Gills Downed in Soggy Bristol

The Gills' away woes continued as they were harshly beaten by a controversial penalty at Bristol Rovers.

Mark Stimson's side looked set to double their away points tally for the season until Matt Fry was penalised for handball in the box, allowing Jeff Hughes to net from the spot.

While there is little doubting that the ball did hit Fry's hand, the on-loan West Ham man was on the floor at the time, having been forcefully put there by Rovers striker Andy Williams.

It was one of a number of baffling decisions against the Gills in their defensive third and left the soaking away support furious.

Earlier, Andy Barcham had cancelled out Chris Lines' opener to give the Gills hope of a point, but it was cruelly ripped away from them.

It is probably fair to say that a draw would have been harsh on the home side who dominated the game, but they were struggling to make the breakthrough until the referee's intervention.

Gills boss Mark Stimson made one change from the side which beat Oldham last weekend, with Barry Fuller returning at right-back, with Chris Palmer switching to the left and John Nutter on the bench.

He was joined there by Simeon Jackson, with the Gills' top scorer left out after missing out against the Latics because of international duty.

The wind and rain made good football tricky at the Memorial Stadium, and Rovers were on the front foot long before their opener in the 17th minute.

Fuller's header got caught in the wind and the ball eventually found its way to Chris Dickson, and the former Gills loanee acrobatically hooked it goalwards. It looked a fairly comfortable save for Gills keeper Simon Royce, but he could only push it away for Danny Coles to collect and send it across for Lines to fire home past the static Gills keeper.

The Gills looked bright going forward on their rare forays into Rovers territory, with Curtis Weston particularly dangerous.

And the away side had appeals for a penalty of their own when Barcham broke down the left and as he crossed from the byline, he was caught late by a Rovers defender, but the ref had no interest in the appeals.

But the Gills were level five minutes before half-time when Barcham collected the ball just inside the Rovers half and ran down the centre, before spotting Mikkel Andersen off his line and firing over the keeper and in to the top of the net for his fifth goal of the season.

The Gills will have hoped to get conditions more in their favour in the second half but, much as it did against Oldham last weekend, the wind seemed to change and Rovers were able to exploit them again.

Jo Kuffour had a shot blocked and the ball bounced out to Lines who rifled an effort goalwards which Royce fortunately kept out with his face, but clear-cut chances were at a premium, with the Gills defending stoutly in the face of a lot of Rovers pressure.

Possibly bored by the action in front of them, the officials decided to at least liven proceedings up and give the sodden Gills fans on the uncovered terrace plenty to shout about with a series of unbelievably poor decisions.

Both Fry and Josh Gowling were booked despite appearing to have been the fouled parties in both case - Gowling in particular had sub Darryl Duffy's hand across his face when he committed the 'infringement' that he was penalised for.

The linesman on the far side from the Gills fans was also desperate to get in on the act and bizarrely gave a corner against Kevin Maher on the near side despite the ball clearly staying in play.

Stimson tried to change things up as first Jackson replaced Weston and then Mark McCammon came on for Brandy, who endured a frustrating afternoon which saw him kicked almost every time he got near the ball. Unsurprisingly, the cards were not quite so forthcoming for those in blue and white quarters.

Then came the officials' piece de resistance nine minutes from time as Fry - who had got the wrong side of Williams - was thrown to the floor and, as he tried to get up, handled the ball, which the linesman - him again - gave without hesitation despite being unsighted.

The officials weren't finished there though, as McCammon soon went into the book for a challenge that made no contact with the 'victim', but the big striker came close to a leveller when his header from Palmer's corner was cleared off the line.

Jackson had a shot deflected over the top which brought a corner which Royce went up for and almost headed goalwards, but the final word - as you might expect - went to Mr Karl Evans, who allowed a frankly shocking challenge on Palmer just inside the Rovers half go by without brandishing a card.

The Gills have now just one point from nine away games and are 18th in the table, four points clear of the drop zone.

They must now look to bounce back on Tuesday night when Yeovil - a team they have never beaten - visit Priestfield.