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Thamesmead Town 1 Ebbsfleet United 5

Dean Rance takes on the Thamesmead midfield (Pic: Paul Jarvis)
Dean Rance takes on the Thamesmead midfield (Pic: Paul Jarvis)

New signings Stacy Long and Ben May scored two goals each as Ebbsfleet started life under Steve Brown with a comfortable win at Thamesmead on Saturday.

Long, back with the club he left in 2009, marked his return to the Fleet with two classy finishes and a neat display in midfield.

A game played in sweltering heat saw the visitors go behind to Jon Main's first goal in a Thamesmead shirt on 12 minutes. Michael Power burst past Ebbsfleet right-back Joe Howe and delivered a cross which Main headed firmly into the net.

The lead lasted only three minutes. Long picked up possession on the edge of the Mead box and steadied himself before firing a precise shot into the far corner.

Long's second goal eclipsed his first, the midfielder flashing a free-kick in off the crossbar from 20 yards out just before the half-hour.

At the other end, Preston Edwards saved well to deny Main a second goal.

Ebbsfleet doubled their lead seven minutes before the interval. Tom Phipp made his way into the box and centred for May, who finished from close-range at the second attempt.

May, partnered initially by Billy Bricknell and then by Stevenage loanee Michael Thalassitis, led the line on his own after the break. He was gifted a second goal when Mead keeper Rob Budd allowed a soft effort to creep past him on 60 minutes.

Having been substituted at half-time, midfielder Dean Rance was re-introduced two minutes after the goal. He got himself on the scoresheet with his first touch, arrowing a shot into the net after trialist Alex Osborn had been dispossessed.

The rest of the game was played at typically slow pre-season pace, with players on both sides feelng the effects of the unrelenting sun.

Thamesmead: Budd, Hopkins, Roberts, Muguo, Tozer, McGeehan, Lover, Power, Zanone, Main, Fairweather-Johnson. Subs: Edwards, Pellin, Addae, Scarborough, Donovan, Carter, Butler, Stevens.

Ebbsfleet: Edwards (Hall 46mins); Howe, Lorraine, Huke (Sankofa 61mins), Palmer; Phipp (Osborn 46mins), Rance (Corcoran 46mins), McMahon, Long (Rance 62mins); Bricknell (Thalassitis 34mins), May.

Attendance: 185.

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