A solitary strike by Kieron Cadogan in the first half proved enough as Palace earned a hard fought 1-0 win at the Priestfield Stadium in the Totesport.com Combination League.
Ronnie Jepson made two changes to the side that won 4-2 at Aldershot the week before, with Michael Abnett and Matthew Parsons coming in to fill the full back berths. There was also a late change to the squad with Jack Holland coming in for Jack Randall.
Holland partnered Jerry Nnamani in what is fast becoming a flourishing central partnership in the heart of the Reserve defence, while the rest of the side remained the same.
James Comley and Hakeem Adelakun made up the central midfield with Ryan Smith and Kieran Djilali alternating throughout the afternoon on either side of the flanks. Cadogan was again used in the whole with Nathaniel Pinney heading up the attack.
The first half was an entirely forgettable affair. Gillingham, who fielded a side with some experienced first team players, made life difficult for Jepson's men by closing down at every opportunity and restricting Palace's attempts to play the ball on the floor. In fact in the two occasions Palace actually managed to put a flowing attacking move together they had the ball in the back of the net both times - the first was chalked off for offside.
Pinney drew first blood when he had two speculative chances early on but dragged them wide, while Comley watched a 25 yard effort smash against the top of the bar.
Gillingham carved out chances of their own. First Adam Miller was laid the ball on a plate by Luke Rooney, but his shot was saved well by Darryl Flahavan, while Andy Pugh finished off a dangerous attacking move with a shot high in to the stands from 15 yards.
Palace had the ball in the net midway through the half when Djilali picked the ball up from inside his own half and ran with it to the byline, leaving his marker for dead with a lightning turn of pace. He then played an excellent ball across the box to Pinney who tapped in to an empty net, only to see the linesman's flag raised.
But the visitors managed to take the lead six minutes from the break when Smith did well on the left flank to play in a deep cross to the back post. Djilali was unmarked to head it back across goal where Cadogan was there to convert from inside the six yard box.
The second half was, for the latter stages at least, more entertaining from a Palace point of view as Comley and Adelakun quickly set about controlling the tempo of the game and were the main architects for much of the attacking play.
On 72 minutes Comley initiated a quick break from his own half by nipping the ball round his marker to Pinney, who played a one-two with Smith on the wing before playing up to Cadogan.
The forward had managed to take up position between the centre halves and expertly managed to get the ball out of his feet and get a shot away as they closed him down, but his effort struck the upright and was hacked away to safety.
Two minutes later Djilali managed to get the best of his marker on the right flank and played a dangerous ball into the box that goalkeeper Alan Julian parried in to the path of Smith. Faced with almost an open goal the winger's effort lacked the urgency needed and it flew over the bar.
Julian then came to Gillingham's rescue again on 77 minutes when he brilliantly saved a Jerry Nnamani header from a Djilali cross, while Pinney then had a penalty shout turned down in the final seconds when he clashed with Jack Payne on the edge of the box.
Palace are next in action on Wednesday 4th November when Gillingham travel to the KT Stadium for the return fixture. Kick off is at 7:00pm and ticket details will follow later in the week.
For directions to the KT Stadium click here.
Full highlights and reaction will be available on Palace Player later in the week.
For all of the Palace Reserve fixtures click here.
Teams
Gillingham: 1. Alan Julian; 2. Jack Payne; 3. Chris Palmer; 4. Tom Wynter; 5. Garry Richards; 6. Rashid Yussuf; 7. Luke Rooney; 8. Adam Miller; 9. Luis Cumbers (15. Amodou Abdullei, 46); 10: Gabriel Odunaike (12. Jake Hall, 82); 11. Andy Pugh (16. Charlie Stimson, 82)
Subs: Conor Quinn; 14. Connor Essam
Crystal Palace: 1. Darryl Flahavan; 2. Michael Abnett; 3. Matthew Parsons; 4. Jack Holland; 5. Jerry Nnamani; 6. James Comley; 7. Kieran Djilali; 8. Hakeem Adelakun; 9. Nathaniel Pinney; 10. Kieron Cadogan; 11. Ryan Smith
Unused subs: 12. Charlie Mann; 13. Joe Goldsmith; 14. Taurean McDonald-Roberts; 15. Charlie Holness
SMS subscribers heard about this news before anyone else. Text CLUB CPAL ON to 88442 now to sign-up.
