York City 3 Gillingham 0: Joe Grey, Jovan Malcolm and Ollie Pearce goals keep remarkable home run going

York City continued their remarkable run of league form at home with a 3-0 victory over Gillingham.

The Minstermen last lost a league game at the LNER Community Stadium on October 1 last year and their unbeaten run will tick past the year mark before their next League Two game.

Scott Lindsey’s men were in control throughout against the Gills, who went behind two minutes in when Joe Grey opened the scoring.

Pressure on the visitors was sustained and the floodgates opened after Zane Albarus was sent off in the second half. Jovan Malcolm and Ollie Pearce got in on the act, making sure of victory with stylish finishes.

First half

York were on the offensive within the opening 30 seconds, as Pearce galloped down the right before seeing his cross hooked clear.

The visitors had another Pearce delivery to contend with a minute later and on this occasion, they could not clear their lines. Grey popped up at the back post and appeared to miscue his finish, but the bounce caught Gills goalkeeper Ollie Wright out and the hosts assumed an early lead.

Gillingham responded by putting York under an early spell of pressure that did not yield any clear-cut opportunities. York in fact came close to extending their advantage after a swift counter-attack launched by Joe Felix, but Grey took a heavy touch that enabled Wright to collect.

Gillingham continued to look vulnerable to York advances and had their blushes spared twice in quick succession as the half-hour mark approached. Wright had to be alert to deny Pearce after he met a beautifully curled Ollie Banks pass and Alex Newby rattled the post with a long-range piledriver.

Gillingham’s struggle to settle was partially fuelled by two enforced substitutions and as the first-half progressed, York looked increasingly likely to find a second.

Pearce saw a close-range effort blocked well by Andy Smith and Newby skewed wide under minimal pressure after meeting an Alex Hunt delivery.

The post again proved to be Gillingham’s friend when Hunt unleashed a low drive that had Wright beaten but narrowly missed the bottom corner.

Second half

It was more of the same in the early stages of the second half as York assumed control again and asked questions of Gillingham.

When the visitors did battle back to regain a foothold, they struggled to work McNally in the York goal. Veteran winger Garath McCleary saw a shot blocked and then sent a long-range effort whistling agonisingly wide of the post.

York freshed up their attack by introducing loanee forward Malcolm, who forced Wright down to his left to beat away a rasping effort.

Grey was the next to try his luck, pulling the trigger from distance and seeing his shot fly just over the crossbar.

Gillingham’s comeback hopes were dented on the 70-minute mark, when Zane Albarus was shown a second yellow card for a foul.

It almost went from bad to worse immediately for Gillingham as the resulting free-kick made its way through their defence, but Grey could not make clean contact with the ball at the crucial moment.

York did however find their second mere minutes later, when Malcolm shrugged off his marker to rifle into the bottom corner from outside the box with precision.

Gillingham’s collapse continued when they could only clear a delivery as a far as Boyes, who emulated Malcolm by drilling hard and low. Pearce got a foot to the shot, ensuring Wright was beaten between the sticks.

The visitors did come close to grabbing a consolation in the dying embers when a speculative James Brophy strike cannonned off the crossbar.

However, it was all Gareth Ainsworth’s men could muster as the hosts cruised to victory.