In the first half, Gillingham showed their superiority with some good passing and slick movements which the Daggers struggled to keep up with. Without Heffer and Brennan, the midfield was becoming overrun by Gillingham. The warning signs were given early on when an unmarked forward managed to put his shot wide from the corner of the six yard box. Indeed, it took just 6 minutes for them to get their first, when some disorientation in the home penalty area let a forward in to score. In the tenth minute they added their second, once again some poor defending and goalkeeper positioning letting the Gills forward in to score after a scramble in the box. Gillingham continued to put much of the pressure on, although towards the end of the half the Daggers started to come back into it. The half was marred however by an awful challenge with the elbow by Paul Terry on a midfield counterpart. This did indeed detract from the excellent performance Paul did put in. Danny Shipp up front looked a little out of sorts, often having to get back into midfield to receive the ball and when doing so often wasting possession. Paul Cobb showed some good touches, and almost put Shipp through but Danny was caught flat footed. Derek Payne also started to come through as the half progressed, showing his professional unbrininging with some good passing and finding space for himself. Lee Matthews was once again class at the back, hardly ever letting his Division 1 opposition forward the space to breath with some fine tackling and marking.

In the second half, Gillingham brought on a whole new team and became slightly less dominant, the Daggers getting into the match and making it more of a game. It was the Daggers who scored first in this half, when a cross from the right was acrobatically volleyed goalwards by Cobb, helped on its way by Shipp's head which the keeper failed to hold, letting Goodwin bury the loose ball. Midway through the half, Rob Haworth was brough on and almost immediately caused the home defence problems when he challenged the Gills keeper to a ball which ran loose, only to be penalised for a foul. In this half, Jason Broom moved more central and started to come into the match more with some assured passing. Broom had a half chance midway through the half, but he went just over the bar from 30 yards. Paul Terry had a chance to equalise when he had space from 25 yards with keeper slightly off his line, but he drilled his shot just over the bar. Dominic Naylor also had a shot when a free kick was pulled back to him but he put his shot well high and wide. Gillingham did not create much in this half, a couple of crosses that were fielded by Roberts and a low shot into that he easily held. Just ten minutes from time, Gillingham scored against the run of play when a long ball over the top was chased through and easily despatched over the head of Tony Roberts.

D & R: Tony Roberts, Lee Goodwin, Tim Cole, Lee Matthews, Dominic Naylor, Mark Janney (Robbie Devereux), Paul Terry, Derek Payne, Jason Broom, Paul Cobb, Danny Shipp (Rob Haworth). Subs not used: Paul Nicholls, Marvin Harriot, Mark Keen

Man of the Match: Paul Terry, apart from his senseless elbow, he was class in midfield with some good passing and running.