GILLINGHAM TOWN 3 BRIDPORT 0

THREE goals in the opening 24 minutes from Gillingham Town’s Benjani Ben Salem virtually put to bed any chances Bridport had of claiming anything from their Dorset derby away from home.

Ben Salem, who has had an electric start to the season for the Gills, opened the scoring on 15 minutes for the home side and wrapped the game up when he celebrated his third strike nine minutes later.

“He punished us for our mistakes,” Bees’ boss Trevor Senior told Echosport.

Bridport goalkeeper Ashley Weeks produced a fine save to keep the score goalless early on before the striker found the net for the first time, but a crucial chance for Tom Richardson could have made it 1-1 for the Bridport soon after.

“He put it over from about three yards, if you score that one you are back in it, but then they went straight down the other end pretty much and we got robbed again,” Senior said.

After going two goals behind, a free-kick from the left-hand side wasn’t dealt with quickly enough by the Bees, and Gills’ striker Ben Salem was alert enough to curl a shot into the bottom corner to seal the win.

The Bridport manager claimed: “I said as half-time I would rather lose 5-0 and have a go, and I can’t fault anyone, we worked hard for the whole game.

“We just lacked some quality in the final third and we gave them a helping hand by conceding the three goals early on.”

On Ben Salem’s performance, Senior said: “You just have to give credit where it is due, he is a centre-forward and he took his goals well, if you are given a helping hand from the other team you are going to take the chances.”

Bees: Weeks, J Filkins, Morley, Clarke, Stewart, Ry Hayter, A Symes (Bulman 72), Wise, Richardson (Byerley 65), Dovell (C Senior 35), J Symes