Gillingham defeated Swindon Town 3-1 on Saturday afternoon courtesy of an electric 10-minute spell in the second-half.

Swindon went into half-time ahead thanks to Brett Pitman’s strike, but a Vadaine Oliver brace and Kyle Dempsey free kick ultimately condemned Swindon to another defeat, which kept them in the bottom four of the league table.

Story of the match

First-half

The game began slowly, with a Scott Twine free-kick from distance the only real effort of the opening 10 minutes, but that went wide.

It was evident from early on that Twine was to be key to Swindon’s attacking play, and his acrobatic effort was gathered by Jack Bonham in the Gills goal.

Town were keeping the ball well as the half progressed, with Gillingham struggling against the vicious wind in Wiltshire - Stuart O’Keefe’s header from the edge of the box on half-hour was Gillingham’s first real effort of the game as Steve Evans’ side struggled to get forward.

Swindon got their deserved goal 41 minutes, and what a goal it was. A smart ball from Twine found Jordan Lyden, who flicked inside beautifully to Brett Pitman. Pitman turned Gills fullback Ryan Jackson inside out, and poked smartly past Jack Bonham to give his side the lead going into half-time.

Second-half

Gillingham swapped Tom O’Connor for Alex MacDonald at half-time in an effort to shake things up, and they started brightly without finding a way through.

Olly Lee joined O’Connor on the bench soon after with John Akinde joining the matchup, and the Gills almost equalised through Connor Ogilvie, but for a brilliant double block from Tom Broadbent.

Soon, however, the game was flipped on its head. With the wind on Gillingham’s side, John Akinde headed onto the crossbar on 59 minutes, but Vadaine Oliver was on hand to head the loose ball home to equalise.

Four minutes later, the Gills were ahead. A defensive mix up was pounced on by Oliver, and Swindon ‘keeper Connal Trueman was caught in no man’s land. Oliver had the ball at his feet at a tight angle, but squeezed home from a tight angle to net his and his side’s second of the game.

And five minute later it was three. A Kyle Dempsey free kick from wide left took a deflection on its way into the area and seemed to wrong foot all defenders on its way into the back of the net. Swindon had collapsed.

Oliver headed over on 72 minutes as Gillingham went for blood, and he probably should have scored, unmarked in the box.

John Sheridan had soon seemingly lost his head. He made a quintuple change on 75 minutes as Scott Twine squared up to Stuart O’Keefe for a professional foul.

Taylor Curran fed the ball through to Tyler Smith following the changes, but Jack Bonham saved well - a golden opportunity to get his side back into the game wasted.

A free header flew wide as Swindon tried to half the defict, and a late penalty appeal was turned down. Ultimately, Town’s fate was soon confirmed, and Gillingham were well worth their three points in the end.