Sean Shields came off the bench to score a brace that earned a victory for Ebbsfleet United against F.C Halifax Town, a result that delighted manager Daryl McMahon.
“Three clean sheets in a row is the key to winning matches.” said McMahon. “We created a number of good opportunities and defended ever so well against a good side. You can’t lose sight of the fact that if Halifax did win today they would probably have gone top of the table. They’re on a good run and we had to perform well, which I thought we did today.”
When the teams went in level at half time, there was little between the two teams. Nathan Ashmore made a great early save for the Fleet before Sam Johnson made a flying stop to keep out Darren McQueen. Matt Kosylo hit the post for the Shaymen before Myles Weston came close for the Fleet just before the break.
Two minutes into the second half, the hosts went ahead and McMahon commented “I thought we started off the second half very well and we managed the game, the last fifteen minutes, really, really well.
“We didn’t just shut the door, we countered really well as well. If anyone was going to score it was probably going to be us again. I thought Couls (Luke Coulson), Westy (Miles Weston), Kedders (Danny Kedwell) held the ball up and released the quick runners inside.
“It’s something to build on.” he continued “We’ve got the Solihull game on Tuesday which is a difficult place to go, a difficult pitch. All the games, they’re all tough, they’re all hard and we’ll have to be at our best again to get a result.”
Two goal scorer, Shields, came on as a 40th minute substitute for Andy Drury and McMahon wants this to be the springboard for further success. “Two good finishes.” he said. “We want more goals from him. He’s got to build on that performance. He can play at this level, he can play higher. He’s got the ability but now mentally and physically, he’s got to take that performance on and become a big player because he can.”
Drury and McQueen both went off injured but McMahon expects them to be fit for Tuesday’s game at Solihull Moors. He said “He’s just got a tight calf, Juksie (Drury), so it was precautionary really, and we’ll see how it settles down in the next day or two. Hopefully, he should be back in.”. A for McQueen, he said “His knee was a bit sore but we’ll see.”
There was one flashpoint when Halifax won a free kick and Ashmore held on to the ball. The Shaymen’s captain, Matty Brown, was a little too aggressive when trying to take it from his arms and a minor fracas started. McMahon was surprised on the action taken by referee David Rock. “He booked Ashmore for time wasting. He didn’t book their player for rugby tacking him which was odd.”
Consecutive victories suggest that the team is finally starting to convert the draws they had been recording, nine so far this season, into wins. “In those draws, we were making little errors.”said McMahon. “We were always creating chances. We’re finally putting in the performances and getting the points they deserve.”
Images courtesy of Dave Budden