What a start!

The Mark Bonner era at Gillingham Football Club got underway with a bang at Priestfield as his new-look Gills site put four past Carlisle United to put themselves joint top of League Two after the opening weekend of the new EFL season.

Timothee Dieng put the Gills ahead just one minute into the game, and the Gills went in at halftime a goal to the good, despite Carlisle getting stronger the longer the first half went on, and even hit the crossbar in the closing moments of the half.

But after the break, the Gills repeated the trick, with another quick goal at the start of the second half. Loan striker Jacob Wakeling latching onto a misplaced pass and racing through to slot coolly into the net for his first league goal in Gills colours.

Carlisle pulled one back, but Gillingham responded brilliantly with two outstanding finishes. Jack Nolan danced down the right touchline before cutting in and slamming an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net from a tight angle to make it 3-1. Then Jonny Williams fired in Gillingham’s fourth from outside the box with a powerful low strike to put the seal on a memorable opening day victory.

After the game, Owen jumped on Twitter Spaces for the first live post-match show of the year, as the fans weighed in with their thoughts on the team’s performance on a superb day in the sun at Priestfield.

Photo credit: Colin Nash, Kent Pro Images

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