January 2022
Ebbsfleet United 1-1 Stoke City
FA Cup Third Round
Liddle 17’
We began 2021 with the visit of Championship outfit Stoke City to Stonebridge Road.
We had a perfect start. Just after the quarter hour mark, nice possession play saw the ball fall to Liddle 25 yards out, who took a touch to get the ball out of his feet before slamming a stunning strike into the top left corner.
However, the magic of the cup soon wore off, and we spent much of the second half with our backs to the wall. Our luck ran out with 25 minutes to go, as Tyrese Campbell worked his way into the box before drilling a shot high out of Hadler’s reach and into the roof of the net.
Ebbsfleet United 5-1 FC Halifax Town
Vanarama National League
Paxman 11’, 29’
Liddle 17’
Bingham 75’, 90’
Our 2021 league campaign kicked off with the visit of 18th place Halifax.
We had an ideal start on 11 minutes. Govea drove forward on the overlap. His cross found Donawa, who pulled the ball back to tee up Paxman at the penalty spot to beat the keeper with a fierce shot.
6 minutes later we doubled our lead. Donawa again played the provider, this time slipping in Liddle who placed a composed effort past the keeper.
We were 3-0 up before the half hour. Liddle made a mazy run forward before shooting from a tight angle. The keeper got a hand to it but could only divert the ball into the path of Paxman, who had an easy finish to double his tally.
With just under 20 minutes to go, the visitors pulled one back when Georgiou’s corner was headed in by Luke Plange.
However, we restored our 3 goal advantage 4 minutes later, when Josh Payne released substitute Rakish Bingham to slot past the keeper.
He rounded up the scoring on the stroke of the 90th minute. Bingham played a fantastic one-two with Paxman to beat the defence before slotting the ball in at the near post.
Ebbsfleet United 2-0 Eastleigh Town
FA Trophy Fourth Round
Liddle 48’
Grant 81’
A return to our cup campaigns began with the visit of Eastleigh in the Fourth Round of the FA Trophy.
We nearly took the lead after 16 minutes. Govea’s cross found Donawa, who headed beyond the keeper but saw his effort come back off the post onto the keepers back, but hacked off the line before it would roll into the back of the net.
We were the better side though and took the lead after the break. Taylor’s corner found Liddle at the back post who headed home from close range.
With 9 minutes to go we settled any doubts. Iffy Allen did well to make space on the right before crossing to the back post for Conor Grant to thump a header into the back of the net.
A good win, and big relief to avoid another replay to add to our hectic schedule!
Stoke City 2-0 Ebbsfleet United
FA Cup Third Round Replay
We continued with our FA Cup replay at the Britannia to face Stoke. We named a rotated squad to keep key players fresh for our league campaign given the dropped points over the festive period.
Stoke gave us a real run around, and Tom Hadler was forced to make numerous fantastic saves to take us to extra time.
However, the pressure told on 110 minutes, when Nick Powell was played in to slot past Hadler from close range.
As tiredness crept in, Stoke’s already apparent quality became more and more evident, and with 3 minutes to go they made it 2-0. Edwards broke away from Wood on the left to drive a low cross for Callum Lang who finished from close range.
Torquay United 1-0 Ebbsfleet United
Vanarama National League
We returned to league action 2 days later with a trip to 4th place Torquay at Plainmoor.
Fatigue showed and we struggled to create throughout
The hosts took the lead on 57 minutes, when a long range strike was spilled by Hadler into the path of Andrew’s, who continued his habit of scoring against us from close range.
A disappointing defeat on the road against one of the teams at the top end of the table.
Woking 1-2 Ebbsfleet United
Vanarama National League
Paxman 6’
Liddle 27’
We continued our January schedule with a visit to 14th place Woking for our game in hand.
We started well and took an early lead. Taylor’s pass found Paxman’s underlapping run who fired the ball into the roof of the net giving the keeper no chance.
We doubled that lead before the half hour when Will Wood’s long ball found Liddle in behind to coolly slot the ball home.
With 12 minutes to play, Woking threatened our advantage when a brilliant run from Norton saw the striker make space for himself to beat Hadler via the near post.
However, we stayed strong and held on to return to winning ways.
Ebbsfleet United 2-1 Wealdstone
Vanarama National League
Liddle 23’, 80’
Our final home fixture of the January schedule saw us host 23rd place Wealdstone
We took the lead on the half hour, when Taylor picked up the ball out wide before beating his marker and providing a pinpoint cross for Liddle to convert with his head.
Wealdstone looked surprisingly energetic for their league position, and equalised on 37 minutes. Yoanne Zahore looked to have no options when surrounded by Rowan and Yarney on the edge of the box, but somehow managed to sneak a brilliant shot past them and Hadler to find the top corner.
We suffered a further blow on the verge of half time, when Taylor twisted his knee, forcing a substitution for Iffy Allen at the break.
We however secured all 3 points with 10 minutes to go. Ben Chapman’s wide freekick found Liddle in the middle to head home a late winner
Altrincham Town 0-2 Ebbsfleet United
Vanarama National League
Liddle 4’, 54’
Our last fixture of the January schedule saw us travel to 20th place Altrincham.
We were off the mark quickly again. Jack Payne’s wide free kick was initially cleared as far as Charlie Rowan, who delivered a peach of a ball from the left onto Liddle’s head to put the Fleet in front.
We doubled our lead 10 minutes after the break. Govea’s corner found Egan at the back post, who headed back across the face of goal into the path of Liddle who had an easy finish for his second of the game.
A well deserved 3 points to round the month off with our third straight win.
End of month position: 1st
Month review:
An improvement on December, with 12 points taken of a possible 15. Fixture congestion really hurt us this month and fatigue began to show as the weeks went on, however I think we got the results we deserved from our performances under tricky circumstances, with cup games left, right and centre. We have extended the gap to 13 points ahead of 2nd place Aldershot, although they now have a game in hand on us. We’ve amassed 76 points from 31 games in a very good start to the season, and I would have thought a target of 90 points will be enough to win the league, meaning that we would only need 5 more wins from our remaining 15 games. However of course we are aiming as high as possible, and hoping to break the 100 point barrier.