Gillingham are out of the FA Cup after a penalty shootout defeat at League 2 rivals Newport County.

Elliott Nevitt’s opener was cancelled out by Cameron Evans in normal time and Cameron Antwi thought he’d won it for the hosts in the 109th minute before ex-Newport striker Seb Palmer-Houlden levelled with seconds left. It needed penalties to separate the League 2 clubs, with Newport winning it 4-3.

Reaction: Gills fuming after controversial penalty call

Gillingham hadn’t won a game since beating Newport at Rodney Parade in the league a month earlier, going six games without a win prior to their return.

Gillingham made four changes to their team - switching it up in attack again as Nevitt was brought in to play upfront with Josh Andrews, as Sam Vokes and Seb Palmer-Houlden dropped to the bench.

Captain Armani Little was back in the starting line-up, which led to Robbie McKenzie dropping into centre of defence, the Gills opting for wing-backs.

Jake Turner lined up in goal to replace injured Glenn Morris. Taite Holtam was recalled from his loan at Ashford United as the back-up keeper, having previously played in the preliminary and qualifying rounds of the competition for the non-league side.

Little was busy in the opening stages and put Gillingham’s first chance wide of the mark before they took a 14th minute lead.

Remeao Hutton’s cross was met by McKenzie and when the ball dropped for Nevitt he fired goalwards and the ball went in with the aid of a deflection.

Nevitt might have got another soon after but couldn’t dig out a shot after he and Andrews combined to create another opening for the Gills.

It took a great save from home keeper Jordan Wright to deny Andrews as Gillingham continued to dominate the opening period of the game. His downward header from another Hutton cross was saved low down.

Newport’s equaliser came during a period of sustained pressure.

Home fans were calling for a penalty after Cameron Antwi’s shot went out for a corner after going through a crowded area.

The home side scored off their third corner after Ged Garner had a shot deflected wide from one and Turner saved well to deny Lee Jenkins from another.

Persistence paid off as Gills couldn’t clear from another set-piece and Evans was there to crash the ball home through a host of bodies on 31 minutes.

Newport played with more confidence after their goal but the team’s reached the break on level terms.

The Gills made a change at the break as Little - who had started his first game in almost two months - was replaced by Nelson Khumbeni.

With almost an hour gone, and the Gills unable to create an opening, former Newport striker Seb Palmer-Houlden was also introduced, getting a tremendous reception from the respectful home crowd.

Newport’s Cameron Antwi should have done better when McKenzie couldn’t get the power he wanted on a defensive headers and when it landed to the home player he was unable to get the lift on the ball to take it beyond Turner.

Palmer-Houlden fired over for the Gills and Newport’s Sammy Braybrooke fired a free-kick straight at keeper Turner with 15 minutes left.

Khumbeni wasn’t far away from a goal as he tried to slide onto a Palmer-Houlden cross and as the game opened up Turner saved well at his near post to deny Habeeb Ogunney and also denied Garner.

Two lengthy stoppages to deal with Newport injuries led to 11 minutes being added at the end of the 90.

Sam Gale went close with a header in stoppage time, saved well by keeper Wright at full stretch, and at the end of normal time the tie remained level at 1-1.

Newport’s Braybrooke stung the hands of Turner in first-half stoppage-time and the Gills keeper also held onto a follow-up effort from Kai Whitmore.

A low shot from Reindorf almost crept in as it got past Turner moments before the home side took the lead with 109 minutes played, Antwi firing home. The chance came from Reindorf’s run after he had skipped past several challenges.

Reindorf had a chance to score himself soon after but Turner touched his effort onto the post.

Max Clark came close to equalising for the Gills but his shot curled just the wrong side of the woodwork.

With a minute left of extra-time Palmer-Houlden fired in a low shot beyond the home keeper, equalising against his former team to take the tie to penalties.

Newport won the shoot-out 4-3 with Clark, Khumbeni and Palmer-Houlden scoring for the Gills. Hutton had his shot saved and Vokes hit the crossbar.

Gillingham: Turner, Hutton, Clark, Smith, Gale, McKenzie (Akomeah 103mins), Coleman (Rowe 111mins), Little (Khumbeni 46mins), Dack (Cirino 82mins), Nevitt (Vokes 82mins), Andrews (Palmer-Houlden 57mins). Subs: Holtam, Wyllie, Ogie.

Newport: Wright, Ogunneye (Brennan 88mins), Thomas, Evans, Jenkins (Odimayo 67mins), Braybrooke, Antwi, Lloyd, Whitmore (Kamwa 103mins), Baker-Richardson, Garner (Reindorf 94mins). Subs: Tzanev, Glennon, Alexander-Walker, Pugh, McKenzie.

Referee: Ross Martin

Attendance: 2,596 (243 away)