Lovell lauds Gillingham display in win at Wimbledon

Posted Sunday, March 24, 2019 by PA

Gillingham manager Steve Lovell challenged his side to take maximum points from their final seven League One games after an impressive 4-2 win over AFC Wimbledon at Kingsmeadow.

After falling behind to a strike from Michael Folivi after 22 minutes and finding themselves distinctly second-best to the relegation strugglers, two quickfire efforts from Brandon Hanlan and Graham Burke turned the game on its head just before half-time.

The Gills continued that momentum after the break, with Leonardo da Silva Lopes firing past Aaron Ramsdale and Tom Eaves made the points safe with a bullet header seven minutes from time before a James Hanson consolation.

Lovell admitted his side had started sluggishly, but was pleased with the way the players reacted.

He said: “Wimbledon started very much on the front foot. We knew they were going to, but we didn’t start brightly at all. I told the boys that we looked a little bit nervous. They are on a good run and they were buoyant.

“They could have had a couple of goals early on, so to go in at half-time 2-1 up was a bonus for us. However, once we had established ourselves we played some lovely stuff, created a number of good opportunities and could have won the game by more.

“There are still seven games to go and 21 points up for grabs, so that’s what I want all my players to aim for, as they have done all season.

“If you fall short of that then you’ve still had a good season. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but if we play like we have done in the last five or six games, we’ll win more than we’ll lose.”

Dons boss Wally Downes was circumspect after his men missed the chance to make it three home wins on the bounce and reduce the gap to 20th.

He said: “I said to the players at half-time that they’ve been the better side for 43 of the 45 minutes and I strongly believe they’ll go out and win the second half.

“However, we then gave a poor goal away from a throw-in and it was uphill from there.

“We’ve had a great seven games and only lost once. I didn’t imagine we would win the next seven games. There was bound to be a speed bump at some stage and today was it.”

The former West Ham coach was confident Ramsdale would bounce back after fumbling Burke’s speculative 30-yard effort into his own net.

He added: “There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes. You don’t try to make them, they happen. You just have to move on and I’m sure he will.”