John Coleman hailed Gillingham’s 1-1 draw at League Two leaders Walsall as the best performance of his tenure to date.
Robbie McKenzie’s dipping blast off the underside of the bar cancelled out Jamille Matt’s scrambled opener, restoring parity in a clash that was high on intensity but low on quality.
The Gills had the better chances late on, Remeao Hutton curling a fractionoff target and Armani Little seeing a shot cleared off the line by David Okagbue, although Walsall substitute Danny Johnson could have nicked it a minute from the end, lofting over Glenn Morris but also the bar.
It was a sixth match without victory since Coleman took charge and 10th in total for Gillingham, although a marked improvement on Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Barrow.
“That’s the best we have played since I have been here,” said Coleman.
“We started really well and controlled the first 20 minutes at a hostile place, we quietened the crowd with how well we controlled the game.
“A lot of harsh words have been said this week, it has been quite emotional but the lads were determined to prove a few people wrong. You couldn’t fault anyone, they gave everything they had.
“On the balance of the second half we deserved to win it. They scored with an absolute fluke, the ball was going out for a throw and it ricocheted into the net. We scored an unbelievable goal and if anyone was going to score late on it was us.
“It is a constant battle just to try to get us right, we are trying to fight for our right to play in League Two for a start. We have to improve but that was a step in the right direction.”
The Saddlers gradually got on the front foot as the first half went on, causing concern from set-pieces but lacking cutting edge.
The opener came four minutes into the second half, Evan Weir’s raking ball from deep finding Connor Barrett to take down on the right, bustle inside his man and defy being pulled back to get off a cross-shot that was bundled in by Matt.
Walsall kept forcing the issue but McKenzie turned the tide in the 68th minute, dashing onto a cutback from the left to smash over Tommy Simkin and in off the bar to leave home boss Mat Sadler scratching his head over a fifth match without a win.
“I thought we played well,” he said.
“We saw what the goal was, you can’t say too much about that, it was an incredible strike and the cleanest on the pitch today.
“Fair play to him for that but that wasn’t justified for me. That’s probably the only frustration, that we didn’t go on to win the game.
“It was a bit of a basketball match at the end but on the whole, we put in a good performance. The key now is to rest, recover and go again.”
