West Ham United manager David Moyes is relieved to have escaped Priestfield unscathed.
His Premier League side were put under pressure by Gillingham during the opening half of the FA Cup third-round match.
Moyes – taking charge for the second game since returning as manager – asked for more from his top-flight team in the second half and they responded.
“We are thrilled. These games have caused us difficulty over the years. Gillingham nearly did it again,” he said after winning the game 2-0.
“They were really good, really competitive, hard to play against and in the end, we just had little bits of quality up front that made the difference.”
Pablo Zabaleta opened the scoring with 16 minutes left after the Iron bossed the game from the restart.
Hopes of a comeback for the Gills were dashed when fellow sub Pablo Fornals added a second in stoppage-time.
Moyes was relieved to have seen his team step it up after the break to show their superiority. “I was disappointed that we hadn’t tried to play enough. We didn’t get the ball down and we didn’t show composure when we needed to. But it was always going to be that type of game.
Gillingham’s home record was really good and I had been there as a manager and a player and the crowd get behind their team. It’s a great credit to our players,” he added.
Gills boss Steve Evans – a boyhood team-mate of Moyes during their time playing for Celtic Boys Club – was hoping his fellow Glaswegian would be bringing him a bottle of red.
None was forthcoming but they shared a beer post-match. “He has short arms and long pockets. But he has been a friend of mine for 30-40 years and he will be until the day I leave this planet.
“He is a good man, he knows they are fortunate to go through, but they got a reaction second half,” Evans said.