MICHAEL Doughty’s 55th minute penalty was just about enough to earn Swindon Town a hard-fought 1-1 draw away at Gillingham.

Town had to put together a makeshift side for their trip to the Priestfield Stadium, as they were without strikers Jonathan Obika and new signing Luke Norris, who joined defender Rossi Branco in the treatment room.

This, along with the absence of Yaser Kasim, meant they would play without a recognised striker in the first 11, despite Jordan Stewart and Jermaine Hylton both on the bench.

Swindon did extremely well to hold on for a point against a strong Gillingham side, especially after defender Brandon Ormonde-Ottewill was sent off in injury time.

The first half was a stale one for Swindon, who struggled to live with the hosts in the opening 45 minutes.

Swindon’s first shot at goal came early on when John Goddard, who was the focal point of Town’s attack, had a pot shot from the edge of the box when he worked some space on his left foot but his effort was wide.

Luke Williams’ side went long periods of the half without creating as Gillingham continued to probe the Town backline with varied success.

Former Bristol City striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas’ physical presence was causing all sorts of issues for Nathan Thompson and co at the back throughout the first half.

His best chance came when he managed to shrug off the attention of Swindon captain Thompson as he burst into the box, only for him to hesitate and miss his opportunity to get his shot away.

The resulting corner was swung in towards Lawrence Vigouroux’s back post, it then fell to Gillingham defender Max Ehmer, who popped the ball back in the mixer before Emmanuel Osadebe’s awkward volley was tipped over the bar.

Town’s only real first-half chance came when a driving run into space from James Brophy meant he had time to slide in Goddard one-on-one with Stuart Nelson in the home goal.

Nelson got a left hand to Goddard’s effort, which took the pace off of the shot, allowing Gillingham to bundle the ball away five minutes before the end of the first half.

Williams cut a frustrated figure throughout the first 45 minutes, after his side were forced to soak up pressure for the majority of the first half as they were out-thought and out-fought by Gillingham.

However, Swindon came out after the interval the brighter of the two and a much more competitive side.

Brad Barry broke away down the right, only for his ball across the six-yard box to be in vain as he had no support from his teammates.

Despite the fresh enthusiasm it soon began to be a similar story to the first half, Town were sloppy with the ball at times and looked like they had run out of ideas going forward.

In the 53rd minute, Jamie Sendles-White came out from defence unchallenged, before offloading the ball to teammate Ormonde Ottewill, who then put in a great ball which was cleared.

Moments later, Doughty played in Darnell Furlong, who was brought down by Paul Konchesky, and Doughty confidently dispatched the resulting penalty low and hard into the bottom corner.

After the goal Gillingham piled on the pressure, new signing Jamie O’Hara forced Vigouroux into a save as his cross went wayward.

The hour mark was met with Town’s first substitution, Stewart coming on for Goddard, he nearly had an immediate impact when he found himself in the box, sadly it was a chance missed as Barry’s shot was deflected for a corner.

Swindon fans soon had their hearts in their mouths as full-back Ryan Jackson hit the side netting.

The Gills continued to pose a threat as they looked for the leveller, thankfully the away side were managing to keep the hosts out.

With 71 minutes on the clock, substitute Rory Donnelly lashed home Jackson’s cross from the right to make it 1-1.

After conceding the impetus was with the hosts, Konchesky’s driven run and pull back was another hairy moment for the Wiltshire side, who managed to scrape through.

Stewart did well several times to keep hold of the ball despite being surrounded by the opposition as he tried to run down the clock.

Five minutes remained of normal time and Swindon could breathe a sigh of relief after Emmanuel-Thomas was causing problems again, but could only find the bar with his left-footed strike.

Swindon’s job was then made even harder when the fourth official awarded seven minutes of injury time.

With their backs to the wall, Town did well to scrape through, especially as they had to make do with 10 men following the dismissal of Ormonde-Ottewill for a second bookable offence.

Despite the numerical disadvantage Williams’ side were able to dig deep to come away with a respectable point against Gillingham.