A late penalty from Tom Eaves earned Gillingham a share of the spoils at the Ricoh Arena after Bright Enobakhare had opened the scoring for the Sky Blues.
Defender Jordan Willis had the first chance of the game for the home side. A corner was floated in by Jordan Shipley, but Willis couldn’t steer his header on target.
City were controlling the game in the early exchanges and a smart passing move almost lead to the opener. A flurry of one touch passes found Shipley in the box, but his effort was tame and comfortable for Gills goalkeeper Tomas Holy.
Lee Burge then made a terrific stop to prevent the away side from taking the lead. A deep cross found Tom Eaves unmarked at the back post but his downwards header was superbly kept out by the City goalkeeper.
Gillingham had another chance to break the deadlock just moments later. Elliot List beat Dujon Sterling down the left-hand side and his low cross found Brandon Hanlan whose low shot flew inches past the post.
Dujon Sterling was denied by Holy as the game edged closer to the break. The right back played a one-two with Luke Thomas, but his powerful shot from a tight angle was straight at the goalkeeper.
Poor defending allowed Graham Burke in for Gillingham on the stroke of half time. Burke disposed Westbrooke and ran through on goal, but he blazed his shot over the bar under fierce pressure from Meyler and Hyam.
Tom Eaves had the last chance of the half as the sides went in goalless at the break. Burke broke forward for Gillingham and found the striker on the edge of the area, however he curled his shot harmlessly wide of Lee Burge’s goal.
Luke Thomas tried his luck from range just minutes after the restart. The winger picked up the ball from distance and let fly, but it failed to test Holy.
Substitute Amadou Bakayoko had his effort tipped over the bar on the hour mark. Good work from Bright Enobakhare found Bakayoko in the box and his effort took a wicked deflection which called Holy in to action.
The Sky Blues took the lead in the 68th minute thanks to the lively Bright Enobakhare. The Wolves loanee ran the length of the pitch before setting up Bakayoko, whose shot was saved by Holy, but the rebound fell to Enobakhare who smashed home with the net gaping.
Bakayoko had a superb chance to the kill the game off with seven minutes remaining. Excellent work by Luke Thomas saw him escape his man and play in the striker. However, his first time shot rolled agonizingly past the post with Holy beaten.
In the 88th minute, the Sky Blues conceded a penalty as Lee Burge brought down Brandon Hanlan. Tom Eaves took the spot kick and sent Burge the wrong way to equalise for Gillingham and snatch a point at the death.
Sky Blues XI: Lee Burge (GK), Dujon Sterling, Jordan Willis, Dom Hyam, Sam McCallum, David Meyler © (Bakayoko 59’), Zain Westbrooke (Bayliss 66’), Bright Enobakhare (Charlie Wakefield 90’), Luke Thomas, Jordy Hiwula, Jordan Shipley
Unused Subs: Corey Addai (GK), Jack Grimmer, Tom Davies, Tom Bayliss, Conor Chaplin
Gillingham XI: Tomas Holy (GK), Max Ehmer, Gabriel Zakuani, Brandon Hanlan, Tom Eaves, Graham Burke, Barry Fuller, Elliot List (Leonardo da Silva Lopes 70’), Josh Rees, Mark Byrne, Connor Ogilvie
Unused Subs: Tom Hadler (GK), Luke O’Neill, Regan Charles-Cook, Tahvon Campbell, Darren Oldaker, Billy King
Attendance: 26,741 (592)
Yellows: Mark Byrne, Lee Burge