Gillingham 2 Chester 0

Gillingham continued their impressive home form with victory over Chester on Saturday.

The Gills made it six games unbeaten at Priestfield after a late rally saw off a stubborn Chester side.

A dour game finally came alive twenty minutes from the end as Andy Barcham netted the opener and three minutes later Leigh Mills added the second.

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There were few chances for Gillingham in the first half as Chester enjoyed the better of the play.

Eddie Johnson drew a great save from Simon Royce while Kevin Ellison and Mark Hughes put efforts wide.

Gillingham�s only real chance of the half fell to Mark McCammon. The striker used his strength to fend off defender Kevin Roberts but his shot was blocked well by keeper John Danby.

Chester started the second half brightly and an early effort from Jay Harris went inches wide.

With just over half an hour left manager Mark Stimson changed his attack, in a bid to get his side going, with Albert Jarrett coming on to replace Mark McCammon and Barcham moving from the wing to the partner Gary Mulligan up-front.

Barcham was soon in the thick of the action and his pass set up Nicky Southall, but the stand-in captain shot harmlessly wide.

Chester remained a threat and Royce had to palm away a shot from Harris after Curtis Weston had given away possession.

With 71 minutes gone Gillingham took the lead when Albert Jarrett crossed deep and Barcham turned the ball home.

Just three minutes later the lead was doubled when John Nutter�s corner kick was headed home by Mills.

Jarrett should have made it three with ten minutes remaining, as he faced keeper Danby one on one, but the Chester man came out on top.

Gillingham manager Mark Stimson said: "It was hard work. It was frustrating as well but we have to give a bit of credit to the opposition.

"They got beat in the week by six and you know they�re not going to come here and be open. They are going to be solid and work for everything, put their foot in and make it hard for us.

"It was up to us to keep trying to do what we�ve doing recently, which was to get the ball down and play. For the first 45 minutes we didn�t do that at all, only once.

"I was happy to go into the break at 0-0 because they put a couple of set pieces in which were good quality and Royce did well in the sticks. I had a chat at half time and asked for better.

"The performance raised a bit. We could have got a point if we were lucky but we got three and you�ve got to take them and enjoy them."

Gills: Royce, Nutter, King, Richards, Mills, Miller (Lewis 65mins), Southall (Payne 90mins), Weston, Barcham, McCammon (Jarrett 55mins), Mulligan. Subs not used: Julian, Cumbers.

Chester: Danby, Vaughan, Barry, Roberts, Linwood, Harris, Hughes, Mozika, Lowe, Ellison, Johnson. Subs not used: McManus, Mitchell, Rutherford, Williams, Allison.

Attendance: 4,852.