Jamie Day’s reign as Ebbsfleet United manager got off to an underwhelming start as his side suffered a 1-0 loss at home to Weston-super-Mare on a chilly Saturday afternoon at Stonebridge Road.
This was Day’s first game in charge after leaving Welling to take over at The Fleet, but he would have been concerned at his side’s disjointed performance that saw them slip to defeat through Ollie Watkins’ second-half strike.
Day handed a debut to on-loan Dagenham winger Sean Shields but, aside from that, there were not many surprises in the side.
The Fleet made the better start to the match, yet did not carve out many meaningful chances, with Shields rolling an effort wide and a number of shots being blocked.
Shields then produced a brilliant reverse pass through to Daryl McMahon, but Weston goalkeeper Luke Purnell smothered the ball at the midfielder’s feet.
Purnell then spilled a 20-yard curling free-kick from McMahon but no one was on hand to convert the ball.
Weston’s best chance of the half came when Joe McClennan cut inside from the wing and fired a low reverse shot that was well-saved by Hall who was nearly wrong-footed.
The final chance of the half should have resulted in a goal when Billy Bricknell’s pull back across goal found Godden in plenty of space but he failed to make proper contact on the ball and his shot went wide.
The second half was a dull affair that had very little in the way of goalmouth action.
The Fleet’s best chance came on 55 minutes, when Shields’ low ball into the box found Bricknell sliding in, but his close range shot was well kept out by Purnell.
The winner came on 71 minutes, when The Fleet defence could not clear the ball and it fell to Watkins, who produced a good finish into the bottom corner from 18 yards.
After the goal, Weston packed men behind the ball and the expected Fleet rally never came, with the best chance falling to substitute Brendan Kiernan, whose close range flick-on from a Bricknell header was well-saved by Purnell.
Ebbsfleet Team: Hall, Sessegnon, Howe, McMahon, Acheampong, Clark, Shields, Rance (Corcoran 75), Godden, Bricknell, Cook (Kiernan 75) Subs not used: Hughes, Huke, Johnson
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