MARK STIMSON praised his stand-in keeper Derek Stillie after he made a crucial second-half penalty save in Gillingham's 2-1 win over Bournemouth.

Stillie was called upon to replace injured Simon Royce between the sticks and he kept Gillingham on course for a welcome three points on Saturday after tipping Max-Alain Gradel’s penalty kick onto the post with 10 minutes to go.

“It was great for Stillie to be part of it because he’s had to be patient,” said Stimson.

“It’s great for him to come and step in for Royce. We’re confident he can prove he’s capable of playing at this level and a big plus for us is his kicking and that took a lot of pressure off us on Saturday.

“We started the game really bright and at 2-0 I thought we could have gone and got more but fair play to Bournemouth, they came back in it and showed what a good attacking side they are.

“They will feel a bit sad at having a goal disallowed and seeing a penalty saved but we haven’t had much luck recently and I’m a firm believer that over a season it evens itself out.”

There was no repeat of the hostile reaction from the fans following last weekend’s defeat to Crewe and Stimson praised the supporters’ efforts.

“The support was fantastic,” he said. “We had a disaster last week but from the first whistle they got behind the players.

“At the training ground on Friday we had around 25 fans down watching and it was as if we were in the top three. The players have gone out and performed like they should and hopefully we can maintain that until the end of the season and make sure we’re in this league, because that’s where we want to be.”