by Luke Cawdell

Andy Hessenthaler was delighted to see his side ease to victory over Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

Gillingham hit four goals and dominated the game against their lowly opponents.

“I’m very happy and it was a good performance,” said Hessenthaler. “We thoroughly deserved to win the game.

“We spoke all week about starting the game right at home, with that tempo and desire and setting the tone to get the crowd behind us, and I thought we did that.

“The first goal was fantastic and it was well-worked with a great ball in from the man-of-the-match, and rightly so, Danny Jackman.”

Lewis Montrose headed the Gills ahead after just eight minutes.

“We give Lewis a bit of stick about his heading, because of his size, but he has headed it back from where it came from and we were 1-0 up.

“We plugged away but the first half was a little disrupted as their player (Byron Anthony) went off injured and then Andy Frampton went off for us. It perhaps lost its edge a bit.

“We kept trying to pass and do it the right way, and then got the second goal just at the right time.”

Six minutes after the restart Rovers pulled a goal back.

“2-0 is a dangerous scoreline at half-time,” said the Gills boss. "If they get a goal it gives them a lift. If we get the goal, it’s probably game over.

“The goal gave them a lift, but it shows the character of our players as we kept going. We kept trying to play. That was the key, working the ball from back to front, and we got our rewards.

“The third goal was a great strike from Jacko and a great finish. For me, then, the game was over. The fourth goal was a penalty, definitely, and the letter of the law says he has to go. It was a sending off.

“Once their player goes off we just (needed to) see the game out and we could have got a couple more.

“It’s a great start for Christmas and I have already had the chairman (Paul Scally) on the phone. It’s an early present for him and keeps him happy for another week and he can enjoy his cruise around America.”

Frampton limped off with an ankle injury, but it is too early for an assessment to be made of the scale of the problem.

Hessenthaler said: “Let’s hope it isn’t too bad. I am sure he won’t feel it tonight (Saturday) because they have their Christmas party.

“They deserve to go out and enjoy themselves and I am sure once he has a few beers, or whatever he is doing, he probably won’t feel it. We will see how it goes in the next few days and we’ll assess it.”