Justin Edinburgh spoke of his pride after Gillingham beat Southend United 3-1 on the opening day of the season.

The Gills suffered a disappointing end to last season after poor form in the second half of the year meant they missed out on a play off spot. And Gillingham were keen to start this season off well to show they weren’t suffering any ill effects from the end to last season.

And to begin with, it did seem like that poor form was going to continue into this season. In fairness to Gillingham, not many teams would have stopped Stephen McLaughlin’s low 25-yard drive from going into the bottom corner, but it meant that Southend would take the lead.

This did seem to spark some life from Gillingham and after they missed a few chances to equalise, they finally got the leveler. Paul Konchesky sent in a low corner and new signing Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was able to finish it to make sure the game was level going into half time.

And in the second half Gillingham took complete control. Another corner allowed Max Ehmer to score and they were able to confirm the win when Emmanuel-Thomas laid off a great ball to Emmanuel Osabede who finished it with ice-cold deadliness.

After the game, Edinburgh said: “I’m immensely pleased with the performance. It was a frantic first 25 minutes, and Southend were a threat. But from conceding the goal we came alive. Once we scored, we were the team that looked like going on and winning the game.”

“Second half the players found another level. I thought we looked a real powerful squad.”

“The crowd go home knowing what performance they can expect this season: commitment, trust, intensity and work rate.”

Gillingham have little time to reflect on the victory at Roots Hall as they face another trip to take on Southend United in Essex on Tuesday night, this time in the EFL Cup.