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Havant & Waterlooville 2 Ebbsfleet United 0 - match report

Ebbsfleet’s hopes of a late charge for a promotion play-off place in Vanarama South were hit by a disappointing 2-0 reverse at Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday.

The two teams were separated by just seven points at the start of the day, and Fleet fans were targeting a third straight victory to allow their heroes to match their longest winning streak in the league since the end of September.

However it was the Hawks who began brightest at West Leigh Park and Brandon Hall had to deny Ben Wright early on while Bradley Bubb saw a shot blocked by Tom Bonner.

The breakthrough arrived five minutes before the break when the hosts’ leading scorer Scott Donnelly swung a free-kick over the Fleet wall and into the net giving Hall little chance.

After the break Matt Fish fired over and Donnelly cracked wide at the other end before Fleet were handed a break on 55 minutes as former Burnley and Doncaster man Brian Stock was shown a red card for a high challenge.

However it was the hosts who struck the crucial second goal midway through the second half when Fleet conceded possession, with Ben Swallow running through and shooting towards Hall, with the Fleet stopper unable to prevent the ball squeezing through his hands and trickling into the net.

Sub Danny Kedwell was off-target from a corner and Sean Shields saw a shot blocked before Fleet rattled the bar, however they could not find a reply against the 10-men, with Adam Cunnington firing wide and Fish seeing the final chance saved by Ryan Young in stoppage-time.

Combined with results elsewhere, the defeat saw Fleet slip to ninth, seven points adrift of the final play-off berth, with seven games to play, though with a game in hand on some of the sides ahead of them.

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