‘We’re still in this race’, declared Gillingham’s boss after securing back-to-back League 2 wins.
The Gills still have plenty to do to work their way back into the promotion places – and will face bigger challenges than the last two – but Gareth Ainsworth’s men were comfortable winners at Harrogate Town on Saturday.
Second-half goals from Conor Masterson, Armani Little and Sam Vokes sealed the victory, one which followed a win at home to Newport County last week.
Victory leaves the Gills seven points off the play-off places.
Speaking after their win at Harrogate, Ainsworth said: “When we perform like we did, the speed of the attacks, but not just that, the quality of the passing and play, it’s not bad for a team that people have probably written off this season a little bit.
“Hopefully, there’ll be a few eyebrows raised, and we’re still in this race.
“[The win was] fully deserved. We were well worth the victory. Players, fans, my staff, everyone has really, really worked hard for this, and I can’t thank the boys enough.
“They were emphatic, the way they went forward and finished.
“In recent weeks, we’ve been guilty of not [taking] a few chances, but that was brilliant.”
The Gills were wary of a Harrogate team on a poor run, but one with plenty of new faces. They had a handful of new signings on show at home for the first time.
Ainsworth said: “It was a long journey, we knew what was coming, but Harrogate changed, I think, four or five players for their starting line-up because they’d been in a bad run.
“They sprung a little bit of a formation change on us. The boys dealt with it. I’ve got some characters back in that team now.”
League 2 table
The Gills got the goals, but also a clean sheet, and were determined to keep Harrogate out.
Ainsworth said: “The back five [with goalkeeper] Glenn, they are just really getting so much better at defending our box, and blocks, and getting your first head on things, which I think we’ve been guilty of not doing and then at the other end, the chances we created were good chances, good finishes as well, real good finishes.
“I’m so glad that it was in front of the Gillingham fans as well, because they were spectacular finishes.”
All three goals were scored in front of the 472 traveling fans.
“There’s a pride in these boys,” said the manager.
“I believe that’s coming at the right time. They were saying, ‘don’t concede, don’t concede’.
“We scored one and we actually said, ‘Don’t sit back and protect this lead. Let’s go and get some more goals’, and they certainly did that. Really pleased with them.
“We mentioned that in the week as well. It’s tough being a team like Harrogate, down the bottom, fighting for your lives and when teams come in and score against you, your heads can drop.
“We thought, ‘Right, if their heads drop, let’s then suffocate them even more. Let’s go for the jugular’. I’m pleased that the boys did that.
“I like Harrogate Town. I don’t want them to go down. [Manager] Simon Weaver is a good guy and it’s a good club. Hopefully they’ll survive in the league this season because it’s a tough place to come.
“But it was brilliant. A year down the line, I said to the boys, I was pleased to get away with a draw last year at this place. This year, a draw would be a poor result. I wanted to win and the boys delivered for me.”
