Gillingham 2 - 1 Coventry: Coventry's wait for a win goes on after defeat at Gillingham

Billy Knott's second-half strike gave Gillingham a narrow 2-1 win over bottom-of-the-table Coventry in a lively encounter at Priestfield.

An open first-half saw Kyel Reid torment the Gillingham defence with his direct running and he scored on 21 minutes after good work from Gael Bigirimana - volleying low past Stuart Nelson.

The Gills replied five minutes later when Max Ehmer glanced his close-range header home from Ryan Jackson's long throw.

Both teams continued to play positively, with Marvin Sordell forcing an acrobatic save from Nelson just before the break.

After the restart Cody McDonald's low effort went narrowly wide from eight yards, while Coventry's Vladimir Gadzhev stung the keeper's hands with a drive.

But it was the hosts who scored the crucial goal with just under 20 minutes to go as Knott calmly rolled the ball into the net following McDonald's precise pass.

And Nelson preserved the points in injury time as he palmed Sordell's low effort round the post as Coventry's search for a first league win of the campaign goes on.