Gillingham put in a first-half performance on Saturday that was as good as anything manager Neil Harris has seen since taking charge.

Elkan Baggott’s thunderbolt header just before the break – to equalise Danny Rose’s early magnificent header of his own – has sent the historians scrambling through the record books to see if an Indonesian has ever scored in the Football League before.

Whether it is the first or not, it’s Baggott’s first in Gillingham blue and was straight off the training ground. Will Wright’s free kick, whose reputation as a set piece taker seems to grow by the week, was exquisite as was the timed run of the Gillingham defender and his header screamed into the net to send the Rainham End into raptures to deservedly level things up.

Having secured a vital point at home against Steve Evans’ league leaders, Gills boss Neil Harris was pleased with what he saw:

“The first half there was like one of the best performances we’ve had since I was at the club, we had the quality, the chances, we were playing in a well-trained team and I thought we totally dominated them in the first half,” Harris said.

“I was really happy with the character of the boys, and really happy with the point, when you are a team that is growing and playing at the top of the league team that has won six out of seven (in the league), to stand up strong. I am really proud of the players.

“First half, they have one effort that goes to the back of the net and that’s what money buys you, it was a great header (from Rose). We are disappointed as a unit that we didn’t defend the cross better but we could have had Kashi’s chance before that.”

“We got on with ourselves really well. I thought we were excellent, we took on the physical challenge.

“We knew what was going to happen and I picked a team accordingly. We talk about how direct they are but they are really good at what they do, really good, we stood strong.”

“Over the course of the 90 minutes I would say a draw is a fair result.”

“The first two minutes, Stevenage went into the penalty area a few times but then we gathered and asked a lot of questions, we played in the right areas, got good quality and the fans were right behind us.

“In the second half when we had to search a bit, they (the fans) gave us support and helped us cross the line to get a valuable point.”

Before kick off, there was a minute’s silence for former Gills kitman Malcolm Steadman and Harris joined those paying tribute:

“I’ve known Malcolm since I was a player and then came back and watched the games. Malcolm hadn’t worked with us since I was at the club, but I used to welcome him whenever he wanted, to come and have a cup of tea.”

“He knew some of the staff very well, some of them devastated. His grandson Jack works for us. Also, on an ad hoc basis, a broken young man, I feel the pain of the family, but he was a cracking man.”

“It was a performance we should be proud of, it was mentioned in my team’s pre-match talk and that’s all we can do.”

Meanwhile, there was a lot of talk before the game of Steve Evans returning to Priestfield having been sacked back in January and his vocal style was back in the dugout at the weekend.

Despite the game ending 1-1 and Evans having suggested Gillingham would have been happy with a draw, Harris was focused on how he had acted during the game:

“I kept my cool on the sidelines and focused on my team,” said Harris.

“My team needed me, the 12th man. I didn’t hear anything, I was concentrating on my players.”

“Everyone is different on the sidelines… I didn’t notice it much. I fully respect everyone’s difference of opinion. For me, being calm was the key.”