Forte earns crucial victory for Latics

ATHLETIC 2, GILLINGHAM 1

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JONATHAN Forte scored for the first time since the opening day of the season to help Athletic to a rare but vital home win.

Forte volleyed in from close range from a James Wilson cross in the 73rd minute, after Timothee Dieng had earlier equalised Doug Loft's long-range shot with a second-half header.

Daniel Lafferty forced a diving save from Gills goalkeeper Stuart Nelson early on with a free-kick, but the home side fell behind when Loft smashed in a 35-yard effort after Joel Coleman had saved from Dominic Samuel on 16 minutes.

Curtis Main also forced a save from Nelson and Aaron Amadi-Holloway and Forte fired off-target as John Sheridan's men tried to make it 1-1 before the break.

Centre-back Dieng levelled after 57 minutes, neatly converting a delivery from deep by Matt Palmer for his first goal for the club.

And Forte netted a winner to earn Athletic their first three-point haul at SportsDirect.com Park since the first home match of the season.