Andy Hessenthaler played the perfect role of Scrooge against Crawley by firing up his troops at half-time after a disappointing 45 minutes.
Crawley found themselves down to 10 men after Claude Davis was shown the red card after a terrible pass from Kyle Mcfadzean found Jo Kuffour and Davis' tackle was wayward, 25 minutes gone, advantage Gillingham.
Crawley played the better football before the break, Sergio Torres unfortunately followed in the footsteps of his premier-league name sake by firing wide from a good chance. However the Red Devils found themselves one goal to the good before half-time, Mcfadzean turning from zero to hero winning the penalty, coverted by Matt Tubbs. Short in hair, Short in Height, Short in Name but not short of Goals, Tubbs' 12th of the season.
It wouldn't be a normal Crawley game without the touchline antics of Steve Evans, once against in a disagreement with an opposing manager over a foul. 'Hesso knock him out' was the cry from the away fans, quite surprising he didn't listen to them.
But the Gills roared on by 1301 fans, came out after the break all guns blazing, Jo Kuffour netting his first after the Crawley defence allowed a ferocious cross to be delivered with Kuffour more letting the ball hit him then scoring a volley to give Gills the equaliser.
Town were shocked and soon after Gillingham were ahead. The Pacey Kuffour picking the ball up around 40 yards from goal and running it before finishing at Shearer's front post to leave the Crawley fans behind the goal stunned. 2-1.
The Gills were using the one man advantage effectively, playing down the flanks, the left and right backs stretching the light Crawley midfield after Mcfadzean's drop back into central defence. Not many teams exploit a 10-man team, but the Gills for the first 20 minutes of the second half made it count.
With yet more touchline action and a few tasty tackles, Evans finally introduced Josh Simpson for Michael Doughty, the midfielder worked well to create several chances at the end, Tubbs' last minute shot cleared off the line by the resilient Gills defence. Luke Rooney's last minute red card didn't change the impact the match and the Gills hung on. Full-time and three points for an improving Gillingham, Hessenthaler-Scrooge's half-time words made the difference and ended Crawley's impressive 15 match unbeaten run, but they remain top of top of the league after Southend's game was called off at Aldershot.
Steve Evans' post-match comments are bizarre, I think the best team won. Maybe the last 20 minutes Crawley might have deserved an equaliser but overall the Gills made the one man advantage count.
Offered Danny Kedwell a mince pie, unfortunately for me he eat the whole lot. And finally, an unfortunate injury for Chris Whelpdale, a whole new meaning of winning the ball. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16338426.stm
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