Ebbsfleet United 3-0 Boreham Wood - wouldn‘t it be nice to dream about the third round - Daish

Saturday 23rd October 2010

EBBSFLEET UNITED 3-0 BOREHAM WOOD
FA Cup (Sponsored by E.ON) Fourth Qualifying Round
Saturday 23rd October 2010
Paul Parkinson reports from Stonebridge Road

EBBSFLEET UNITED can start dreaming about a the FA Cup First Round Proper draw tomorrow lunchtime following a comfortable 3-0 win over Boreham Wood at Stonebridge Road this afternoon.

For the second week running against the Fleet, Boreham Wood‘s Leon McKenzie saw red and from that moment on it was a case of when, not if, the goals would come.

Jubilant manager, Liam Daish summed the day up by telling www.kentishfootball.co.uk: “I think we came out really quick, had a great tempo to our play and maintained that all the way through; some good football and individual performances, and a good win in the FA Cup.

“When we won the ball, we were straight at them and could maybe have come out 4 or 5 goals better.””

A frantic opening half saw numerous goal chances and cards as both sides tried to assert some control on proceedings, but Boreham Wood could never find a way to control the outstanding Derek Duncan, whose work rate and delivery from the left wing was always a threat.

McKenzie, central to both good and bad moments in the half, caused early problems for the Fleet defence, firing a shot across Preston Edwards‘ goal in the first 10 minutes, then being denied by a Clint Easton tackle as he looked to shoot.

After a Calum Willock header from a Duncan cross woke the crowd up, McKenzie aimed a late kick at a prone Easton, which Mr Neil chose to ignore as Fleet were breaking again.

This time Duncan‘s cross found Ricky Shakes at the back post, but Shakes‘ powerful header crashed back of the face of the bar.

The course of the game changed on 23 minutes, when this time Mr Neil saw McKenzie‘s hack at Craig Stone, after the two players had fallen to the ground from a header, and immediately brandished a red card before other players could take matters into their own hands.

Daish, when asked about McKenzie‘s consecutive dismissals against Ebbsfleet, said: “If that had been one of my players, getting sent off two games in a row, I‘d say that was totally irresponsible.

“I was pleased our lads kept their discipline and conducted themselves really well. We‘re not getting booked for silly things, elbows, bad tackles, etc, we do things right.””

With a man advantage, Ebbsfleet quickly opened the scoring when Paul Lorraine drove home on 27 minutes after a delightful cross from Ashley Carew was laid back to the skipper by Willcock.

The advantage could have been increased within minutes as Michael West twice went close; first, shovelling the ball wide from another Duncan cross, and then firing Tom Phipp‘s cross into the ground and seeing the ball loop over the bar.

Edwards had to be alert to deny the ever-dangerous Elliott Godfrey, who had a running battle with his former AFC Wimbledon team-mate, Lorraine, all afternoon, but was later relieved to see Mario Noto‘s 30-yard free-kick strike the stanchion behind his goal rather than the net.

Shakes was denied by Wood keeper Ashlee Jones‘ point blank block with his legs, but finally got his name on the scoresheet in first half stoppage time.

A delightful through ball from Easton saw the visitors‘ defence hesitate, but Shakes drove into the area before calmly slotting the ball into the bottom left corner past Jones.

After such a frenetic half, the second period couldn‘t live up to expectations.

Wild efforts from Ebbsfleet‘s Craig Stone and Wood‘s Lee Kersey were the only moments of excitement on the pitch until Willock made the game safe on 62 minutes.

Shakes flicked a long ball on and Willock beat Daniel Braithwaite to the ball, turned into the area and drove a low shot beyond Jones‘ despairing dive.

Jones had to be alert to turn a long range effort from substitute Gareth Williams over, before nearly being caught out by another sub, Joe Howe‘s swirling cross.

Despite the best efforts of Godfrey and Boreham Wood‘s giant replacement, Fola Onibuje, neither could make any further impact on the game, as both were well marshalled by Easton and Lorraine.

Speaking after the game Daish commented: “We‘ve seen before it can be difficult when they‘re down to 10 men, but we moved the ball very quickly today. Our passing was sharp, the movement good and we got the first goal, then a second.

“In the second half, we wanted to get a third to make our lives easier and we did. We really enjoyed the hard work today and that‘s key. If you can get players out there who really want to get involved and do the right thing, that‘s a great strength.”

When asked about Boreham Wood‘s protests at Ebbsfleet‘s first goal, Daish said: “The referee was standing in the box and doesn‘t see anything, but it always looked like it was going to come; Ricky’s hit the bar with a header and we just needed someone to get a toe on the driven cross. It was just a case of how it would come.”

But finally looking ahead to tomorrow‘s FA Cup draw, Daish joked: “There‘s no control over who we get in the draw, but no disrespect to them, hopefully not Stevenage or Oxford; I‘ve been there too many times over the years. I‘d like to try somewhere else.

“Hopefully we‘ll either get a big League 1 or 2 side or if not, why not a home draw and wouldn‘t it be nice to dream about still being in the competition at the third round.”

Ebbsfleet United: Preston Edwards, Craig Stone, Derek Duncan, Ashley Carew, Clint Easton, Paul Lorraine, Michael West (Gareth Williams 59), Ram Marwa (Dean Pooley 85), Calum Willock, Ricky Shakes, Tom Phipp (Joe Howe 65).

Subs: Chris Henry, Joe Hagan, Aidan Sherlock.

Goals: Paul Lorraine 27, Ricky Shakes 45, Calum Willock 62.

Booked: Michael West 21, Tom Phipp 47.

Boreham Wood: Ashlee Jones, Luke Garrard, Daniel Braithwaite, Ryan Moran, Lee Kersey, Mario Noto, Justin Cochrane, Elliott Godfrey, Leon McKenzie, David King (Greg Morgan 54), Joe Benjamin (Fola Onibuje 69).

Subs: Charlie Hunter, Ryan Kirby, Daniel Lewis.

Booked: Ryan Moran 9, Justin Cochrane 73, Luke Garrard 89.

Sent Off: Leon McKenzie 23.

Attendance: 1,005

Referee: Mr Alex Neil (Sutton, Surrey)

Assistants: Mr Tim Hatt (Redhill, Surrey) & Mr Simon Griffiths (Horsham, West Sussex)

Fourth Official: Mr Shaun Farrer (Redhill, Surrey)