John Egan earns Gillingham draw at Rochdale
Captain John Egan rescued a point for Gillingham in a 1-1 draw against fellow play-off hopefuls Rochdale at Spotland.
The home side looked set to narrow the gap between themselves and the sixth-placed Gills to a single point after Callum Camps fired them ahead on the stroke of half-time.
But Egan's later leveller kept Justin Edinburgh's men in the play-off places on goal difference from Barnsley.
There was an early scare for Rochdale when Joe Rafferty's miscued back pass sent Bradley Dack through on goal but goalkeeper Josh Lillis raced off his line to narrow the angle and clear the danger as the Gills man attempted to take the ball round him.
The home side then took the lead in first-half stoppage time. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing looked boxed in on the right flank but cleverly worked his way infield and slipped a ball into the box for Camps, who drifted round Egan before clipping a fine finish wide of Stuart Nelson.
Camps saw his glancing header saved by Nelson in the second half while the visiting stopper also denied Donal McDermott at the end of a mesmerising run into the Gills area.
Gillingham had barely troubled the home defence in the second half and levelled against the run of play in the 77th minute when Jermaine McGlashan's cross from the right was headed home by Egan.
Source: PA
