FLEET LACK SPARK TO CLEAN UP
TWO sides in need of three points had to settle for one each at a rain-lashed Stonebridge Road.
Debutant Aaron Cosgrave gave Havant the perfect start in Kent, but Michael Cheek’s first goal for Ebbsfleet stopped his side crashing to a third straight defeat.
Hawks remain in the bottom four and Fleet in the bottom half, but there were positives for both managers to take away.
Havant’s Lee Bradbury said: “It’s a good point against a team that was in the play-offs last year.
“It was a dream start for us and we did speak to the players about Ebbsfleet at home. They’ve conceded six of their 13 goals in the first 20 minutes so a good start was important and we got that.
“We were brave and defended well with a team that had four or five players missing.
“I wanted legs in there against Ebbsfleet. They make the pitch big and make you work to have the ball back.”
Havant took just three minutes to score; Nicke Kabamba punishing poor Ebbsfleet defending by rounding Nathan Ashmore and setting up Cosgrave to finish. The home side lacked urgency in their play to the agitation of boss Daryl McMahon in the technical area. But they were level just before the half-hour mark. Corey Whitely got to a through-ball ahead of the onrushing Ben Dudzinski and with the goalkeeper out of position, Whitely managed to lay on a halfvolley for his former Dagenham team-mate Cheek for the equaliser.
Loan signing Tyler Cordner almost marked his Havant debut with a goal, heading just wide when a corner from the left drifted right through the box.
At the other end, Cheek had a shot well blocked by Ed Harris and Whitely fired wide before Dave Winfield saw his header scrambled off the line.
But the home side had defender Kenny Clark sent off for two bookable offences and Havant should have won it right at the death.
Alfie Pavey did well to nod Brian Stock’s deep cross down for Andreas Robinson, but the substitute failed to hit the target with his powerful strike.
McMahon said: “It was a better performance than the last two, but it’s not the result we wanted. With 10 minutes to go before the sending-off we were the team in the ascendancy and it’s knocked us back a little bit, but it’s something to build on.
“Getting your first goal is massive for a striker and Cheeky had a good game. He was a handful for them all afternoon and he worked well with Corey Whitely.”