Gillingham 3 Macclesfield 1

Gillingham returned to winning ways at Priestfield with victory over Macclesfield on Saturday.

Simon King�s early header and Andy Barcham�s second half double helped Gillingham to maximum points.

The Gills were made to work for the points, however, with a hard-working Macclesfield side pulling a goal back from the spot on 80 minutes.

At 2-1 Barcham smashed in Gillingham�s third goal to seal the points.

Gillingham held an early lead until the break but visitors Macclesfield threatened that on numerous occasions throughout the rest of the first-half.

King�s second minute headed goal, from Nicky Southall�s corner-kick, gave Gillingham a cushion to build on but in the opening half they were second best when it came to clear-cut chances.

Mark McCammon did have a header on target but that was comfortably dealt with by visiting keeper Jon Brain.

James Jennings lashed a shot wide on 19 minutes, but Matthew Flynn was guilty of missing the best chance when he headed wide unchallenged from a corner-kick.

Macclesfield ended the half well with Tom Elliott heading over and Nat Brown seeing a goalbound shot blocked by Mark Bentley.

Central defender Bentley was called upon again with an hour gone to slide in and deny Gareth Evans as he charged towards goal with intent.

It was Bentley who had Gillingham�s first effort of the second half when he ran the ball out of defence and curled a shot just wide of the goal with 74 minutes gone.

Barcham finally ended Macclesfield�s hopes when he pounced inside the box seconds later and smashed a shot into the bottom corner.

Gillingham were made to to fight all the way by Macc as Barcham was penalised for handball inside his own area and Gareth Evans struck home with 10 minutes remaining.

As Macclesfield pushed forward for an equaliser, Barcham made use of the extra space and smashed home Gills� third.

Gillingham manager Mark Stimson said: �It was important to get back to winning ways at home whatever way we had to do it. We went out and, without being at our best, we won 3-1 and that�s what the papers will say.

�We went a bit more direct to get in their half. When we got it in their half I told the players to go and express themselves and Andy Barcham certainly did that at the end.

�Simon King stepped back into defence and we�re more solid when he�s back there.

�We scored three goals at home and we�ve given the fans some belief that it could be our year.�

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Gills: Royce, Fuller, King, Bentley, Steer (Nutter 90mins), Southall, Miller, Oli (Jackson 90mins), Weston, McCammon, Barcham. Subs not used: Lewis, Richards, Julian.

Macclesfield: Brain, Flynn, Brisley (Thomas 85mins), Morgan, Walker, Bell, Jennings (Tolley 70mins), Brown, Elliott, Evans, Yeo (Green 76mins). Subs not used: Reid, Deen.

Attendance: 4,620