Ebbsfleet made easy work of Havant & Waterlooville as they qualified for the next round of the FA cup with a 7-0 victory at Stonebridge road.

Ebbsfleet were already two goals to the good with goals from Anthony Cook and Darrren McQueen before Lee Molyneaux was sent off for the visitors. A penalty for Danny Kedwell and four second half goals from Mark Phillips,  Darren Mcqueen,Bradley Bubb and Jack Powell made this a emphatic  day for the Fleet.

Ebbsfleet United were back in FA cup action as they hosted Havant & Waterlooville at Stonebridge Road, looking to progress to the 4^th qualifying round for the first time since 2013. Fleet made two changes from the 3-1 win against St Albans with  Jack Connors and Dave Winfield coming in for Kenny Clark and Sean Shields who both picked up knocks in last weeks game.

The visitors had retained the majority of the side that was surprisingly relegated from Vanarama South last season and are riding high in the Ryman Premier league, currently placed in 2^nd position, so the visitors were confident of pulling off a FA cup shock.

After a very quiet start to the game, the visitors were the first to threaten the goal in the 19^th minute. A cross from the right was headed into the path of Andreas Robinson at the back post, but his header was clawed over the bar by Nathan Ashmore. From the resulting corner, Ebbsfleet broke away and took the lead. Darren McQueen fed Anthony Cook charging down the left and the right wing back expertly dispatched a shot past Ryan Young before the Havant defence could get anywhere near him.

8 minutes later and Ebbsfleet should really have doubled their lead. Sam Deering fed McQueen through on goal but the forward’s toe poke was foiled by Young in the visitors goal and eventually bundled behind for a corner before Kedwell could get onto the loose ball.

The visitors gave Ebbsfleet a scare on 33 minutes, Kedwell had half cleared a free kick to George Barker on the edge of the area and the left winger rippled the roof of the net as he fired just over the bar. Ebbsfleet doubled their lead in the 37^th minute and it was route one football at its finest. Ashmore kick upfield was flicked on by Kedwell to McQueen who muscled the ball of of Ryan Woodford on the byline before taking it round the keeper and  dispatching past the defender on the line to make the scoreline comfortable.

Ebbsfleet finished the tie by half time by scoring a third and the visitors being reduced to 10 men. Lewis by bundled to the ground in the area from a Jack Powell corner by Lee Molyneaux, with the referee deeming the challenge to be worthy of a straight red card. Kedwell stepped up and smashed the penalty past Young to surely give the fleet an unassailable lead. Kedwell and Rory Williams squared up to each other as we entered stoppage time after Williams poor challenge on Cook, with the referee deciding that a yellow card was warranted for both players.

Things were going for bad to worse for the visitors as manager Lee Bradbury found himself sent to the stands for the second half for something he said during the half time interval. Space between defence and midfield was easy to find for the home side as Deering ran through before squaring for Powell to shoot over from 8 yards as Fleet made the extra man obvious. In the 52^nd minute, Ebbsfleet made it 4. Cook’s trickery down the right forced a corner which Jack Powell expertly delivered for Mark Phillips to head home at the near post. All of the side wanted to get in on the act with Lewis forcing a great save from 35 yards and Deering smashing the bar from a short corner routine.

Ebbsfleet made it 5-0 on 68 minutes and Darren McQueen scored his second of the game. Kissock sent powell racing down the left. Powell picked out McQueen at the front post, the forward took a touch and fired in left footed at the near post to make the scoreline emphatic again in the fa cup.

Ebbsfleet beat their last round goal tally with a 6^th in the 89^th minute. Jack Powell put Bradley Bubb through in down the inside right and the sub smashed home into the roof of the net. Fleet weren’t content with 6 and added another in the 90^th minute with Bubb repaying the favour, squaring for Jack Powell to hold off a defender and fire into the top corner to make it SEVEN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ebbsfleet:  Ashmore, Cook, Connors, Phillips, Winfield, McCoy, Lewis ( Kissock 62), Deering, Kedwell ( C), ( Sheringham 56) McQueen ( Bubb 70), Powell

 

Subs not used: Miles, Greenidge, Boulding, Miller-Neave

Yellow cards: Kedwell 45, Kissock 72

 

Havant: Young, Strugnell, Williams, Robinson ( Stock 67), Woodford, Molyneaux, Swallow, Lewis, Prior, Paterson ( Rutherford 62), Barker ( Harris 43)

 

Subs not used: Hayter, Fogden, Tarbuck,

 Yellow cards: Williams 45 , Strugnell 72

Red card:  Molyneaux 41

Referee: Mr Ian Rathbone

 

Attendance: 742