Gareth Ainsworth hails ‘special kid’ Sam Gale after his late Gillingham winner

Gareth Ainsworth was blown away by Sam Gale’s first Gillingham goal which ended table-topping Crewe’s perfect start to the Sky Bet League Two season.

Gale struck in the 89th minute to make it 17 games unbeaten for the Priestfield outfit.

A happy Ainsworth was full of praise for the 20-year-old defender, who celebrated his scoring breakthrough in front of the Rainham End.

“He is just an unbelievable player to work with,” said the Gills boss of his unlikely match-winner.

“He is a super, special kid who I think can go really high in the league. He is going to be an amazing player.

“That celebration is him. It meant everything to him. But he was the first one back over the halfway-line ready to do the job again. That is Sam Gale.

“He is all in for this place and the lads love him. He is the heartbeat of the dressing room.

“He deserved that (goal) and it has been coming for a while. There was a big cheer when he walked in the dressing room at the end.”

On victory Ainsworth said: “I am really proud. The boys left nothing on the pitch.

“Crewe are a good side, had good chances and it was a ding-dong game especially in the first half. But good teams score in those moments.”

Crewe boss Lee Bell admitted Gale’s goal was a bitter pill to swallow.

“You talk about moments in matches, theirs came too late for us to respond,” he said after the Railwaymen missed a chance to extend their unbeaten start.

“But it was a match we should have been walking away from with minimum a draw and on chances we missed, probably winning the match.

“They were great strikes that hit the woodwork; we just needed them to be an inch lower.

“Again, moments in games; it gave them something to hang on to.

“They have some big powerful players and their chance came by loading the box and throwing everything into it.

“But fair play to them; they hung in there brought on some energy and then got the winner.

“But we should be scoring at least a couple of goals and I am talking differently. We took them the other night (at Fleetwood) and scored four goals.

“I don’t want to be losing matches, but I won’t get too down. I don’t want to be looking too negatively on what was a decent performance.

“Now the test comes. It’s about the character and how we look to perform. Are we able to do continue doing what we want to do and I think we will be able to do.”