EBBSFLEET United manager Steve Brown accepted his side put on a Jekyll & Hyde display in Saturday’s 2-1 victory at home to Bishop’s Stortford.

The Fleet’s first half performance was below par and they went into the break trailing to Cliff Akurang’s 23rd minute header.

Yet the hosts staged a second half recovery with late goals from Ben May and Aiden Palmer clinching an unlikely victory, which Brown was delighted with.

He said: “It was a game of two halves. I thought we were terrible in the first half.

“It was very similar to the performance we had away to Bishop’s Stortford where we didn’t do ourselves any favours, allowed them to dictate and at some points bully us.

“At half-time there were a couple of tactical things we needed to address.

“We felt like the gaps between the units were too big and we became a little bit too spread out when Bishop’s Stortford had the ball.

News Shopper: Steve Brown

“But in the main I felt we were physically being outbattled and outperformed to a point where, individually, I don’t think we won a physical battle across the park in the first 45 minutes.”

Brown added: “The only blessing was that Bishop’s Stortford didn’t take a real advantage by getting a bigger lead.

“We had a few words in the dressing room at and I have to say the comeback from the players in the second half and the character shown was excellent.

“It was a real good shot in the arm in terms of confidence and a morale booster from a poor first half performance.”

Saturday’s result means Ebbsfleet have solidified their third place in the table and are now half a dozen points ahead of Staines Town in sixth.

Brown wants to use this fact as a springboard for more wins ahead of this weekend’s vital trip to second-placed Eastleigh.

He said: “Points on the board is better than games in hand, it always has been and it always will be.

“It’s lovely to have a bit of breathing space between us and sixth, but for me it’s just a platform to move onwards and get stronger.

“We need to make sure in the second half of the season we’re as resilient and as hard to beat as we were in the first half of the campaign.”

Brown added: “We’ll certainly be going down to Eastleigh with a game plan to try and win the game, as opposed to stopping them from winning, but they’re a very, very good side.

“They’ve got a great squad at their disposal and they’ve proved time and time again they’re a very difficult side to get a result against, whether home or away.

“We’ve got our work cut out and we’ll be underdogs unusually.

“But there’s no reason for us not to go down there and try and get a result.

“We’re a good enough side to put teams on the back foot but we have to be very respectful and very mindful they’re a very good team themselves.”

Follow us on Twitter @NewsShopperSprt