It is now, eight games since Bristol Rovers lasted tasted victory. In the seven League games in that spell the Gas have picked up just five of the possible 21 points and have dropped from 6th to 17th in the table. They have scored just five goals in those eight games. On the positive side, aside from the 3-0 dumping by Leeds the other defeats have all been by a single goal.

Those are the facts. Paul Trollope is looking towards the loan system to bolster his squad and to get his team to hit the back of the net more regularly. Steve Phillips has suggested that the team should maybe review a DVD of the Play-Off Final to show how well they can play.

Meanwhile this week's opposition, Gillingham have problems of their own. Two points and four positions below Rovers they are currently being managed by caretaker boss and former Swindon Town Gaffer, Iffy Onuora Stevenage chairman Phil Wallace has issued a veiled warning to the Gills over former Borough boss Mark Stimson, who resigned last week.

Stimson has been persistently linked with the Gills' managerial vacancy. "I'm dealing with the legalities of his resignation and the media speculation that he's going to Gillingham," Wallace told Borough's website.

"If that happens without our consent there will be certain legal ramifications which we will pursue." Although Wallace had refused a request by the Gills to speak to Stimson - and offered him a new contract - he subsequently tendered his resignation last Wednesday.

"We simply will not allow our employment contracts to be manipulated for other people's gain, unless it's on our terms," Wallace warned.

On the playing field Adam Nowland looks set for a return to Preston after being left out last weekend. The midfielder's one-month loan spell ended at the weekend and Onuora is unlikely to extend it further.

"He was disappointed to be left out on Saturday," said Onuora. "We're in a situation where we've got an abundance of midfield players." Nowland made six appearances for the Gills in his second loan spell at the club.

Meanwhile, Steve Lomas could be fit to face Rovers on Saturday. A hamstring injury has kept the midfielder out of the side for the last four matches, Onuora said: "He's worked hard on his re-hab and from Monday onwards he should be due in (training)."

Looking back to the roots of football in Kent, in May 1893, the local success of a junior football side, Chatham Excelsior F.C., encouraged a group of businessmen to meet with a view to creating a football club which could compete in larger competitions. New Brompton F.C. was formed from the meeting, incorporating a number of Excelsior players. The gentlemen also purchased the plot of land which would later become Priestfield Stadium. The new club played its first match on 2 September 1893, losing 1-5 to Woolwich Arsenal's reserve side in front of a crowd of 2,000. New Brompton were among the founder members of the Southern League upon its creation in 1894, and were placed in Division Two. They were named Champions in the first season (1894-95) going on to defeat Swindon Town in a test match to win promotion.

In the first season of the newly-created Football League Division Three, the 1920-21 season, Gillingham again finished bottom, and in the years to follow there was little improvement on this, the club continually finishing in the lower reaches of the bottom division. In 1938 the team finished bottom of the Third Division (South) and were required to apply for re-election for the fifth time since joining the league.

This bid for re-election failed, with Gillingham returning to the Southern League and Ipswich Town being promoted in their place. In 1950 plans were announced to expand the Football League Division Three (South) from 22 to 24 teams and, taking into account their local success in the interim, Gillingham were re-elected to the Football League with a landslide vote.

The team spent eight seasons in Division Three (South) before the restructuring of the league system for the 1958-59 season saw them placed in the newly-created Fourth Division. They remained in this division until 1964, when manager Freddie Cox led them to promotion, winning the first and so far only championship in the club's history. The team finished the season level on 60 points with Carlisle United, but with a better goal average (1.967 against 1.948), which was the tightest league title finish in Football League history.

After relegation back to the Fourth Division in 1970-71, the Gills were soon promoted back to the Third Division in the 1973-74 season. After this the club seemed to find its level in Division Three, regularly mounting a challenge for promotion which ultimately fell short each time, never more so than in 1986-87 when they reached the play-offs only to lose in the final to Swindon Town. During this period the club produced future stars Steve Bruce and Tony Cascarino,

In 1987 the Gills hit the headlines when, on consecutive Saturdays, they beat Southend United 8-1 and Chesterfield 10-0, the latter a club record for a Football League match. Just a few months later, however, manager Keith Peacock was controversially sacked and within 18 months the club had fallen into Division Four.

The ensuing spell in the lower division brought little success, and in the 1992-93 Division Three campaign the Gills narrowly avoided relegation to the Football Conference. Beset with financial problems, the club went into administration in January 1995, and by the end of the 1994-95 season faced the threat of being expelled from the Football League and closed down.

In June 1995, however, a London-based businessman, Paul Scally, stepped in and bought the club for £1. He brought in new manager Tony Pulis, who led Gillingham to promotion in his first season, finishing second in the old Division Three (now Football League Two). In 1999 the Gills made the play-offs but lost in the Division Two play-off final to Manchester City. The Gills were 2-0 up with less than two minutes left only to see City score twice, the equaliser in injury time, and go on to win 3-1 in a penalty shoot-out.

Soon after the play-off loss, Pulis was sacked for gross misconduct, and Peter Taylor appointed manager. In the 1999-00 season Gillingham qualified for the play-offs again, where they faced Wigan Athletic in the final at Wembley Stadium. The game finished 1-1 after 90 minutes, but, thanks to goals in extra time from substitutes Steve Butler and Andy Thomson, the Gills won 3-2 and were promoted to Division One for the first time.

Taylor then left to manage Leicester City, and Andy Hessenthaler was appointed as player-manager. He led the club to their best ever league finish of eleventh in the 2002-03 season, but the following season saw the club narrowly avoid relegation on goal difference. Hessenthaler resigned as manager in November 2004, and new boss Stan Ternent was unable to prevent the Gills' relegation to League One. Ronnie Jepson took over as manager and led the team to two successive mid-table finishes, but resigned in September 2007.

Rovers and the Gills have met in a total of 94 games with Rovers having the better record with 44 victories to the Gills 33. In Kent Rovers have won just 12 times in 46 attempts as home teams dominate in these fixtures. Rovers' last League game at Priestfield was a 1-0 on 14 August 1999 in a Division Two game. There was an FA Cup game in Kent on 5 February 2002, when a 32nd minute Scott Jones own goal handed victory to the home team,

Back in 1998-99 season a 0-0 draw seemed to be petering out when an incident just inside the Rovers half saw both teams confronting one another after a rash tackle. Referee Messiahs decided, once he had the melee sorted out, to send off, Pennock and Ashby from the Gills and keeper Jones and Challis form Rovers. He'd also booked four Rovers and three Gill players.

In their latest game the Gills went down 2-0 to John Ward's, Carlisle United, 2-0.
An Ian Cox own goal and a Simon Hackneys thunderbolt gave Carlisle a comfortable win. It was Gillingham's sixth away defeat in a row and Carlisle did not have to be at their best.

Marc Bridge-Wilkinson's in-swinging corner in the 14th minute ricocheted off central defender Cox across the line for the opener. In the second half Hackney struck a dipping left-foot shot which flew into the net on 54 minutes to seal the points.

Onuora blamed poor refereeing after the Gills had a goal disallowed "He got two big decisions wrong and I'm not happy. Simon Royce was fouled for their first goal and the referee missed it - I'm not one for making excuses but he should have disallowed the goal. And Chris Dickson's was a fair goal - I couldn't see a problem with it."

With two teams bemoaning their luck, something has to give. Rovers are playing some neat football but not finishing well. If they can re-discover the scoring form from the end of last season they should soon start accumulating points.

Written by Gerry Prewett