York City 0, Ebbsfleet United 1

7:40am Monday 31st March 2008

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MORE than 20,000 internet interferers will help Liam Daish pick his Ebbsfleet United team next season.

But, judging by Saturday's 1-0 victory at York City, the Kent club's new PlayStation generation owners - myfootballclub.co.uk - would be best served leaving that responsibility in the hands of the club's current manager.

Never has the ancient footballing art of shutting up shop been successfully delivered by somebody sat behind a computer screen, but the former Birmingham defender used the tried-and-tested touchline tactic to earn Ebbsfleet maximum points in a game City supporters would have gladly seen consigned to cyberspace.

Having forged ahead following a messy, ninth-minute goal, Ebbsfleet were content to sit back and soak up minimal pressure from a City side lacking the guile to break down their well-organised visitors.

Richard Brodie, who was unfortunate to deflect Stacy Long's free-kick past Tom Evans for the game's only goal, once more looked City's biggest attacking threat having scored at the right end in each of his side's previous two games.

But the former Newcastle Benfield forward endured a difficult start to the second half and was replaced by a labouring Leo Fortune-West just past the hour mark.

Brodie's 19-year-old strike partner Onome Sodje, however, fared worse against his former club, managing just one shot in 90 minutes - a snatched effort that narrowly missed the corner flag.

Despite still being the club's top scorer on 15 goals, Sodje has netted just twice in his last 16 outings and the devastating runs behind opposition defenders that characterised his early-season form have been few and far between in recent months.

As a consequence, reuniting Brodie with Martyn Woolford up front must now be a strong temptation for manager Colin Walker ahead of tomorrow night's trip to Stevenage.

The pair have a 100 per cent record with five wins from five games when used as a front two, including arguably City's finest performances under Walker against Aldershot, Forest Green and Grays in the FA Trophy.

Woolford, certainly, struggled to make any inroads down the left flank against Ebbsfleet, with full-back Mark Robinson also failing to provide effective overlapping support.

On the opposite wing, debutant Chris Hall looked a little off the pace on his return to Blue Square Premier football despite some positive prompting by full-back Ben Purkiss, whose diagonal passing was also exemplary in the first half.

Purkiss' promising attacking intent, however, was not mirrored in the performances of many of his team-mates.

In the centre of the park, Nicky Wroe started brightly before fading and then being shoved out to the right when Stuart Elliott replaced Hall early in the second half.

Skipper Manny Panther also endured another indifferent display, only doing what he does best - driving forward with the ball - on one occasion.

His purposeful 40-yard surge did set up City's best chance of the match for Hall on 39 minutes but, having been handed a clear run on goal down the left channel, the former Burton winger sidefooted weakly at Lance Cronin.

Earlier, Long claimed the only goal of the game when his curling 20-yard free-kick, following a David McGurk foul, flicked off Brodie's head and sailed into Evans' top left-hand corner.

Three minutes later, Woolford's edge-of-the-box effort was tipped over by Cronin, but he was never as seriously tested thereafter, although Brodie did fire across the face of his goal on 32 minutes.

At the other end, Ebbsfleet showed little attacking inclination after taking the lead and a poor second half ensued.

On 58 minutes, Cronin kept out Brodie's far-post effort following a Purkiss cross and Elliott then fired over from 20 yards.

But Sodje's 74th-minute miscued drive was the Minstermen's final attempt on goal, while the closest an underworked Ebbsfleet came to adding to Long's effort was Raphael Nade's 15-yard drive that hit the top of the David Longhurst Stand.

The defeat represented a meek manner in which to surrender his unbeaten league record at KitKat Crescent for Walker and he will now look to three successive away games as he aims to prevent his promising start to management being undermined by a poor run-in.

Match report

York City 0, Ebbsfleet United 1 (Long 9)

York City: Tom Evans 6, Ben Purkiss 8, David McGurk 7, Danny Parslow 6, Mark Robinson 5, Martyn Woolford 5, Manny Panther 5, Nicky Wroe 6, Chris Hall 5, Onome Sodje 5, Richard Brodie 7.

Substitutes: Stuart Elliott (for Hall, 53) 7; Leo Fortune-West (for Brodie, 62) 5; Simon Rusk (for Panther, 77)

Unused subs: Mimms, Craddock.

Key: 10 - Faultless; 9 - Outstanding; 8 - Excellent; 7 - Good; 6 - Average; 5 - Below par; 4 - Poor; 3 - Dud; 2 - Hopeless; 1 - Retire

City's star man: Purkiss - his first-half enthusiasm failed to prove infectious sadly.

Ebbsfleet United: Lance Cronin, Mark Ricketts, Peter Hawkins, Darius Charles, Ronnie Bull, Chris McPhee, Michael Bostwick, Charley Hearn, Stacy Long (Neil Barrett, 90), Raphael Nade, George Purcell (Luke Moore, 77).

Subs not used: Dan Stubbs, Sam Mott, Lee Maskell.

Yellow cards: Bull 64.

Shots on target: York 4 Ebbsfleet 3

Shots off target: York 4 Ebbsfleet 2

Corners: York 5 Ebbsfleet 4

Fouls conceded: York 14 Ebbsfleet 15

Offsides: York 7 Ebbsfleet 5

Referee: Michael Naylor (Sheffield).

Rating: did little wrong, although there was little in the game to test his ability as an official.

Attendance: 2,256 (165 away).

Pass of the match: Any one of the accurate diagonal crossfield efforts executed by Purkiss in the first half.

Miss of the match: In a game where chances were few and far between, debutant Hall squandered the best on 39 minutes.

Save of the match: Cronin's early stop from Woolford.

City player watch: Winger Chris Hall

Goal attempts on target: 1

Goal attempts off target: 0

Blocked goal attempts: 0

Passes to own player: 17

Passes to opposition: 8

Crosses to own player: 0

Crosses to opposition: 4

Pass success rate: 58.6 per cent

Dribbles ball retained: 3

Dribbles ball lost: 2

Dribble success rate: 60 per cent

Headers: 2

Tackles: 4

Clearances, blocks and interceptions: 1

Free-kicks won: 0

Free-kicks conceded: 0

Offsides: 0

Bookings: 0

Final summary: Chris Hall's debut, chiefly on the right wing, will probably be remembered for the one-on-one chance he failed to take towards the end of the first half. The winger did not look completely comfortable on his return to Blue Square Premier football as his sometimes stray distribution illustrated. He did though show he was capable of beating a man and managed to put four crosses into the box, although none found a team-mate, before his 53rd-minute substitution.

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