Gareth Ainsworth left ‘breathless’ as Gillingham draw with Crawley

Gillingham boss Gareth Ainsworth was “proud” of his side after a dramatic 2-2 draw with Crawley.

Bradley Dack opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time before Geraldo Bajrami levelled for the visitors.

Robbie McKenzie quickly fired the Gills ahead before Kabongo Tshimanga grabbed a late 82nd-minute leveller, with Dack seeing a second ruled out by the officials.

Ainsworth, who has returned to the sidelines following heart surgery, said: “I get breathless anyway, but it left me more breathless than usual.

“I’m really proud of that squad. We had chances to win it.

“They absolutely worked their socks off so I’m really pleased with them.

“We have to take a point tonight but we’ll take a lot of positives heading into the next few games.

“They worked hard. They played some good stuff, but unfortunately we didn’t win the game today.

“I’ve got to give some credit to Richard Dobson. I think there was some negativity when I wasn’t around and he was leading the team.

“I asked him yesterday in terms of the set-pieces and is there something in Crawley’s defence we could exploit and he came up with that (Dack’s goal).

“We work hard on our set-pieces and it’s a big part of the game.

“I keep telling them that if a World Cup semi-final can be decided on a corner than a League Two game can as well.

“My only disappointed is Bradley Dack’s header has been disallowed.”

Crawley stretched their unbeaten run to three games following a five-game winless run.

Boss Scott Lindsay said: “I wanted all three points and we probably deserved it in the end.

“On reflection I think we played really well. They asked questions of us. I think they always do when we’re here.

“I’m disappointed to come away with just a point but we’ll take it.

“There was a clear foul today on the build-up to their first goal, Andrews ran straight into Bajrami putting him on the floor: it’s a foul. It’s not normal football contact so it’s a foul. That was the wrong decision again for me.

“I still think we were the better team. I still think that we were asked more questions of their goalkeeper than Gillingham did of ours.

“I think we probably deserved a little bit more than just a point.

“I think the answer for building motivation is to keep the players believing in what we’re doing because when you’re playing so well but not getting the results, it’s hard for them to keep believing.

“My job has been to keep the belief in what we’re doing and it’s a process; it’s also a turn for us. I’ve very much above performances and points, but it’s also a byproduct of how you play.”