Steve Lovell has paid tribute to his players after Gillingham came back from 2-0 down to book their place in the FA Cup 2nd Round.

It looked like The Gills were going to crash out of the prestigious cup on Wednesday night, when they conceded the second of the night at Hartlepool in their First Round replay.

However, a Max Ehmer strike late in the first half and a Tom Eaves penalty deep into stoppage time saw the game go into extra time.

A Luke O’Neill free kick and Elliott List strike put the visitors 4-2 up and despite a late rally from the home side, their third goal proved to be just a consolation as Gillingham booked their tie at Slough Town next Sunday afternoon.

Having seen his side book their place in the Second Round, Lovell admitted he was pleased with the character shown by his side:

“In the first-half we huffed and puffed and had a few chances but didn’t take them. They took the two opportunities they had.”

“We had to keep doing what we were doing but put the chances away. Max got one early doors and it was a definite penalty at the end. I talk about breaks in Football but that’s the biggest one we’ve had. It was the last kick of the game to get a chance of going to extra-time and to be fair to Tom he was calm and stuck it away.”

“I’m just delighted we are through because it’s a banana skin coming to places like this because we are expected to win, and the boys showed great character. They deserved it over the 120 minutes and they are out on their feet. I’m pleased for them.”

He added: “This is a lovely reward for the boys for all the hard work and endeavour they have put in. Sometimes we haven’t got what we deserved in games but I think today we did. It will give them a boost. They were brilliant tonight.”

“I went through some bad times on that touchline today, but you have to keep the boys going and we always believe…we just didn’t want to leave it that late!”

“I said a few choice words [at half-time], but I tend not to shout. it’s about getting things right. Whatever happened in the first-half was gone. I was more concerned about how we could approach the next 45 minutes. Elliott (List) had another opportunity to show us what he could do, and he did, and he had an impact. Josh Rees came on and did a good job.”

The late drama of Eaves scoring deep into stoppage time and then O’Neill and List making it 4-2 left Lovell pleased with how his side had shown real character:

“It was unbelievable really and that just sums football up, and the FA Cup. We caused our own problems and I think we could have done better with both goals.”

“Tom (Eaves) stepped up and was calm with it being the last kick of the game. Luke (O’Neill) practices them [free-kicks] on the training ground and that’s what he does on the training ground; he sticks them in and Max (Ehmer) fancies himself as a centre forward, but Tomas Holy made a good save at 2-1 so it’s a real team effort. I thought DJ (Darren Oldaker) had a real great game tonight – he’s growing and maturing but they all gave everything.”