Gills edge past Hatters

Stockport suffered back-to-back away defeats after goals from Cody MacDonald and Jack Payne fired Gillingham to a 2-1 victory.

The Priestfield faithful had not long taken their seats before they were up and cheering as MacDonald fired the Gills into the lead after just three minutes, heading home Chris Palmer's corner off Matt Glennon's right-hand post. The home side dominated the first half and deservedly grabbed a second as Payne pounced from another Palmer corner for his first league goal. The second half became disjointed as the home side were happy to keep their two-goal lead while Stockport pressed but could not find a telling opening and rarely troubled Alan Julian. Andy Hessenthaler saw his side concede with just 10 minutes to go as Anthony Pulis fired past Alan Julian. But Gillingham held on for the win and should have wrapped the game up when substitute Dennis Oli rounded Glennon but could not find the finish.