Clear the air meeting produces instant response from Ebbsfleet (From News Shopper)

Clear the air meeting produces instant response from Ebbsfleet

3:38pm Tuesday 11th September 2012 in News and Reports By David Byrom

EBBSFLEET United manager Liam Daish revealed he was pleased with his players’ reactions after a tough week following his side’s 3-1 win over 10-man Mansfield Town.

Last Tuesday the Fleet conceded four first-half goals away to Forest Green Rovers and then had a team meeting in an attempt to put an end to a six-game winless run.

And the clear the air session appeared to work as Daish’s side produced a good performance to see off Mansfield and claim a first home win of the season.

After falling behind to a first half penalty following a mistake from Liam Bellamy, Fleet responded with second half goals from Nathan Elder, Phil Walsh and Liam Enver-Marum to take victory.

Daish said: “All wins are important but after the week we had, that was just what we needed.

“It’s a great tonic for us as it’s been a long and difficult week.

“Things have been said, a few home truths have been swapped about, but we’ve got a reaction.

“As a manager, that’s all you can ask for.

“We had a long chat after Tuesday’s game and then we had a meeting.

“I’m protective of what goes on in the dressing room, so that will stay in there and we’ll move on.

“Today, the thought was ‘let’s get the season started here’, so let’s see where we go from now.”

In the first half Daish set his team up in a 3-5-2 formation that saw them retain possession for large periods without creating many opportunities.

After going into half-time a goal behind due to Louis Briscoe’s 42nd penalty, Ebbsfleet switched to a more conventional 4-4-2 and Daish felt both formations worked.

He said: “I thought the first-half formation worked, but what let us down was just that final pass, or that final bit of technique needed when we get into great areas.

“I’m not going to chastise Liam Bellamy (for the penalty).

“He’s a young lad and it was an honest mistake, which I don’t mind.

“I thought he could have got over a little bit quicker to help Ryan Blake out but I’ll take an honest mistake from a player.

“What I can’t take is what I witnessed in the first half on Tuesday.

“I didn’t see any of that today, the players really worked hard for each other and they were more focussed.”

Regarding the half-time switch, Daish said: “We needed to get a little bit more width further up the field, and that’s what the switch did.

“It meant we were allowed to move the ball a little bit quicker and wider, which made them work, you could see at the end they were flagging.

“The harder you work, in the long run it does pay dividends as teams can’t keep with you. “I thought our fitness levels were great today, which was to be expected as some of them had a bit of a day off in Tuesday’s first-half.”

The Fleet also welcomed Ram Marwa back into midfield following a broken knee-cap at the end of last season.

Daish added: “The plan was to get Ram some game time somewhere, but it got to the point where we needed to get him in early and get him fit within games.

“He got close to people today and we’ve missed that a bit.

“Ram was a bit of a catalyst today.

“I’m delighted and I’ll have a good weekend and a good week.

“We’ll work hard and remember what got us our win today.”

Next up for Ebbsfleet is Southport away on Saturday and Daish is not expecting an easy match.

He said: “Southport had a great season last year and we’ll respect them.

“It’s going to be a tough game but we’ll go there after beating an in form Mansfield, so we can draw confidence from that and a bit of togetherness.

“The lads have learnt a little bit about themselves this week.”

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