Gillingham’s rollercoaster season ended with a rollercoaster game against Doncaster Rovers that epitomised the work needed in the summer.

Going into the game, Stephen Clemence promised his side were to give everything to end the campaign with a win, but that news appeared to have fallen on deaf ears as The Gills went in at the break 2-0 down against the play-off spot chasers.

Backed by a large and vocal travelling support, Doncaster were in a party mood before kick off and were seemingly well on their way to an eleventh straight win at the break.

However, the turning point of the game came when the visitors had their goalkeeper sent off and Gillingham took full advantage.

In the end, with the numerical advantage, The Gills could and should have gone on to secure a win, but had to settle for a point that sees them end the season 12th in League Two.

The gulf in class was evident early on and with Gillingham lining up in a 4-5-1 formation, Josh Andrews was to plough a lonely furrow up front with Shad Ogie shifted across to play in an unfamiliar left back slot.

With no Scott Malone and Oli Hawkins in the squad, the side almost picked itself and the squad looked a little thin.

Doncaster took full advantage of Gillingham’s inability to retain possession and their desire to play either sidewards or backwards and it came as no real surprise that they bossed the opening exchanges.

Joe Ironside was the first to fire a shot across the Gillingham bow as early as the 4th minute, but Jake Turner was equal to it and on his 400th appearance for the club, Max Ehmer was trying his best to marshall the Gills troops, but they lacked purpose and the ability to shift the ball quick enough.

Andrews was to prove to be a real thorn in the side of the Doncaster defence throughout the game and you can see why he has been brought to the club, but he was booked in the 13th minute and left him a little more tentative in the 50/50 challenges.

Doncaster retained the ball well and it came as no real surprise when they took the lead on the half hour mark with Owen Bailey’s cross into the box coming to Joe Ironside and his looping header went beyond Turner, much to the delight of the travelling fans in the Town End and at one side of the Gordon Road Stand.

The game seemed to have shifted so far in favour of the visitors just seven minutes later when they doubled their lead and in spectacular fashion.

Luke Molyneux thundered a ball into the top corner of the Gillingham net from the edge of the area with Turner well beaten and the Rainham End heads dropped with some fans either heading home early or getting their half-time Bovril.

Hopes that Gillingham could turn the game around at the break were granted just ten minutes into the second half when Dom Jefferies chased a long ball up top, only to see it flicked on by one of the chasing Doncaster defenders and with keeper Lo-Tutala seemingly unsure of his position, instinctively threw up a hand outside his box and was shown a straight red card.

From the resulting free kick on the edge of the box, sub keeper Louis Jones was just a spectator as Tim Dieng curled the ball beyond the wall and into the net.

With the Gills crowd now starting to believe that the impossible was now possible, so did the players and they started to play.

Just five minutes later and the scores were level when Conor Masterson’s header from a corner at the far post seemed to be looping in and with Andrews trying to force the ball home, the ball appeared to hit a Doncaster defender last, but it mattered not who got the final touch as it was a goal and the Rainham End and large parts of the ground erupted.

In truth, but sides could have won it in the final half hour, but Gillingham will count themselves unlucky that they couldn’t make their numerical advantage count and had to settle for a point.

There will be many lessons learnt from this game and of course it will be the final time we see some of these players in a Gillingham shirt.

Clemence and co have their work cut out in the summer to get rid of some of the current squad and to bring in players that will push for promotion next season.

Finishing 12th, some six points outside the play-off places is a failure no matter what way you dress it up and a top seven finish should have been the minimum for the campaign.

Where Gillingham go from here is crucial as this game showed that around 7,000 home fans were still prepared to turn up and back the team knowing there was nothing riding on the match.

Get things right and those 7,000 could turn up week in, week out and before you know it, promotion is on its way.

The summer is going to be a long one for some Gillingham fans and they will now have over three months to wait to see their side in league action again.

Gillingham: Turner, Hutton, Ehmer, Masterson, Ogie, Dieng, Coleman (Walker 68), Jefferies, J. Williams (Gbode 86), Andrews.

Subs not used: Morris, Clark, McKenzie, Clarke, Lapslie.

Goals: Dieng (57), Anderson (og 62).

Booked: Andrews (13), Ehmer (71).

Doncaster Rovers: Lo-Tutala, Sterry, Anderson, Wood, Maxwell, Bailey, Craig (Broadbent 80), Molyneux (Westbrooke 80), Rowe (Jones 56), Adelakun (Owulu 64), Ironside.

Subs not used: Nixon, Hurst, Waters.

Goals: Ironside (30), Molyneux (37).

Booked: Craig (77).

Sent Off: Lo-Tutala (55).

Referee: Mr Alex Chilowicz

Attendance: 8723 (1676 Doncaster Rovers)

Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.