Interim boss Peter Taylor was critical of Gillingham’s second half defending.

Port Vale equalised from a corner, soon after the interval, then conceded from a cross after an hour.

“The massive negative was the start of the second half,” said Taylor, who described the first 45 minutes as “terrific”.

“We conceded two poor goals when we didn’t get the first touch from the corner and we didn’t get the second touch from the corner, so that was disappointing for us.

“We then gave another poor goal away where the shape could have been better defensively and a little bit quicker.

“The players said in the dressing room (afterwards) that it isn’t the first time it has happened so I know it’s happened before I’ve come here.

“It’s an area we have got to improve on because people are switching off and allowing the opposition to get the first touches and that’s a very dangerous situation.

“All you can do as a manager is keep working at it and players know they have to keep working at it as well.”

As with Taylor’s previous two games, he saw some good signs in the team.

“We were excellent in the first half,” he said.

“I was really pleased with us and we played some good Football. It was controlled and we could have scored more than one goal to be honest.”

The Gills had gone from 1-0 up to trail 2-1 but there were plenty of chances in the closing stages, where the 182 away fans behind the goal almost saw their side level the game.

“The way we finished the game was another positive,” said Taylor. “We deserved to get a goal, so it was a mixed day again.

“Leon Legge had a free header and so did Adam Barrett. We then had the opportunity which dropped to Leon in front of their goalkeeper and Bradley Dack, who only had 10 minutes (on the pitch) had two or three chances when he came on.

“We finished OK but we had a poor period just after half time.”