The Sky Blues travelled to Kent off of the back of a 2-0 defeat away at Blackpool in the week as they searched for their first win away from home this season. Lee Burge comes in for his first appearance of the season.
The Sky Blues started the game the brighter side as some neat interplay between the forwards set Brandon Mason away down the left wing. Mason delivered a teasing ball into the box but the cross eluded the Sky Blue front quartet.
The next passage of play proved to be more promising as Tony Andreu was played in on goal, albeit, with the angle narrowing at every moment. The midfielder did well to divert an effort goalwards which did beat the on-rushing Holy, but the ball did not have enough legs on it and was hacked away from danger.
Luke Thomas - who was making his third appearance in a City shirt - was looking threatening down the right side. He received the ball 30-yards from goal, attacked his full-back, cut inside and let a left-footed curled effort fly which was blocked. The ricochet fell kindly to Tom Bayliss who released a volley which was thankfully collected by Tomas Holy.
Gillingham fought back immediately with a chance of their own which resulted with the ball in the back of Burge's net. However, the linesman's flag quickly followed this to rule out the eventual strike from Tom Eaves. It was Brandon Hanlan who carved out the initial chance with a long ranged, low effort stinging the palms of Burge, for Eaves to run onto and tap home from an offside position.
The Sky Blues kept pushing forward and kept creating openings for themselves each time, and this time it was Tony Andreu who threatened the Gills goal. The ball was played from left to right which was brought down expertly by Thomas. The winger then fed Andreu who ran onto the ball and curled an effort towards the top-left corner but saw his attempt fly just over the bar.
City were on the front foot, however, Gillingham were useful in attack as they continued to create chances for themselves also. Hanlan was on the receiving end of Bradley Garmston's pin-point cross but saw his header loop just over Burge's goal.
Half-time arrived with the teams still level despite City's domination. Plenty of chances went begging for the Sky Blues through Shipley, Doyle and Andreu, however, they need to keep up the intensity to find that crucial breakthrough.
HALF-TIME: Gillingham 0 - 0 Sky Blues
The Sky Blues came out for the second half in the same vein that they finished the first, and it took only 20 seconds for the deadlock to be broken.
Brandon Mason set off down the left wing and delivered a superb ball into the box. On the receiving end was Jonson Clarke-Harris who found himself in acres of space and cushioned his header past Tomas Holy.
City's tails were up and Thomas had a chance to double the lead. The winger picked the ball up just inside of his own half and charged at the Gills defence accompanied by Clarke-Harris and Doyle. The Derby County-loanee opted for a shot from the edge of the box but saw his effort fly over.
Another chance followed almost immediately, with Thomas at the heart of it once again. Thomas crossed for Clarke-Harris who rose highest in the box and diverted his header just wide of the far post.
City carved the Gills defence open once again, and this time it was Tony Andreu's turn to try his luck. He was played the ball from the right, took a touch to round the defender and dragged his left-footed shot inches wide of the post.
For all of City's dominance, they found themselves level with 20 minutes left to play. Bradley Garmston released Elliott List away down the left who was chased all the way back by the hard-working Luke Thomas. List though bumbled his way through the challenges of Thomas and Grimmer and smashed his effort underneath Burge from a near-on impossible angle.
City made an influx of late attacking substitutions but for all of the attacking prowess that the Sky Blues had on the field for the final 10 minutes, clear-cut chances were few and far between.
Following a dominant first-half display, Jonson Clarke-Harris headed the Sky Blues in front only 20 seconds into the second half. Despite pushing forward and breaching the Gills defence at will, the Sky Blues were unable to make their dominance count, and the home side found themselves level following an emphatic finish from Elliott List.
FULL-TIME: Gillingham 1 - 1 Sky Blues
Sky Blues Xl: Lee Burge (GK), Jack Grimmer, Dom Hyam, Jordan Willis, Brandon Mason, Michael Doyle (C), Tom Bayliss, Luke Thomas (81), Jordan Shipley (88), Tony Andreu, Jonson Clarke-Harris (89).
Subs: Liam O'Brien (GK), Tom Davies, Junior Brown, Reise Allassani (81), Jordy Hiwula, Jordan Ponticelli (88), Amadou Bakayoko (89).
Gillingham XI: Tomas Holy (GK), Luke O'Neill, Bradley Garmston, Max Ehmer, Gabriel Zakuani (C), Brandon Hanlan (74), Tom Eaves, Regan Charles-Cook (41), Josh Parker, Billy Bingham, Mark Byrne (31)
Subs: Tom Hadler (GK), Alex Lacey, Conor Wilkinson (74), Barry Fuller, Callum Reilly (31), Elliott List (41), Navid Nasseri
Yellow Cards: Gabriel Zakuani (44), Garmston (67)
Goals: Clarke-Harris (46), List (70)
Attendance: 4,880 (692 travelling Sky Blues)