A sorry Burnley side were hammered by Gillingham and ended the game with just nine men after Dean West and Gareth Taylor were sent off in the second half.

Gillingham were on top throughout and should have collected more than four goals.

Their first came when a Barry Ashby pass found Rod Wallace, who took advantage of a slip-up in the Burnley defence to slide the ball under Marlon Beresford.

Very much against the run of play, Burnley equalised from their first real attack in the 28th minute.

Robert Blake crossed from the left and Taylor hammered the ball into the top of the Gillingham net from close range.

Gillingham almost regained their lead through Marlon King but his shot was tipped over by Beresford.

Four minutes from the interval Gillingham did get a second goal when Paul Smith brushed off two half-hearted challenges before shooting past Beresford.

And right on half-time the home side got a deserved third goal when Mark Saunders put Smith through and he made no mistake from the centre of the penalty area.

Double sending off

The Gills swung onto the attack from the start of the second half but when Saunders met Nicky Southall's centre, his header from close range went over the bar.

And the home side wasted another chance when Wallace went to meet a cross by Southall but was pulled up for a foul on Beresford.

Burnley's defence was under constant pressure and it cracked again in the 64th minute when King met a David Perpetuini cross and crashed the ball home from close range.

Substitute Dimitrios Papadopoulos was proving a thorn in Gillingham's side and when he was stopped illegally by Nayron Nosworthy, Blake stepped up to drive home the penalty.

But hardly had Burnley grasped this lifeline, when they threw it away again when defender Dean West was dismissed for a deliberate handball.

Burnley's misery was complete two minutes from time when Gareth Taylor was sent off after clashing with Ashby.

Gillingham: Brown, Southall, Ashby, Hope, Nosworthy, Hessenthaler, Smith, Saunders, Shaw, Wallace, King. Subs: Bartram, Ipoua, Spiller, White, Perpetuini.

Burnley: Beresford, West, McGregor, Gnohere, Branch, Little, Weller, Grant, Ian Moore, Taylor, Blake. Subs: Cox, Alan Moore, Maylett, Papadopoulos, Rasmussen.

Referee: G Hegley (Hertfordshire)