MX23RW : Thursday, March 13 12:45:36| >> :60:1109:1109:
[monks data]
Stevenage
League One
Feb 4, 2014 at 7.45pm UK
 
Gillingham

3-1

Zoko (22' pen.), Charles (30', 59')
FT(HT: 2-0)
McDonald (56')
Hewitt (21')

Stevenage keep survival hopes alive

Stevenage claw closer to safety after picking up three vital points at home to Gillingham.

Bottom-of-the-table Stevenage have kept their hopes of survival alive by beating Gillingham 3-1 at Broadhall Way.

Boro had the better of the early exchanges, with the game's first half-chance falling to Luke Freeman who escaped his marker before putting the ball across the face of goal, though Dean Parrett couldn't quite reach the ball to tap it home.

Stevenage did get a reward for their early pressure, however, as Darius Charles played the ball to Francois Zoko, only for the striker's effort to be blocked by the hand of Elliot Hewitt.

The Welsh defender was shown a straight red card, and Zoko dispatched the resulting penalty to give Graham Westley's men the lead after 21 minutes.

Gillingham almost pulled level immediately after through Cody McDonald, though the striker blazed his effort over the bar.

The miss proved costly just minutes later as Charles doubled the home side's lead after good work from Freeman to take the ball down the line and play it across to his teammate.

The Gills found a route back into the contest just short of the hour mark when McDonald pulled one back after being slipped through to make it 2-1.

Any Stevenage nerves were soon put to rest as Charles added his second of the night three minutes later to retain the League One's bottom club's two-goal advantage.

The hosts nearly added to their tally through Lucas Akins who rounded Stuart Nelson, only for his shot from a tight angle to roll just wide of the target.

Akins came even closer shortly after, this time heading the ball against the crossbar following a Bruno Andrade cross.

Gillingham also struck the post in the closing stages, before the ball was cleared by Roarie Deacon to retain Boro's two-goal lead and secure a vital three points.

ID:135239: cacheID:135239:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:3252:
Written by
Daniel Lewis
No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Stevenage's Francois Zoko celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Doncaster during their FA Cup third round match on January 4, 2013
Read Next:
Stevenage see off Swindon
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Birmingham CityBirmingham35257358233582
2Wycombe WanderersWycombe351911561332868
3Wrexham36208850302068
4Charlton AthleticCharlton36189947311663
5Stockport CountyStockport361711852341862
6Bolton WanderersBolton36186125954560
7Huddersfield TownHuddersfield361771247331458
8Reading361610105145658
9Leyton Orient361651551371453
10Barnsley36157145051-152
11Blackpool36121595448651
12Stevenage36139143437-348
13Lincoln CityLincoln361210144845346
14Rotherham UnitedRotherham35128153941-244
15Wigan AthleticWigan351110143234-243
16Exeter CityExeter35127163950-1143
17Bristol Rovers36126183955-1642
18Mansfield TownMansfield36118174150-941
19Northampton TownNorthampton361011153653-1741
20Peterborough UnitedPeterborough35109165260-839
21Burton Albion36712173653-1733
22Crawley TownCrawley3679203866-2830
23Cambridge UnitedCambridge3678213560-2529
24Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury3677223460-2628


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!