With only Scarborough beneath them the Gills could be down and out of the

With only Scarborough beneath them, the Gills could be down and out of the Endsleigh League even before Burton calls time.Somebody made the point afterwards that, having sat through their shambolic display, the receiver might well decide to close the door there and then. Gillingham were very poor indeed, and a moment of cruel misfortune could not disguise their inadequacies. With only 12 minutes separating them from a point, Neil Grayson’s shot struck Andy Arnott on its way to goal. It looked more a case of face than hands but, even if it was the latter, Arnott was surely standing too close for it to have been deliberate.Nevertheless, that, to Gillingham’s fury, was how John Holbrook saw it.

Darren Harmon converted the penalty and four minutes later the substitute, Dean Trott, made it 2-0. A harsh blow for Gillingham, who then proceeded to demonstrate that, if the worst comes to the worst, they will go down kicking.So high were tempers at the end that a size 10 boot was imprinted on to the visitors’ dressing-room door. A bill for repairs will find its way to Kent this week; another cost Gillingham could really have done without.The hapless Arnott was left without excuse for Northampton’s second, which followed his attempt to control the ball in his own area. For the home side, Harmon was always composed and Grayson, too, showed flashes of enterprise.

One hopes their new manager, Ian Atkins, whose first game this was, will encourage them, because extolling the merits of “physical aggression” and “getting stuck in” in his programme notes was hardly a promising fanfare.Down in the depths, there is little romance and fantasy to go round. Just ask poor Gillingham.Goals: Harmon (pen 79) 1-0; Trott (83) 2-0.Northampton Town (4-4-2): Stewart; Norton, Sampson, Warburton, Hughes; Harmon, Burns, Colkin, Grayson; Aldridge (Trott, h-t), Brown. Substitutes not used: Ovendale (gk), Harrison.Gillingham (4-4-2): Banks; Arnott, Green, Butler, Bodley; Micklewhite, Carpenter, Smith, Watson (Reinelt, 80); Foster, Pike. Substitutes not used: Barrett (gk), Dunne.Referee: J Holbrook (Ludlow).. John Deehan, the Norwich City manager, faces a difficult time ahead, placating spectators who are disgruntled with the team’s performances and departures from Carrow Road.