Gillingham 1 Doncaster Rovers 0: O’Keefe piles pressure on Rovers

Midfielder Stuart O’Keefe’s first goal of the season did the damage as the Gills stunned Rovers on their travels.

O’Keefe pounced with just 11 minutes remaining to condemn Rovers to a worrying ninth league loss of the season.

Kyle Knoyle had a golden chance to open the scoring for the visitors within the first few minutes, but from close-range he prodded wide of Jamie Cumming’s left-hand post.

The visitors had to put bodies on the line shortly afterwards to block efforts from both Danny Lloyd and Jack Tucker, with Robbie McKenzie’s powerful header only just missing the target following a Ryan Jackson throw.

Jordy Hiwula beat the offside trap, but dragged a shot wide after fine footwork to round the Gills keeper.

Rovers soaked up a lot of pressure and nearly struck on the counter with Tiago Cukur firing inches wide from all of 25 yards.

Those missed chances proved costly when one of Gills’ many corner kicks, taken by Danny Lloyd, was sent into the six-yard box and Vadaine Oliver was left unmarked to guide a header home from close range, with the final touch coming off O’Keefe.

Gillingham: Cumming, Jackson, Tucker, Ehmer (Adshead 46), McKenzie, Bennett, O’Keefe, Dempsey, Lloyd (Lee 90), Carayol (Akinde 25), Oliver. Unused substitutes: Chapman, Reeves, Sithole, Kelman.

Doncaster: Dahlber, Knoyle (Barlow 90), Anderson, Williams (Oluwu 80), Close, Rowe, Bostock, Hiwula, Dodoo, Cukur (Smith 76), Galbraith. Unused substitutes: Jones, Horton, Hasani.

Referee: S Purkiss (London).