Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler had to concede his side were second best as they were beaten 1-0 by Crawley at Priestfield on Tuesday night.

Dannie Bulman’s 50th minute goal seperated the two sides, condemning Gillingham to their second defeat within their last three games.

That defeat sees them drop to ninth in League Two, four points outside the play-offs and Hessenthaler admitted after the game that his side weren’t at their best:

“We didn’t really get going tonight, we were beaten by the better team. But we lose with dignity, we take it on the chin – that’s the way we are at this football club – and we hold our hands up and say that they were the better team.”

One of the biggest talking points of the game was an incident late on in the first half that left Gills defender Connor Essam battered and blooded after a tangle with Crawley striker Gary Alexander and Hessenthaler told the club’s official website how he was disappointed that he hadn’t been dismissed:

“He should have been sent off to be fair. It’s a straight red. If Spiller’s is a straight red, then Alexander should have been sent off.”

“It’s an absolutely disgraceful tackle on Connor. He’s done the centre half and he should never have been on the pitch. I’m disappointed in the decision, but some you get and some you don’t.”

Hessenthaler will now have to pick his players up once again for Saturday’s trip to Bradford City, knowing that with just nine games left to play this season, anything less than a win and they could find themselves falling further behind in a race for a play-off place.