Boss Mark Bonner was dismayed by Gillingham’s lack of threat as the early-season frontrunners succumbed to a 2-0 defeat at Crewe which saw them tumble off the top of the table.
Shilow Tracey netted in either half for Crewe, whose defending was immaculate in registering a fourth consecutive clean sheet in front of their own fans.
Bonner said: “I’m fuming, really, as I didn’t think it was a game we should be losing 2-0.
“We gave ourselves problems with an individual error for the first goal, although the second was a very good finish from Tracey.
“But we were not in a position to make moments like that ourselves and despite changing lots around there’s a few players who are desperate for some training weeks to get themselves up to the tempo of the games.
“I don’t think there was a lack of effort but it wasn’t good enough in the attacking half to create problems whereas Crewe with pace high up the pitch were a threat on the counter attack.
“We got into a mess with misplaced passes or poor crosses and we didn’t have the quality to finish things off like they did.
“We had lots of intent in the last 10 to 15 minutes but we’ve got to find miles more quality. There’s been a lack of sharpness in our players this week and we’ve lacked the ability to create really good chances and test the goalkeeper.”
Bonner’s side were looking to bounce back from their midweek home defeat at the hands of Grimsby.
But they were off the pace in the first half when Tracey started and finished a sweeping move with Jack Lankester, polishing off a simple close-range finish as the Gills defence wilted in the 17th minute.
The big striker followed that up with a fine finish on the hour as he galloped on to substitute Adrien Thibaut’s inside pass to hit an angled drive home off the far post.
In contrast, Tracey’s former strike colleague Elliott Nevitt endured a miserable afternoon on his return to Crewe as he was thwarted in the closing stages by Filip Marschall.
Crewe manager Lee Bell said: “I thought it was an outstanding performance from everyone.
“We came up with a gameplan to win the ball back and get the counter attacks going against them. We executed it brilliantly.
“The defenders were also outstanding and won everything in the air. Shilow has emptied himself which is what he does all the time. His second goal was brilliantly taken – he knew exactly what he wanted to do.
“For the first, Jack Lankester did ever so well to pick Shilow out for the first and I thought those two would be a handful all game.
“Jack had to come off as a precaution but Adrien Thibaut was excellent and he made a great decision to set up the second. He’s come into the fold and taken his chance really well.
“We want to enjoy playing in front of our own crowd and it’s credit to the players as you could see they were enjoying it with or without the football.”
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