22nd April 2008

Ebbsfleet 1-3 Exeter City 

F.A Cup Qualifier

Attendance: 1219

Travelling up to Ebbsfleet for the 4th qualifying round of the F.A Cup we were in no-mans land, not yet officially 'in' the cup, but equally not yet 'out' of it. The journey was one to forget due to a combination of traffic, accidents and the M25. However, we were entertained by a couple of events. The first was a car being reversed down the hardshoulder after the driver missed a turnoff.

Unfortunately for them, they had missed the turn off by quite a way, and the reversing that followed was an episode of Casualty waiting to happen! The second was a performance by a model aeroplane in a nearby field. After a while the 'pilot' got slightly overconfident and sent the plane into a speedy dive. We expected that it would make a spectacular turn at the last minute and ascend once more. We can only assume that the pilot got distracted by something because the plane was never seen again.

After a brief visit to 'the pub on the corner' we made our way to the ground. We arrived at the away end at the same time as the team bus, which made one member of our group very happy. It is well known to many that a certain Mr Cozic is Marges favourite player. Despite somewhat inexplicably trying to hide from him as he got off the bus, he found her and they shared 'a moment'! Inside Stonebridge Road, we were all surprised to see that Ebbsfleet had finally decided to install some female toilets. That was the only major development of the ground, which never seems to change.

Just 11 minutes into the game City were one-nil down but there was to be no booing or abuse from the City faithful watching the Ebbsfleet celebrations in front of them. This support was repaid just nine minutes later when Mackie equalised, putting City back in the game. Later in the first half Basham won a penalty which was taken by Mackie, but saved by Cronin. Although worrying at the time, it proved not to be costly as the first ten minutes of the second half sent us flying into the first round proper! After only five minutes of the second half Matt Taylor scored a header, from a Dean Moxey free-kick, sparking jubilant scenes amongst the supporters and players. Just four minutes later we scored again to cement our place in the first round draw. The goal was a sublime header by City fans favourite Peter Hawkins, one of the best own-goals I've ever seen! That was the last goal of the game, but not the last major incident. Later Sacha Opinel, sporting hair that needs to be seen to be believed, floored Rico in the penalty area in front of both the referee and linesman. It should have come as a surprise that Sacha wasn't booked and City weren't given a penalty, but in a league where Alex Jeannin once got sent off for biting his own face, dodgy refereeing decisions have come to be expected. City played out the rest of the game comfortably and the jubilant scenes at the end marked a welcome contrast from the previous away game at Northwich. Stuck in traffic next to Bluewater the bus was filled with phones ringing as reports of the draw filtered through. News of the Salisbury or Stevanage 1st round tie did nothing to quell the somewhat forward discussions of who we were going to play in the 3rd Round. My money was on Newcastle, it's about time they played at the real St James Park!

Match Report from Ebbsfleet Archive 

https://ebbsfleetunited.co.uk/example-pages-and-menu-links-ii-176/

Luke Moore’s opening goal isn’t enough as Fleet fall at the first hurdle.

EBBSFLEET UNITED 1-3 EXETER CITY

For the fourth time in four years the Fleet exited the FA Cup at the first opportunity as they let slip an early lead, Exeter coming back to win 3-1 after a controlled and industrious second-half performance. However, it looked as if things might be going the home side’s way when Luke Moore notched the Fleet’s first goal in the competition for three seasons, latching on to Stacy Long’s exquisite 11th minute through ball and calmly rounding Paul Jones to score from an angle.

Fleet had a period in the ascendancy either side of that goal, with Exeter’s only real chance coming inside the first two minutes when Lance Cronin was forced to give away a corner from Bertrand Cozic’s low shot. But that was as good as it got from the Fleet and eight minutes after Moore’s goal, the visitors clawed their way back into the game. Exeter were already finding width down the channels, where Wayne Carlisle was giving Sacha Opinel a few headaches, but it was the opposite wing where they made the breakthrough, Matthew Gill eluding Mark Ricketts and finding time to send in a cross that caused all sorts of confusion in the Fleet box and, as Lance Cronin failed to grasp the loose ball, Jon Mackie pounced to thrash the ball into the back of the net.

The Fleet had an opportunity for a second with their own goalmouth scramble, Purcell sending in a cross that Long, Raphael Nade and Chris McPhee all had stabs at, but the commanding Rob Edwards was on hand to clear.

It almost got worse for the Fleet on 31 minutes when referee Mike Bull intervened in an innocent-looking tussle between Peter Hawkins, Warren Goodhind and Steve Basham on the edge of the box and blew for a penalty, much to the amazement of at least the home support in the ground. Fortunately, Mackie’s resulting penalty was weak and low to Cronin’s left, and the Fleet keeper gathered it well.

The incident certainly woke the fans up as the noise level rose – most of it in Mr Bull’s direction for the official had been giving a few bizarre decisions as it was up until the penalty – but any hopes that it would have an effect on the pitch were dispelled as the Grecians finished the half on top, their corner count growing with every attack.

Indeed it was Exeter who emerged the more positive and wrapped up the tie with two set-piece goals that found the Fleet defence wanting. On 48 minutes, referee Bull awarded a free-kick down the Exeter right and Moxey launched a long kick that eluded everybody in a red shirt and sat up conveniently for Matt Taylor to glance past a stranded Cronin. If that wasn’t bad enough, Exeter repeated the trick four minutes later. Another Moxey free-kick – and another one greeted by the Fleet fans with growls of disbelief as Hawkins’ challenge appeared to be 50/50 – was sent in from the right and a Fleet defender this time managed to get a head to it: alas Hawkins’ powerful effort flew in the wrong direction and straight past Cronin.

With almost 40 minutes for the Fleet to get involved, hope hadn’t evaporated but Exeter refused to sit back and defend, continuing to pressure the home defence with set pieces. On 57 minutes, one such corner saw Opinel tangling with Basham and a mini argument ensued, but neither the referee nor linesman saw any incident – a theme that ran throughout the afternoon – and no cards were produced.

Yet as time ticked on, Fleet failed to produce anything that could have been termed a shot on target with Liam Daish resorting to bringing on midfielders Liam Coleman and Lee Maskell in a bid to change things round, Moore moving up front in a 3-4-3 formation. His opposite number had the luxury of sending on two forwards in the shape of Adam Stansfield and Richard Logan, the latter almost making it four with a near-post header on 80 minutes that should really have hit the target. The Fleet offered little in reply and the second half petered out with little resemblance to the cup tie it was supposed to be, Exeter controlling the game without getting out of second gear, but in truth the Fleet barely gave them a reason to do so.

TEAM: Cronin, Ricketts (Liam Coleman 61), Opinel, Goodhind, Hawkins, McPhee, Barrett (Maskell 79), Long, Moore, Nade, Purcell (Luke Coleman 88). Subs not used: Sam Mott, James Smith.