The only disappointment for Gillingham boss Steve Lovell was that his team didn’t win by more.

His team scored twice in the first half, through Brandon Hanlan and Josh Parker, but missed several other opportunities.

In the end two goals were more than enough.

Report: Accrington 0 Gillingham 2

Lovell, starting his first full season as Gills boss, said: “I am very happy, not so much with the three points, but the performance and the way we started the first half.

“We dominated and I don’t think anybody would disagree with me when I say we could have been four or five up in the first half. There was some excellent stuff being played, it was great to watch.

“I was just disappointed we didn’t get more that two.”

Those two goals gave the Gills a cushion and they protected their lead in the second half.

“The work was done in the first half,” said the manager.

“We knew there would be times when the opposition would have a period in the game when they have a lot of ball and a lot of pressure but they didn’t do much with it. There were a couple of free headers from set plays, which I wasn’t too happy with, but apart from that we dealt with everything.”

The hosts did come close on a couple of occasions themselves, with goal-line clearances in each half, but keeper Tomas Holy wasn’t overly troubled.

Lovell said: “The defenders cleared a couple of things off the line but the game should have been dead and buried by then. The opposition are going to get periods of the game when they are on top and it is about how we deal with it.

“We have got a clean sheet, we have defended well, as a unit and we didn’t have to do too much second half. We had a couple of efforts in the second half as well, so overall it’s a very good performance.

“We could have had more, but I am happy.”