Mark Byrne takes Gillingham out of the bottom four

Posted Sunday, February 17, 2019 by PA

Mark Byrne grabbed the decisive goal as Gillingham beat in-form Scunthorpe 1-0 to climb out of the League One relegation zone.

Midfielder Byrne notched on the half-hour mark, firing powerfully into the bottom corner from 20 yards after good play by Wigan loanee Leo Da Silva Lopes.

Despite being without a home league win since Boxing Day, and playing against a side with six victories from their previous eight games, the Gills were deserved winners.

Early on, home forward Brandon Hanlan poked the ball wide after sliding to meet Graham Burke’s low pass across the face of goal, while Burke himself shot just wide on the turn from 20 yards.

Byrne almost added a second goal from distance eight minutes after the break but this time his low drive bounced just wide of Jak Alnwick’s post.

Scunthorpe’s best chance came when Kyle Wootton headed inches wide from Cameron Burgess’ in-swinging cross on the stroke of the hour.

Iron captain Rory McArdle had a header tipped around the post by Tomas Holy and the Gillingham goalkeeper also brilliantly kept out Tom Pearce’s goal-bound drive from 25 yards, while Adam Hammill blazed wide late on.