by Luke Cawdell

The Gillingham fans who made the long trip to Accrington are set to be reimbursed by manager Andy Hessenthaler and the rest of the team.

Gillingham were backed by 261 fans at Accrington’s Crown Ground but saw a dire first half which left their side 4-1 down.

An improved second half, boosted by a Gavin Tomlin double - his second in as many games - almost saved Gills’ blushes but it wasn’t enough to make up for a woeful first 45.

Boss Hessenthaler (pictured) said: "I feel sorry for the fans. They travelled a long way on a cold day and they should be rewarded, we haven’t done that and so I think we should pay them back.

"We will pay for all the supporters who travelled because it’s not acceptable. Every player in the dressing room will contribute and not just the players, but myself and my staff as well, because they deserve better. It important that we repay the fans.

"They can’t come up and travel and spend their hard earned money to see our players do that."

Hessenthaler was forced into subbing his keeper Ross Flitney after a calamitous first half. The Gills goalkeeper had gifted Accrington the opener and conceded three more in the half.

But he wasn’t the only one to blame from a poor first half, which came after a shocking second 45 against AFC Wimbledon the week before, where again they had conceded four goals in one half.

Hessenthaler said: "We spent the week defending as a group but we basically went out there and did the opposite to what we worked on.

"It’s crazy and I was speechless at half-time because I just didn’t see that coming off the back of last week. I’m not just going to blame the back four because it’s not just about the back four.

"It’s about the whole team and the goals we conceded were our own doing. People just weren’t doing their job.

"For the first 20 minutes, especially away from home, you want the team to just stay in the game. When we started our goalkeeper threw it out and that’s exactly the opposite to what we told him to do and we got punished by it.

"We do match reports on teams but if they don’t listen then they won’t be in the team."

Danny Jackman levelled with a free-kick but Gills conceded three more goals to trail 4-1, though Tomlin’s brace made it 4-3 by full-time.

"In the second half we came out and had a go," said Hessenthaler.

"We did things which we spoke about in the first half, like getting balls in behind their two centre halves. The second goal came about from the ball over the top by Jackman.

"But we lost the game in the first half and left ourselves with a mountain to climb."

What do you make of Hessenthaler's offer to reimburse the travelling Gills fans? Have your say below.