County 3 Ebbsfleet 1

County 3 Ebbsfleet 1

Starting XI: King, Halls, Newton, Connor (Mainwaring), Tunnicliffe, Whitehead (Collins), Kenyon, Hattersley, Hobson (Sheridan), Fagbola, Turnbull.

Subs: Ormson, Collins, Sheridan, Rowe, Mainwaring
County had a chance to go one up early on as Craig Hobson saw his shot blazed over the bar in the early part of the game, a couple minutes later left back Sean Newton had his effort denied by Ebbsfleet keeper Preston Edwards following foul on Paul Turnbull that resulted in a freekick for The Hatters.

Nathan Elder thought he put the visitors into the lead but assistant referee flagged for a foul on keeper Lewis kin, with relief from the Hatters the score was still 0-0. Louis Soares had another chance for Ebbsfleet after the visitors managed another attack following Turnbull kicking the ball away from a dangerous corner from The fleet.
County looked to go ahead early on as Whitehead, Hobson and Hattersley all had chances to put County into the lead but nothing came of the chances. Whitehead headed his chance over, Hobson hit wide of the mark and Hattersley hit the post. County kept pushing as they wanted to end their 9 game winless streak.

Lewis king proved his worth for the third consecutive game as the County keeper made a excellent save to keep Elder`s shot out in a one on one position where the striker looked through on goal, this followed a incident in which Alex Kenyon was injured.
County had to make a change on the half hour mark as Danny Whitehead had to be replaced by Tom Collins through injury.

It really was end to end stuff, as Soares and Elder had two more chances to break the deadlock but The County defence stayed firm and kept the score level at 0-0. King saw himself booked in this turn of events as the County keeper blocked play as there was a incident where Tunnicliffe and Faggbola clashed.

County could have gone in at the break 1-0 up as Halls provided a excellent chance for Hobson but the former Celtic forward could not find the target. Conner also had a chance from a corner but nothing came of his efforts.

HT: County 0 Ebbsfleet 0

Matt Mainwaring replaced the injured Connor for the second half, Fagbola dropping into defense, Liam Bellamy replaced Neil Barrett for Ebbsfleet.

Within the first 12 minutes of the second half Stockport were 3-0 up, with the half time team talk in The County players mind the goals just came for The Hatters. The first goal came from Hobson who converted a lovely effort, as the striker turned and had his shot on target top put County 1-0 up in the 51st minute.

It really was end to end stuff, as soon as County scored Ebbsfleet had a chance to equalise but the County defense were safe as Liam Bellamy knocked the ball wide of the mark. Within 45 seconds County doubled their lead as Turnbull played a ball to Hobson who managed to convert his second of the game and second of the season as the centre forward volleyed his second of the game and season.

On the 57th minute County were 3-0 up and flying, Tom Collins managed his first goal at EP for the Hatters as he stunned the Ebbslfeet defense as hos solo effort managed to be converted by the striker as Collisn passed six players to make it 3-0 to The Hatters.

The visitors were awarded a questioning penalty on 58 minutes, as Moses Ashikodi went down in the box after the slightest of touches from Newton, Elder smashing the resulting spot kick in off the bar.
The penalty appeared to give the visitors new heart as Soares saw an effort skim passed Kings post, Fagbola blocking another goal bound shot as Ebbsfleet earned two corners in quick succession.

With County hanging on Hattersley managed to have one more chance but nothing came of this, all in all a good performance from the Hatters,
County 3 Ebbsfleet 1
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