Gillingham boss Steve Evans says keeper clash with fans “disturbing”

An unsavoury incident which apparently saw a coin thrown at Gillingham goalkeeper Jamie Cumming marred his side’s first away win of the season as they triumphed 2-0 at Cambridge.

Coins and a bottle appeared to be thrown at Cumming as he celebrated his side’s second goal in front of the home fans.

Cumming had earlier made two fantastic saves to preserve his side’s lead after Vadaine Oliver’s opener before Danny Lloyd’s strike wrapped up the points.

Gills manager Steve Evans said: “The goalkeeper said a coin was thrown at him and if he hadn’t moved it would have hit him in the face. It’s disturbing and there’s no place for that in football.”

On the pitch, Evans was delighted with his side’s efforts and added: “We totally dominated the first half and played some great football.

“We defended properly in the second half, then Danny Lloyd broke away and showed us what he can do.

“The only disappointment is we didn’t add a third and kill it off because we had chances to add two or three more.”

Evans also hailed his side’s first clean sheet of the campaign.

He said: “We’ve conceded sloppy goals this season but we’ve been working hard on the training ground this week and it’s paid off for us.”

The visitors nearly took a third-minute lead when Cambridge goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov spilled a corner but Rhys Bennett’s shot was cleared off the line by George Williams.

They eventually went in front in the 26th minute when John Akinde flicked on a cross from Robbie McKenzie and, as the home defence hesitated, Oliver nipped in to steer the ball past Mitov.

Cambridge responded through a Paul Digby header that was parried by Cumming and after the break the on-loan Chelsea stopper made an even better save to tip Sam Smith’s header over the bar.

Gillingham wrapped up the points on the hour when Digby gave the ball away and Lloyd beat Mitov at his near post with a powerful drive into the top corner.

U’s head coach Mark Bonner didn’t see the incident with Cumming and was disappointed as he felt his side should have had a penalty in the second half when James Brophy tangled with Robbie McKenzie.

He said: “We came out and played with a forceful nature in the second half but we gifted them the second goal and after that it was an uphill struggle.

“We should have had a penalty at 1-0 which was a potential turning point and those two moments really changed the game.

“It was a tough night for us, we were disappointed with our quality on the ball and we didn’t really cause them enough problems to merit a goal.”