Tern Up for the Books, Stan

Sporting Life

Darius Henderson gave Gillingham a relegation lifeline with the only goal of the game at the Priestfield Stadium.

Gills boss Stan Ternent watched Henderson extend his side's unbeaten run to eight games against his former club with a superb second-half-strike.

Gillingham are now two points clear of the drop zone after the majority of results at the wrong end of the table went their way.

The home side had an early chance to open the scoring as Michael Flynn floated in a free-kick and the loose ball fell to centre-back Chris Hope just inside the area, but his stinging drive was pushed away by keeper Brian Jensen after just four minutes.

On-loan midfielder Jonathon Douglas also carved open a decent opportunity five minutes later after a well-worked free-kick involving James McEveley and Nicky Southall, but he mis-hit his shot when well placed.

Burnley were on the back foot and had to be on their guard again in the 14th minute as Henderson forced Jensen into making a low dive to his right.

Southall also stabbed the ball wide, before the Clarets finally carved open their first chance of the game in the 27th minute.

Ade Akinbiyi, playing as a lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation, laid the ball back to Graham Branch standing on the edge of the area, only for his fierce drive to clear the bar.

But the rest of the half belonged to the Gills, unchanged from the side that drew 1-1 with QPR on Tuesday, as Burnley defender Gary Cahill cleared a Hope header off the line from a Southall corner.

Mamady Sidibe then missed a simple header at the far post from Southall's resulting corner, before Douglas cleared the bar attempting an overhead kick.

The second half started slowly until Henderson broke the deadlock in the 56th minute with a fine individual effort.

James McEveley played a great ball to the feet of Henderson, who skipped past a defender before curling a superb right-footed shot into the top corner.

The home side started to exert more pressure on the Burnley goal as first Paul Smith had an effort blocked by Michael Duff, while minutes later Cahill did well to get in the way of a Sidibe shot.

Burnley boss Steve Cotterill made a double substitution just after the hour, with Dean Bowditch and Tony Grant coming on for Jean-Louis Valois and John Oster.

The Clarets started to pose more of a threat as Micah Hyde tried a speculative effort from long range which flashed wide, but the visitors nearly equalised a few moments later.

The ball landed luckily at the feet of Akinbiyi inside the box but Gills defender Nyron Nosworthy made a last-ditch tackle to keep out the shot of the former Stoke striker.

However, the game should have been over as a contest in the 72nd minute when Sidibe squared the ball to Henderson, but from only eight yards out and only the keeper to beat the ball became stuck between his feet, and the chance was gone.

Gillingham had a few nervy moments in the closing stages, but the visitors lacked the quality to break down a stubborn defence.

Teams:

Gillingham Brown, Nosworthy, Cox, Hope, McEveley, Southall, Smith, Douglas, Flynn, Henderson (Byfield 73), Sidibe.

Subs Not Used: Banks, Hills, Jarvis, Crofts.

Booked: Byfield.

Goals: Henderson 56.

Burnley Jensen, Duff, McGreal, Cahill, Camara, Oster (Grant 62), O'Connor, Hyde, Branch, Valois (Bowditch 62), Akinbiyi.

Subs Not Used: Coyne, Pilkington, Scott.

Booked: O'Connor.

Att: 9,447

Ref: R Olivier (W Midlands).