Oxford City 1 Ebbsfleet United 0 match report: Fleet back into National League relegation zone

Ebbsfleet returned to the National League drop zone despite dominating the second half at Oxford City on Saturday.

The Fleet were made to pay for a lacklustre first half and their mood was not helped by seemingly every other result going against them as most of the league’s struggling sides picked up points.

Ebbsfleet made one change from the side that won at Maidenhead on Tuesday night with Luke O’Neill replacing Declan Skura.

It was a largely uneventful first half with an early snapshot from Ebbsfleet striker Dominic Poleon, which warmed the palms of Oxford keeper Marcin Brzozowski, a rare piece of angle.

Omari Sterling-James’ speculative left-foot shot looped just wide of the upright but that was as good as it got in an attacking sense for the visitors in the first 45 minutes.

There were a couple of notable breaks that saw dangerous crosses cleared but neither defence was really stretched.

The opening goal arrived on 36 minutes. On-loan Huddersfield defender Mustapha Olagunju appeared to have cleared the danger with an excellent defensive header.

But the resulting corner was never fully cleared and when Nya Kirby’s speculative cross-shot went goalwards, Andre Burley was left at the far post to slot a neat finish beyond keeper Mark Cousins.

Clearly not impressed with the pace of the first half, Fleet manager Dennis Kutrieb made a double half-time change with Toby Edser and Darren McQueen coming on.

Craig Tanner’s 20-yard shot went over and then McQueen shot horribly over after Rakish Bingham won the ball in the air.

WIth an hour gone, the Fleet introduced midweek match-winner Dominic Samuel who immediately teed up Edser but his left-foot shot went over the stand behind the goal.

Then Samuel was denied an equaliser on