Artell hails team's work ethic in deserved 2-0 win over the Gills.

David Artell said it was much more a Crewe Alexandra type performance to record a second League One win of the season. The Alex boss says that the only disappointment was that we didn’t have the game won by half time through the good chances we created.

Goals from Chris Long and Tom Lowery secured a deserved 2-0 win against Steve Evans’ Gills. 

Following the 2-0 home win, Artell told us: “I thought it was a really good team performance. I don’t think anyone can question the commitment and effort of the players and we looked much more like ourselves. I thought we thoroughly deserved the win and it was reflected in the performance.

“The only criticism is that we perhaps overplayed at times and that we didn’t have the game over by half-time. We should have been 3-0 up by half time but we weren’t, so we had to work hard to get over the line. The second goal came in stoppage and it was long overdue.

“I thought the players were magnificent. They all were. They were really good.

“The back three were excellent, as was Trig (David Richards) and Murph in front. It was a real team performance and the most pleasing thing is that we passed the ball and controlled the game. We passed the ball to each other and looked much more like it.

“We created a lot of chances. They have hit the post twice from corners but I don’t think they managed a chance in open play. That is credit to the way we defended. We had to defend those free-kicks, long throws and corners and we stood up to a decent Gillingham side. They have been in this division a long time now and are usually safe and we know what to expect from a Steve Evans side.

He added: “This has to be the start now of how we approach our business and it has certainly given us something to build on. It won’t be plain sailing, we know that but if we can play like we did here against the teams in and around us then we will certainly win more games than we lose.”