Ebbsfleet United manager Dennis Kutrieb reacts to National League South champions’ 5-0 win over Hungerford Town

Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb heaped praise on hat-trick hero Toby Edser after the champions ended their campaign with a flourish on Saturday.

Edser scored the only goal when these sides met in September and Hungerford must be sick of the sight of him after he bagged a treble at Stonebridge Road in the Fleet’s 5-0 win.

It meant Edser finished the season with 12 league goals to his name – not a bad return for the last player to join Ebbsfleet’s squad in pre-season.

“I saw from the first day when I saw him in training that he’s an outstanding football player and he would be a perfect fit for us,” said Ebbsfleet boss Kutrieb.

“We were just a little bit unsure because we were looking to see if we signed another striker, a target striker who can head the ball and all these things.

“I said to Toby from the first day that I really liked him as a player and if we don’t find a target striker which I would like to have, I don’t sign any other striker, ‘you are my first choice’.

“He was calm and still composed and this is a nice story to end the season, he scored one of the first goals of pre-season at Punjab with exactly the same pattern. All three goals on Saturday were more or less the same.

“He’s a good football player and you can see what they are able to deliver when they are confident and feel good in the camp and the team, and they feel they belong to this team.

“He was a massive help to get promoted, especially after Craig Tanner’s injury, he stepped up massively. He was never a number 10 or box to box, and him and Franklin Domi carried us big time. Others had jobs that were already important, Domi and Edser carried us through the winter time when we got win after win.”

Ebbsfleet bid farewell to National League South