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Ebbsfleet United boss Daryl McMahon on the 1-1 draw at Dover Athletic

Daryl McMahon was unhappy with the officials after Dover took the lead against his Ebbsfleet side on Monday.

Ryan Bird got between centre-halves Yado Mambo and Chris Bush to head home Mitchell Pinnock's cross 14 minutes into the Kent derby at Crabble.

But in McMahon's eyes, Dover shouldn't even have been in possession.

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Ebbsfleet manager Daryl McMahon Picture: Andy Payton
Ebbsfleet manager Daryl McMahon Picture: Andy Payton

He said: "It was our throw-in. Myles Weston kicked it off their lad’s chest and it’s gone off.

"It wasn’t a hard one. It’s hit him on the chest, it wasn’t a clip, it wasn’t a little nick, it hit his chest and went off. It was our throw-in and it led to us conceding a goal.

"Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t defend well after that but the actual decision is a throw-in to us so that could have been avoided. Refs make mistakes - we all do."

McMahon also felt Darren McQueen should have been awarded a penalty rather than booked for simulation when he went down in the Dover box midway through the second half.

As for the result, Fleet's sixth draw in seven games, McMahon was left with mixed feelings.

He said: "After the first 15-20 minutes when Dover got a lot of balls in behind us and had a lot of throw-ins, I thought we dealt with it well apart from once when they actually scored.

"Other than that, I don’t think Ash (goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore) had a lot to do for the rest of the game. After that 20-minute spell, we were the team taking control of the game and I thought we were impressive after that.

Luke Coulson holds off Josh Passley Picture: Andy Payton
Luke Coulson holds off Josh Passley Picture: Andy Payton

"The message at half-time was that I wanted us to play. Dover are very good at what they do, they get it forward quickly, get up behind it and they’re really good at it.

"Because the game was so hectic, we started becoming hectic and we’re not a hectic team. We can get the ball down and play and we did (later in the game).

"There was more belief and confidence in controlling and passing it instead of maybe doing what your opposite number’s doing. I wanted us to influence our style on them and I thought we did that for the last half-an-hour.

"In that second half, we were totally the dominant team. We got into some great positions - I’ll have to look at them on the video - and could have nicked it but it’s a good point coming to Dover.

"It’s a Kent derby against an experienced side in this division with an experienced manager. You take the point and move on."

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