Daryl McMahon thought his Ebbsfleet side produced better this afternoon than they’d given in the previous two outings but he was frustrated that things didn’t quite fall Fleet’s way.
“It was a better performance than we’ve had in the last two for sure,” he told BBC Radio Kent’s Charles Webster. “Some good performances but not the result we wanted and I felt with 10 minutes to go before the sending-off we were probably the team in the ascendancy and it’s knocked us back a little bit. It’s a point, it’s something to build on because I think the last two games haven’t given us anything to build on. Today has, it’s given us a performance.”
Conceding early was again Fleet’s undoing but McMahon saw his men force their way back into the game, something they failed to do against Sutton and Gateshead.
“For 10 minutes it probably shook us,” said the manager. “After that we took control again. Terrific running from Corey and great finish from Cheeky as well because the ball was bouncing up and it’s hard to keep them down sometimes, but he had a good connection and it was a good finish. We’ve picked a very attacking team again today like we have been all the time and I’ve got total faith in them. It’s a massive boost for Cheek, it always is for a striker getting your first goal, I think it’s crucial and he had a really good game and he was a handful for them all afternoon. The little touches with his head to flick inside to Whitely, I thought they worked well together.”
Cheek was one of five changes for the Fleet and McMahon was pleased with the newcomers, though disappointed that Kenny Clark’s sending-off will force him into a change for Tuesday night v Bromley.
“Some people played very well today,” he said. “Bags did really well but he went off with cramp, Dave did well, Cheeky got his goal and Powelly had a decent game. [The sending-off] was very disappointing because I feel we had something to build on and now you’ve got to do something else again on Tuesday when I probably would have made no changes with the way the game went but we’ve got to make one now.”
Winfield’s return was a suprise given the prognosis midweek but the skipper came through the end-of-week training and took his place. “It was good to have Dave back,” McMahon said. “Dave and Clarky back for the first time together this season, though that’s broken up now because of the red card. Dave seems OK, 10 minutes after the game, so we’ll see how he is and go from there.”
The sending-off rather killed any thoughts of a late Fleet rally but the manager was pleased with their application after going down to 10 men.
“I still thought we were brave,” he said. “Shields had a shot that went wide, we probably could have had a penalty on Winfield when their lad took his shirt off but them things aren’t falling for us at the moment but we’ve got to keep working hard. We tried to [press on], we had chances after [the equaliser] again but as it is at the minute, it wasn’t to be and we look to Tuesday now.
Listen to the interview below.
