrewsbury last weekend, the home fans started with plenty of enthusiasm but Gillingham slowly quietened the crowd, giving hardly any chances away.
McKenzie’s flicked header went wide at the other end but for the first half-hour referee Declan Bourne seemed intent on becoming centre of attention.
Ainsworth was booked on 14 minutes for dissent after a soft free-kick given against Andrews before Dack could count himself unfortunate to be booked for stopping a quick free-kick that Tranmere weren’t looking to take quickly. Both teams were guilty of the same offence before the break but only Dack got punished.
Ethan Coleman was an effective shield in front of the back four but his afternoon came to an end after a clash of heads on 27 minutes with Nohan Kenneh, who almost immediately had to be treated again after getting a Dack clearance to the face from close quarters.
Charlie Whitaker’s weak effort for Tranmere on 37 minutes was comfortably saved by Glenn Morris.
Elliott Nevitt was booked for a needless foul before the vision and quality of Dack almost presented Gills with a goal, his free-kick picking out Remeao Hutton, whose pull back to Nevitt ended with the forward’s shot being blocked.
Tranmere had their best spell of the half in the five minutes of additional time but Gills defended their box well, Taylan Harris eventually getting a shot away but not calling Morris into action.
The breakthrough came on 63 minutes in controversial circumstances. Substitute Kristian Dennis was clearly offside when his first touch played in Omari Patrick, who confidently slotted low past Morris. Gills knew it at the time and immediately turned to the assistant referee, replays confirmed their first impression and goalkeeping coach Deren Ibrahim was booked as they protested to the officials.
Tranmere looked to shut up shop once ahead. Gills changed their gameplan with 11 minutes left, throwing on fresh attacking impetus in a bid to rescue a point.
It paid off in stoppage time when a right-wing corner fell to Armani. He worked space on the edge of the box and when his initial effort was blocked it landed for Gbode, whose close-range effort trickled over the line.
The referee, of course, had the final say when he somehow booked Max Clark for trying to take a throw-in. The problem was it was a second yellow card and Clark will now be suspended for Tuesday’s home clash with Chesterfield.
Despite their lack of clear-cut chances it was still a solid performance on the road for Gills and a point they may look back on favourably in the months ahead.
Tranmere: McGee, Norman, Brough, Smith, Smallwood, Whitaker (Bristow 62mins), Davison (Jennings 88mins), Patrick, O’Connor, Harris (Dennis 62mins), Kenneh. Subs not used: Murphy, Lowe, Solomon, Blacker.
Gillingham: Morris, Hutton (Rowe 79mins), Clark, Smith, Coleman (J Williams 27mins), Little, Andrews (Gbode 70mins), McKenzie, Nevitt (Wyllie 79mins), Dack (Khumbeni 79mins), Gale. Subs not used: Turner, Cirino.
Referee: Declan Bourne.
Attendance: 6,981 (426 away).
