Gillingham 1 Rochdale 1

Gillingham earned a hard fought point against in-form Rochdale on Tuesday night at Priestfield.

Striker Simeon Jackson returned to the Gillingham starting line-up and bagged his eighth of the season, but the visitors levelled just after the hour, with a goal from Adam Le Fondre.

Jackson had a simple task to open the scoring when he turned home a cross from Albert Jarrett after 18 minutes.

The club�s top scorer should have added a second eight minutes later, when a long ball from keeper Simon Royce was flicked on by Adam Miller to send Jackson through, but his vicious shot was saved by Sam Russell.

Rochdale remained a threat all half but it wasn�t until stoppage time when they actually made Royce work � and it was a fantastic save by the Gills keeper as he blocked Clark Keltie�s powerful shot following Tom Kennedy�s corner kick.

The visitors started the second half brightly and with just over an hour gone they drew level through striker Adam Le Fondre. He received the ball on the edge of the box and beat Royce with a chip into the top corner.

Royce had to be alert moments later as Le Fondre got another sight of goal, but he was unable to beat the keeper a second time, as the shot was parried clear.

Gillingham substitute defender Leigh Mills was left nursing a bloodied nose with 87 minutes gone, after he tried to divert John Nutter�s free-kick towards goal. The effort was blocked on the line by a number of bodies, but it left the home side with only 10 men, as Mills was forced off and Gillingham�s full complement of substitutes used.

A strong finish for Gillingham failed to yield a goal and they had to settle for a point.

Manager Mark Stimson said: �Rochdale were a good footballing side and they played the ball around nice and brightly but I�ve got one centre half (Richards) with stud marks across his knee and other (Mills) with a tooth just about hanging from his mouth.

�Against good sides when you get the opportunity you need to take them but good sides will also come back at you and maybe earn a point like Rochdale did.

�They are a good team but we matched them and here at Priestfield we are more than a match for anyone.�

Gills:Royce, Fuller, Nutter, King, Richards (Mills 53mins), Bentley, Southall (Mulligan 75mins), Miller (McCammon 79mins), Weston, Jarrett, Jackson. Subs: Lewis, Julian.

Rochdale:Russell, Wiseman (Holness 55mins), Kennedy, Stanton, McArdle, Rundle (Buckley 69mins), Toner, Keltie, Thompson, Le Fondre, Thorpe. Subs: Higginbotham, Jones, Spencer.

Attendance: 3,961