Ebbsfleet United boss Danny Searle on 1-1 National League draw against Southend United in front of a bumper crowd of more than 4,000 at Stonebridge Road

Manager Danny Searle felt Ebbsfleet were the better team for large spells of their National League draw with in-form Southend on Good Friday.

Substitute Dominic Poleon struck less than 10 minutes after coming on in front of a bumper crowd at Stonebridge Road after forward Harry Cardwell had flicked home his 17th league goal of the season for Kevin Maher’s Shrimpers in the first half.

Searle, whose troops are now four points clear of the relegation zone., said: “They’re a really good side. You can see their quality.

“Their bench is strong and there’s a certain amount of players that weren’t even involved today, which you are looking at and thinking ‘They’ve got a really good core of players.’

“For us to have any chance of getting anything out of the game, we had to play at our best - and I thought we were very good.

“To be honest, for large parts, I thought we were the better side.”

A mistake presented Ebbsfleet top scorer Poleon with a chance and he kept his cool to net his 16th goal of the campaign to equalise as it finished 1-1, despite visitors Southend extending their unbeaten run to 12 matches.

Report: Ebbsfleet 1-1 Southend

“Dom has got that quality in abundance,” noted Searle, whose Fleet side are still unbeaten at home since he took charge last month.

“Like I’ve said to quite a few people, we have got three real quality forwards in the building. We’re fortunate.

“When the other two maybe aren’t putting the ball in the back of the net, we’ve got one that will come on.”

The game was played in front of a crowd of 4,019 - an attendance which included a massive away following of 1,795 - which was the biggest crowd at Stonebridge Road for many years.

Searle stated: “This is why you want to play football, isn’t it?

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