Ebbsfleet United kept a clean sheet against one of the division’s leading scorers to earn a first point at home against Aldershot Town in a much-improved display where both sides had chances to take all three points.

Under Josh Wright who watched from the dugout, the Fleet made four changes in welcoming Mustapha Olagunju back to the Kuflink and he was joined in the starting lineup by Franklin Domi, Jim Kellermann and Luke O’Neill.

A lively opening stage saw chances at both ends of the pitch. Early on, a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Marcus Dewhurst fell for Rakish Bingham but he was halted due to handling the ball in the process. Dejan Tetek was up first to post a shot for the visitors with his effort from the edge of the box that went just wide of the mark. 

Bingham was proving effective when facing goal and he fired another shot on goal which Dewhurst steered clear; Toby Edser arrived for the rebound but the effort was just off target. Play switched back to the other end and Hady Ghandour cut a ball back to Olly Scott who was denied by Mark Cousins.

Both sides had spells on top and when Chapman was fouled in a good position, Kellermann stepped up to draw an acrobatic save from Dewhurst once again as he pushed it clear. The resulting corner picked out O’Neill at the far post but his headed effort was just off target. 

Aldershot were back on the attack when Josh Barrett fired an effort across goal destined for the inside of the far post but Cousins denied him with an excellent leap across his six-yard box to push the ball away from danger.

The closest chance for the Fleet came five minutes before half-time when Bingham linked up with Dominic Poleon and he raced through on goal. It was a darting run through the middle but he couldn’t keep his shot on target. Aldershot were quick to break and Barrett somehow ended the next attack by firing over the Fleet bar.

Fleet produced plenty of effort and fight in that first-half and the second was much the same. Poleon headed a ball into the path of Kellermann but that effort was cleared off the line. Poleon then felt he should have had a penalty when he was pulled back by Christian Mahoma but nothing came of that as afar as the referee was concerned.

There were more spells of end to end football and the visitors’ Hady Ghandour drilled a shot towards goal but Cousins was agile enough to see that off. 

Franklin Domi ventured further forwards as the half wore on and he had a chance from distance which was just off target. A huge opportunity came when a mix-up in the Shots defence allowed Kellermann to latch on to the ball. A number of Fleet players arrived in the area to support him and get their own shots away but none of those connected just enough to find the target.

The Fleet continued to find chances and Will Randall and Lewis Page saw efforts deflected while Theo Widdrington somehow missed the target at the other end as the visitors pushed for their own winner.

EUFC: Cousins, O’Neill (Cordner 90), Page, Olagunju, Dallison, Domi (Tanner 81), Kellermann (Fonguck 74), Edser, Chapman, Bingham (Randall 76), Poleon.

Subs: Cundle, Tanga, Berry

ATFC: Dewhurst, Byrd, Harfield, Magohma, Widdrington, Hargrieves, Barrett (Barham 63), Scott, Akpan, Ghandour (Corbett 86), Tetek (Henry 63).

Subs: R Jones, A Jones, Menayese, Van Strappershoef

Attendance: 1,175

Pictures supplied by Ed Miller – Ebbsfleet United.