Gillingham manager Gareth Ainsworth was frustrated with the “one moment” that cost his side at Crewe Alexandra on Saturday.
The home side scored from their first on-target effort of the game after the Gills had seen several chances fail to hit the back of the net.
Report: Crewe 1 Gillingham 0
Crewe’s winner on 65 minutes came from a free-kick, the goalkeeper sending it to Mickey Demetriou, who headed it down for Adrien Thibaut and he stroked the ball in past Glenn Morris.
“We deserved something out of the game,” insisted the Gills boss, with his side ahead on all the stats apart from the one that mattered.
“We’ve had the better chances and then we conceded a set-piece and I can’t keep going on about conceding set-pieces because it’s not good enough.
“I put it all down to that one moment. We’d have taken a nil-nil because it’s a tough place. We go home with nothing.”
The Gills were more than a match for the hosts in the first half, with senior players Gareth McCleary and Sam Vokes impressing. Both could have got on the scoresheet with a little more fortune.
Gillingham continued to look good up until conceding in the second half and that changed the momentum of the game.
Leading 1-0, Crewe went to five at the back, and managed to see the game out fairly comfortably, with the Gills’ substitutes unable to impact the game as the starters had.
Ainsworth said: “First-half, I thought we were very good. We looked dangerous.
“Their keeper’s made an unbelievable save, Gareth McCleary’s had one off the line.
“It’s the same story, where you think you deserve something out of the game and if you don’t get that [goal], go home with a nil-nil.
“[Other than the goal] I can’t remember a shot on target from them in the game except that one [from Tommi O’Reilly], when we were going for it, trying to get back in the game.
“It’s frustrating because if we go home with a nil-nil and we go, ‘Right, thanks, point’. But, we don’t.
“We somehow go home with nothing and I’m gutted for the boys because they gave everything. We caused some real trouble for Crewe’s defence.
“When they scored, they changed the formation. They went to five at the back, very hard to break down. We didn’t manage it well. End of game.
“We can keep saying that we had the better chances and the better whatever. We’ve got to be better at set-pieces. We can’t let them in because they’re a big part of the game.
“We can’t let that moment dictate the game. But it has.”
Crewe were always going to be difficult opponents to beat. They were nine unbeaten at home before the weekend and that win on Saturday takes them up to seventh.
“They’re a great side,” said the Gills boss. “They’re a side that plays and pops teams off the pitch. They didn’t do that [to us]. They didn’t put five or six passes together, which was our game plan, to destroy them.
“When we got our chances we had to make them count, make the quality count. We didn’t.
“I’m gutted for the boys, gutted for the fans. That’s a disappointing one because we should be leaving there with something at least. The [players] gave everything.”
In a message to the 399 fans who backed his side, he added: “Fans, thank you. Never stop singing, even at 1-0 down. I appreciate that. I see that. [It was] just one of those things.
“If we defend that set-piece better, we go home with the point and everyone’s happy. Unfortunately, it’s nothing. We’ve got and put it right on Tuesday [at Chesterfield].”
