DESPITE heavy overnight rain persisting right up until kick-off referee Andy Hall gave Yeovil Town's 200th league game the green light.
Former Glovers' favourite Darren Way made his first start for Russell Slade since joining on loan from Swansea City in the week.
Today's fixture with Gillingham marked the tenacious midfielder's 100th league appearance for Yeovil, coming two years to the day since his 99th.
After a torrid week of results that saw the Huish Park outfit exit both the FA Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy victory against the Gills was of the utmost importance to restore morale.
Slippery conditions and spray from the pitch made the early going difficult, with both sides taking time to judge the pace of the surface.
With ten minutes on the clock the home faithful had their first meaningful attack to cheer when Lloyd Owusu was released down the left.
On his own, his cross into the box was comfortably dealt with by the Gillingham defence.
With quarter of an hour on the clock play was stopped for ten minutes after the Ghanaian striker clashed heads with ex-Glover Efe Sodje. He had only been on the pitch for a matter of moments, having replaced captain Ian Cox.
While Sodje required a stretcher to leave the field, Owusu jogged down the tunnel to receive treatment to a cut. The Yeovil striker returned heavily bandaged and Sodje was replaced by Nicky Southall.
Showing no ill-effect from the knock Owusu continued to work tirelessly up front, earning a corner that resulted in a Terry Skiverton header being cleared off the line after half an hour.
Yeovil reacted positively after the resumption of play, looking to forge an opening against a Gillingham side shell-shocked by two substitutions in quick succession.
As the half wore on the Glovers looked comfortable in possession, patiently waiting for an opportunity to carve open the now makeshift visiting defence.
Five minutes before half time Yeovil were gifted two golden opportunities to take the lead. Neat footwork near the byline from James Walker allowed Paul Warne to head at goal, only to see his effort from eight yards tipped onto the bar by Simon Royce.
With the goal at his mercy Owusu following up could only blast the ball against the crossbar for a second time.
Moments later Anthony Barry's opportunistic drive from 30 yards went narrowly wide after clipping a Gillingham player on the way through.
With the fourth official indicating 13 minutes of injury time at the end of the first half Yeovil continued to push forward, with Barry again coming close from a set-piece 25 yards from goal.
Deep into injury time the Liverpudlian midfielder had another bite at the cherry but was still unable to open the scoring.
A headed flick from Owusu allowed Barry to home in on goal, only for the pressure of a defender to force him to make one touch too many.
Moments later a clever infield run from Lee Peltier preceded a cutting through ball to Walker.
The Charlton Athletic loanee should have made the chance count but was denied by the legs of Royce.
The Glovers had by far the best and only chances of the first half and should have been ahead going into the break.
A lack of attacking ideas evident in recent weeks had disappeared, with Yeovil methodical and confident across the pitch, except in the final third where the finishing touch was eluding them.
HALF TIME- Yeovil Town 0 Gillingham 0
Gillingham took little time to announce their attacking intent after the restart, testing Steve Mildenhall for the first.
Aaron Brown's initial shot was blocked by Skiverton, before Yeovil's consistent shot stopper palmed the ball around the post following a snap shot from Chris Dickson.
Moments later Dickson was to come close again, shamefully nodding wide a cross from Clohessy that had looped over the head of the Yeovil captain.
The Glovers took ten minutes to find their stride again after the break, continuing their assault on the Gillingham goal from where they left off.
Shortly after the hour mark Way nearly made a dream return to Huish Park. Pouncing on a loose ball, the diminutive midfielder unleashed a thunderbolt that Royce did well to tip over.
Owusu was the first to meet the resulting corner, heading firmly towards goal only to see Royce claw the ball from almost behind him to deny the goal.
Five minutes the Glovers finally took a long-overdue lead. The impressive Walker found his marker wanting as he jinked into the box to cross from the right.
Despite desperate dives from the Gillingham defence they were powerless as Owusu stole in around the back to slot home from close range.
After 71 minutes Walker moved inside to run at the opposition, accelerating past two before shooting inches over from 20 yards.
Yeovil's joy was short-lived when Gillingham found the net after a defensive mix-up. With the ball bouncing around in the box and the ball spinning off a Glovers' defender as well as Mildenhall, Dickson was the first to react to score.
Having dominated a game for 80 minutes Yeovil now found themselves defending a game that they should have already killed off against a team that had taken only one point away from home.
Gillingham were attacking with determination while the Glovers appeared indecisive and flat as they tried to engineer another opening.
Three minutes from time Walker found himself at the centre of the action yet again to score his first goal for the club and restore Yeovil's advantage.
Quick link-up play between the forward and substitute Justin Cochrane proved too much to handle for the Gills defence and Walker fired accurately past a despairing Royce diving to his right.
The final whistle was met with a roar around Huish Park as the Glovers' fans finally had a victory to cheer.
Yeovil had fought hard for the three points and deserved the win under the Sky Sports cameras.
Darren Way's performance belied someone who had barely kicked a ball since leaving the club, with his hunger and enthusiasm spreading among his teammates.
Walker was a thorn in Gillingham's side throughout the 90 minutes, impressing against one of the weakest defences in the league.
The Glovers did well to adapt to wet conditions and will take confidence as they get closer to the busy Christmas schedule.
FULL TIME Yeovil Town 2 Gillingham 1
Chris Sweet
