Ebbsfleet continued their impressive home form with a whirlwind start to brush aside 10-man St Albans on Saturday.

The Fleet have now scored 16 goals in their last four matches at Stonebridge Road - and they made it three National League South wins in a row to move up to fourth spot.

St Albans arrived in third place but they were left shell-shocked inside the first 22 minutes.

The tone was set inside just eight seconds. Fleet won the ball from the kick-off and Sam Deering scored from virtually the halfway line over stranded keeper James Russell.

Such a breathtaking goal simply inspired his team-mates to a blistering start. Stuart Lewis nearly added a second minutes later, collecting Darren McQueen's pull back but Russell made a smart block.

Fleet pressed the visitors high throughout with Lewis and Kedwell particularly prominent. It was no surprise when they added a second on 15 minutes.

Lewis won the ball and fed McQueen behind the St Albans defence. His pace meant there was no catching him and McQueen's confident finish bagged him his fifth goal of the campaign.

Fleet did not step off the gas, Deering won the ball on the edge of the St Albans penalty area on 22 minutes and fed Danny Kedwell. His perfectly-weighted pass behind the visiting defence found Deering's run and his finish into the far corner simply matched everything that had gone before it.

Deering was on top of his game. Closing down to win the ball back, finding pockets of space or picking out clever passes, Deering had it all in the first half.

The Fleet should have scored a fourth 10 minutes after the break but Kedwell blazed over off balance from Anthony Cook's cross.

St Albans pulled one back on 58 minutes, however, Dipo Akinyemi taking advantage of space on the edge of the box to produce a finish that was too powerful for Nathan Ashmore.

Fleet's immediate response as Kedwell headed in another accurate Cook cross was ruled out for offside.

The hosts were then denied what appeared a blatant penalty as McQueen went down in the box after his pace caused problems from another Kedwell flick.

St Albans were reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes left when Tom Bender's late challenge on Cook on the halfway line was rightly punished with a red card. Cook had knocked the ball past Bender and was in full flow when the defender stopped him in his tracks.

The referee, who was immediately surrounded by a string of Fleet players, took his time before producing the red card but the visitors could have had few complaints.

The home side never reached the heights of their bright start - but they never needed to. St Albans rightly improved from their slow start but the damage was already done.

On this display, the Fleet are going to be more than a match for anyone in this division.

Fleet boss Daryl McMahon had made three changes from the FA Cup win over AFC Sudbury. Regular keeper Ashmore was restored in place of Jonathan Miles in goal, Mark Phillips replaced the injured Kenny Clark in defence and Lewis was in for Dean Rance, who came off at half-time last week.

Ebbsfleet: Ashmore, Cook, Shields (Connors 66mins), Phillips, McCoy, Greenidge, Lewis, Deering, Kedwell, McQueen (Sheringham 90mins), Powell (Rance 66mins). Subs not used: Miles, Kissock. Attendance: 1,039.