Gillingham faced defeat again in League Two after they were beaten 2-1 at home by Harrogate Town.
After an impressive start to the campaign, Gillingham have only won one game out of their last nine but only sit two points away from the play-off places.
After a dull first half, the Gills took the lead when Max Clark’s corner found its way to Tim Dieng lurking at the back post, who got enough on the ball to force it past James Belshaw.
That lead didn’t last long as the Sulphurites found an equaliser just seven minutes later. James Daly’s shot rattled the post; Anthony O’Connor was quick to react to score past Jake Turner.
The away side found the go-ahead goal after Jack Muldoon’s through ball split the Gillingham defence, finding Josh March, who kept his composure to finish past the Gills' shot stopper.
There was no real desire or intensity to get back into the game from a Gills point of view as they came away empty-handed.
Here are four things to take away from Saturday’s action.
Seven defeats in nine
After Gillingham beat table-toppers Port Vale a fortnight ago, many thought that was the end of their horrid run of form, but their issues were evident once again.
It is another game in which Gillingham have dropped points from a winning position, also happening against Accrington Stanley and Swindon Town.
Although Mark Bonner's team had a good start to the campaign, the underlying data was suggesting that the Gills had been overperforming, and it seems to have caught up with them.
On the other hand, Gillingham are waiting for the return of key players to the side. Robbie McKenzie, George Lapslie and Elliott Nevitt made returns to the matchday squad on Saturday, with Aaron Rowe and Bradley Dack still awaiting returns to action, having both been out since September.
Lack of leadership
An issue Gillingham have had for a few years is a lack of leadership on the pitch. Current skipper Max Ehmer was seen walking straight down the tunnel at full time, leaving fans asking whether this squad is lacking a true leader.
Successful Gillingham teams of the past have had leaders all over the pitch, for example Tony Pulis' team of 1995/96 and Martin Allen's League Two title winning squad in 2012/13.
Allen signed the likes of the experienced Deon Burton and Adam Barrett in the summer before taking the Gills back to League One, which Mark Bonner and the recruitment team lacked in their business in the off-season.
With the January transfer window around the corner, it gives an opportunity to address the leadership within the group.
Bonner's tactical naivety
At times, Gillingham's form has been down to individual mistakes, but some decisons from Mark Bonner have been questionable.
At 1-1, his decison to take Ethan Coleman and Tim Dieng off exposed Gillingham, allowing Harrogate to play through them, ultimately leading to their second and decisive goal.
Similar happened with substitutions against Accrington Stanley, in which Gillingham surrendered a 1-0 lead again when the midfield was left open.
Bonner accepted that his side were off the pace, he said:
“We deserve to be booed off because that is miles off a good team there."
Can this season still be successful?
The performance on Saturday and throughout this terrible run of form has not been anywhere good enough for a team that wants to be pushing for promotion.
The Kent side only sit two points off the play-off spots with a game in hand on a few teams above, so there is no doubt that they can have success this season; however, they need to drastically turn their form around, or else it could be another season spent in mid-table.
The festive period is one of the most important but challenging parts of the football season; Gillingham have six games coming up in that period, including key matchups against Salford, MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon.
The January transfer window also gives them a chance to reevaluate the squad and strengthen where they need to, which they failed to do in that same window last season.
Time will tell whether Mark Bonner will be the one to get the season back on track.
