Ebbsfleet United 4 Poole Town 0

Vanarama National League South

6 August 2016

It couldn't have been a tougher opening fixture than having to go to last year's play off finalists before the feet were under the proverbial vanarama table. But on a scorching hot day in front of a crowd of over 1,000 (one of them very passionate indeed) the dolphins were asked to keep it tight at the back and give them something to think about at the other end. All went spiffingly well for 10 minutes until a loose ball after pressure was rifled home spectacularly from the edge of the area. A bit of a surprise, certainly for the dolphins defence. At the other end Roberts ran and shot well from the left and Brooks had a glorious chance to score from a header. Brooks was injured in a clash with a defender and Wort came on to replace him and he also had a good chance to score. With Baggie looking lively on the ball it looked as thought Poole might do ok although defenders were under constant pressure as the half came to an end.

The half time sprinklers entertained the crowd as they danced across the pitch but within a few minutes of the restart Ebbsfleet attackers were dancing in delight as they went two up and from then on it became how many they were going to score. In the end it was four and all the goals demonstrated the lessons that have to be learnt if Poole are to compete at this level. All were quick incisive moves with a deadly finish when defenders were just not at the races. There weren't many shots or passes wasted by Ebbsfleet and at times there did look a gulf between the teams. Poole visibly tired and Ebbsfleet looked fitter and stronger as the game went on.

So Poole find themselves at the bottom of the league after the first round of matches but it will take 5 or 6 games to see where they are in the pecking order in this league. We can't set our sights too high and there will be other games like this which are tough but there will be other games which should yield points (Hungerford). An intriguing season is guaranteed.

Star Player: Abdulai Bell-Baggie: The few attacks that Poole were able to make were usually instigated by him and he showed a few tricks and won some free kicks that could have led to something. He also tracked back to cover on the left effectively.