John Hills chose Boxing Day to open his home goalscoring account as his penalty proved to be the match winner against Watford.
The former Blackpool defender signed in the summer as a replacement for Roland Edge rifled home a perfect penalty, after Kevin James had fallen in the box under a challenge from Neal Ardley.
It was only his second goal for the club, but he gave Watford youngster Lenny Pidgeley no chance from 12 yards, as the ball rocketed into the roof of the net.
Hills was booked as early as the ninth minute after bringing down winger Paul Devlin on the touch line. Referee Iain Williamson set the trend on an inconsistent afternoon with the whistle with the match littered by stoppages and containing a total of more than 43 free-kicks.
These two sides have had close games in the past but Ray Lewington saw his team miss two good chances, which would have put them two up inside the first half-hour.
Heidar Helguson headed against the post, and then Danny Webber, preferred to the rested Scot Fitzgerald, fired into the side netting.
Gillingham started the game well with three efforts on goal in the first five minutes, which gave Pidgeley plenty to do.
However the game was never a great spectacle due to horrible conditions, with the swirling wind making life difficult for both teams.
Watford, played against the elements in the first half and would have been pleased to have got in at half time at 0-0.
However the deadlock was broken within 11 minutes of the restart.
Ardley lost out to hard working Gills striker Mamady Sidibe on the touchline and the Gills worked the ball into the Watford area, where James went down.
Hills, a dead ball specialist, made no mistake but Pidgeley refused to buckle under increased pressure.
The young keeper who misses out against Cardiff on Sunday did well to keep out efforts by substitute Danny Spiller and Andy Hessenthaler late on.
Meanwhile, at the other end new Gills keeper Nico Vaesen kept a clean sheet, having not trained with his team-mates after signing on loan from Birmingham on Christmas Eve.