Gillingham 1 MK Dons 1 (MK Dons won 5-4 on penalty shoot-out)

GILLINGHAM suffered penalty shoot-out heartache at Priestfield in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy area semi-final on Tuesday night.

The match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and went straight to penalties which MK Dons won after netting all five of their spot-kicks.

Gillingham youngster Luis Cumbers’ penalty miss, the only one of the shoot-out, proved costly as Drissa Diallo fired his side to the Southern area final and a game against Swansea.

Gills manager Mark Stimson said: “The conditions played a big part in the first half and they were kicking with the wind and we were on the back foot.

“When we did get into the final third we didn’t have the quality to really test their keeper.

“We went a goal ahead and we thought, ‘cor, with 10 minutes to go we might have a chance’, but you're at your most vulnerable when you score a goal.

"We switched off and then it goes into a lottery with the penalties

“Unfortunately we had four good penalties, one hit the post, and it just wasn’t our night.”

The best chance of a goalless first half fell to Drew Broughton but Simon Royce was there to make a vital block as the last line of defence.

Gary Mulligan almost put the Gills ahead on 74 minutes, when he glanced John Nutter’s free-kick past Swansea keeper Willy Gueret, but Jude Stirling cleared off the line.

Gillingham took an 83rd minute lead when Craig Stone’s shot squirmed in under the keeper but just a minute later MK Dons swept down the other end and Jemal Johnson equalised to send the tie straight to a penalty contest.

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Gills: Royce, Clohessy, Nutter, King, Bygrave, Southall, Stone, Cogan (Cumbers 60mins), Brown (Howard 60mins), Mulligan, Facey (Griffiths 46mins). Subs Not Used: Armstrong, Stillie. Attendance: 3,717.