Ebbsfleet United 3-2 Chester - We're not many rounds away from Wembley now, says Liam Daish

EBBSFLEET UNITED 3-2 CHESTER
The FA Carlsberg Trophy Second Round
Saturday 14^th January 2012
Paul Parkinson reports from Stonebridge Road

EBBSFLEET UNITED progressed into the last sixteen of The FA Carlsberg Trophy with a 3-2 win over Evo-Stick Northern Premier League leaders Chester.


Goals from leading scorer Callum Willock, Yado Mambo, who has just extended his loan deal from Charlton Athletic, and Ricky Shakes clinched the victory.

But at times Chester, two divisions below their hosts in the pyramid, were the better side and head back north disappointed not to get more from the game.

Fleet boss, Liam Daish, was understandably pleased with the result, saying, “I wouldn’t underestimate the result against a side that have a habit of winning games. It doesn’t matter who you play, forget about the league, they are a side in the ascendancy, on the up, a phoenix team that hit rock bottom and are on their way back, but they are winning games week-in, week-out, have got momentum. It was a tough test for us and I thought the lads were fantastic.

“They’ve got a number of ex-league, ex-Blue Square Premier and Conference North players and I always knew it was going to be tough.

“But I thought we well deserved it. We got stronger as the game went on, made a change early as we were a bit off the pace, and from then on it was a typical cup tie.

“It was a great game for people to watch and our play was really good in spells. They got back in with a poor goal, which gave them hope, and we probably could have scored more goals, but didn’t take our chances. When you do that, don’t take your chances, anything can happen. Against a good team, they’ve always got the chance of pulling one back.”

“They’ve got good players, physical players, who are going to have a go at it, and they did. But we stood up to them and I can’t fault the players; I thought they were absolutely magnificent. The club really needed that, the gate, and fair play to the players, you can’t ask any more of them.””

Although 34 places below Ebbsfleet, Chester showed in the opening 25 minutes why they have built a strong reputation over the past 18 months since the new club was born; a reputation for flowing, passing, attacking football that has already seen one promotion and taken them to the top of the Evo-Stick Premier.

Early on, a flowing move involving Matt McNeil, Jamie Rainford, Christian Smith, Antoni Sarcevic and Liam Brownhill saw the ball transferred from one wing to the other before Brownhill drove a cross across the face of goal, to which none of the Chester players could react quickly enough.

Nathaniel Pinney, another loanee who has just extended his deal (from Crystal Palace), tested John Danby, Chester’s only remaining link to their former incarnation, Chester City, with a stinging shot that the keeper parried into the air, before claiming the ball at the second attempt.

Chester’s first corner, an in-swinging effort from the right wing, saw the giant McNeil flick on a header, that skipper George Horan kneed goalward, where Craig Stone, positioned on the post, headed clear.

On the quarter hour mark, quick distribution by Danby saw Matt McGinn release Jamie Rainford on the left wing. Rainford cut inside Stone, across the front of the area, but with supporting players, pulled his shot wide of the near post.

Six minutes later, Savccevic made a similar run from the right wing, cutting across the front of the area before unleashing a left foot shot that Preston Edwards did well to save full-length to his left, but gathered easily with no-one following up.

Then on 25 minutes, Jerome Wright tested Edwards’ handling with a 25-yard curling strike that bounced awkwardly in front of the Ebbsfleet stopper.

Against the run of play, Ebbsfleet took the lead in the 26th minute as Willock stooped to power a header from West’s left-wing corner into the ground and Danby could only palm the ball into the top corner.

On the half-hour, West beat the visitors’ offside trap to latch onto Tom Phipp’s flick, but having driven into the area, West cut across his shot and the ball screwed wide of the left post.

In reply, Edwards had to be alert to claim another McNeil flick before the ball could reach Horan, then the keeper pulled off a good save to deny Rainford, following an incisive build-up.

As the half drew to a close, Danby made two good saves; first from West, a rasping 30 yard drive, then from Pinney, who cut past Taylor but put a left-foot effort straight at the keeper.

Early in the second half, substitute Ricky Shakes flicked a ball over the Chester back four, where Willock held off Taylor and fired goalwards on the turn, but Danby was alert to parry the ball away.

This was the start of Ebbsfleet’s best period in the match with Pinney firing a shot that skimmed the bar and Mambo firing over from 10 yards, after a mix-up in the Chester defence.

But Mambo’s second goal for Ebbsfleet came on 55 minutes, as he latched onto a pinpoint West free kick to steer a header back across goal, past Danby, to double the home side’s lead.

Shakes and West both came close to increasing the lead in the following minutes, both firing shots at Danby, before Chester fired a warning shot when Edwards’ punch clear was met by Levi Mackin’s header, which crashed back off the face of the bar.

The visitors got back into the game in the 61st minute when the diving McNeil, who steered his header into the bottom right corner, met Alex Brown’s curling free kick.

But it looked as though Ebbsfleet - the last team to beat the old Chester City (2-1 at the Deva Stadium) in 2010 - had weathered the storm three minutes later as they extended their lead to 3-1.

Another West long-range effort swerved away from Danby at the last moment, meaning that the keeper could only parry the ball out in front of him. Pinney reacted quickest and after his shot deflected off Danby and was heading goalward, Shakes popped up to ram the ball in.

Ebbsfleet’s safety net lasted only 8 minutes as the three Chester replacements, Michael Welch, Brown and Ian Howard combined to float a cross in from the left, and Rainford drilled a low shot in that deflected off Paul Lorraine’s left leg and past the helpless Edwards.

Both Willock, with a looping header that dropped wide, and Pinney, who somehow fired over from 10 yards with the goal at his mercy had chances to seal the game, but Chester wouldn’t give the tie up.

Horan’s flick from a long free kick fell to Welch, who could only stab the ball at Edwards from 12 yards out, then Rainford couldn’t get his effort on target having weaved across the Ebbsfleet defence.

Daish was full of praise for the beaten, but not bowed visitors, adding, “The Chester fans really made themselves heard, and I want to wish them all the best going forward. They’ve had a rough ride of late, dropping out of the league, going into admin, but they’re on the march, coming back and I wish them all the best.

“I hope they go on to win their league and get back to where they should rightfully be.”

Daish, who guided Ebbsfleet United to FA Carlsberg Trophy glory in 2008, added, “We said early on that if we could cross these early rounds then things would start to get interesting. There are a few Conference sides that were knocked out in the last round, so you’re not many rounds away now.

“We’ve had Truro away, which is never going to be an easy game, Chester at home, a team on the ascendancy with momentum, so I just hope we get a home draw.”

Ebbsfleet United:  Preston Edwards, Craig Stone, Joe Howe, Paul Lorraine, Yado Mambo, Neil Barrett (Ricky Shakes 38), Ram Marwa, Nathaniel Pinney, Tom Phipp, Michael West, Callum Willock.
Subs: John Herd, Ian Simpemba, Lanre Azeez, Jamie Darvill

Goals: Callum Willock 26, Yado Mambo 55, Ricky Shakes 64

Chester:  John Danby, Liam Brownhill, Matt McGinn (Alex Brown 46), George Horan, Michael Taylor, Christian Smith, Jerome Wright (Ian Howard 48), Jamie Rainford, Matt McNeil, Antoni Sarcevic (Michael Wilde 67), Levi Mackin.
Subs: Chris Simm, Adam Judge

Goals: Matt McNeil 61, Paul Lorraine (og) 72

Booked: Christian Smith 69

Attendance: 1,387
Referee: Mr Tim Robinson (Bognor Regis, West Sussex)
Assistants: Mr Adrian Quelch (Thatcham, Berkshire) and Mr Ashvin Degnarain (Islington, London N5)
Fourth Official: Mr George Sprague (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire)