Gillingham’s winless record against Bromley continued as they were thumped at Priestfield on Saturday.
It was the worst home defeat in four years for the Gills, since they lost 7-2 to Oxford in January 2022 at Priestfield.
League 2 leaders Bromley raced into a three-goal lead inside the opening half-hour and remain on course to win promotion.
There was one change for the Gills with winger Jonny Smith ruled out for the rest of the season through injury. That meant Garath McCleary, who won a controversial late penalty when the teams met in September, started against his former club.
New signings Ronan Hale and Cameron Antwi were both named on the bench for the home side.
Bromley handed a debut to Zech Medley, the former Gills man joined on loan from Fleetwood for the rest of the season, along with Port Vale loanee Jesse Debrah.
The visitors settled quickest but Gillingham were enjoying their best moment of the opening 10 minutes before the visitors broke away to score.
Swift and incisive, Michael Cheek fed Corey Whitely down the right and his cross was flashed beyond keeper Glenn Morris by Ben Thompson.
Thompson then headed over after Mitch Pinnock’s shot was deflected as Bromley raced forward with purpose at every opportunity.
The second goal duly arrived on 19 minutes as Cheek took advantage of some dreadful defending by Andy Smith. His shot was only pushed out by Morris straight into the path of Thompson to score into an empty net.
It was some return to Priestfield for the energetic Thompson, the 30-year-old featured for Gillingham in 2022.
Gills looked to get back into the contest and Aaron Rowe forced a fine one-handed stop from keeper Grant Smith.
Pinnock then clashed with Sam Gale after the ball went out of play and with The Rainham End calling for a red card, referee Alan Young opted to book the wing-back for shoving Gale to the ground.
Within a minute it was 3-0 as Bromley again broke with speed. Whitely had plenty of grass to run into and he advanced as far as the edge of the area before beating Morris at this near post with an emphatic finish.
The last time Gills conceded three goals at home in the league was 12 months earlier against Bromley, whose fans numbered more than 1,000 at Priestfield and they were clearly enjoying a rampant display from their side.
It nearly got worse for the Gills but Thompson, having beaten the offside trap, saw his lob go just over the bar as he almost completed a 21-minute hat-trick.
Morris went down with an injury and when play resumed Gills had changed to a 3-5-2 formation.
It stemmed the flow of Bromley attacks and despite losing Conor Masterson to injury, the home side were able to reduce the arrears on 44 minutes. McCleary was booed by the visiting fans throughout but he cut in from the left to force a fine stop from Smith. However, the Bromley keeper – like his counterpart at the other end – could only parry it into the pathof Dack, who blasted home from close range.
With injuries and time-wasting a feature of the half, not to mention lengthy goal celebrations, the referee added 10 minutes of stoppage time.
Dack again went close from long range while Cheek had an effort saved at the other end.
The drama continued in the second half as Thompson needed just three minutes to complete his hat-trick, another terrific strike from 20 yards leaving Morris with no chance.
The goal came just 60 seconds after the Gills had a clear penalty appeal turned down as Josh Andrews was hauled down as he tried to turn in Hale’s cross from close range.
Gillingham had introduced Hale for his debut at the break and he was denied a first Gills goal on 53 minutes when Smith produced another excellent one-handed stop.
Despite trailing by three goals, the Gills were giving as good as they got and Dack was twice denied by two more Smith stops.
Gills battled to the final whistle and Hale forced another excellent stop from Smith before substitute Sam Vokes’ header was deflected wide.
Gillingham: Morris, Gale, A Smith, Masterson (Coleman 42mins), Clark, McCleary (Hutton 73mins), Little, McKenzie, Rowe (Hale 46mins), Dack (Antwi 85mins), Andrews (Vokes 73mins). Subs not used: Turner, Palmer-Houlden.
Bromley: Smith, Medley, Charles, Thompson (Krauhaus 70mins), Cheek (Kabamba 88mins), Pinnock (Ilunga 88mins), Debrah, Hondermarck (Arthurs 64mins), Whitely, Ifill, Odutayo. Subs not used: Long, Webster, Ajayi.
Referee: Alan Young.
Attendance: 8,164 (1,313 away).
