Daryl McMahon hailed Danny Kedwell's leadership qualities after the former Gills star scored Ebbsfleet's winning goal on the first day of the new season.

Kedwell netted the only goal of the game, six minutes into the second half, as the Fleet opened the Vanarama National League South campaign with a 1-0 win over Basingstoke.

The 32-year-old led the line tirelessly after being picked ahead of fellow striker Adam Cunnington.

McMahon said: "They’re two terrific strikers. Adam’s been injured so that made it a little bit easier (to choose).

"Keds has been excellent every day, his work ethic and he’s a leader as well in the changing-room.

"You’ve seen from his performance, he led from that front, he chased every ball and it was a fantastic finish as well, to be fair to him. I thought he was a real handful for their back two.

"He’s been outstanding from day one. He hasn’t missed a training session, he works ever so hard and he’s looking fit."

In what was McMahon's first game as permanent manager, Ebbsfleet had the edge against a Basingstoke side which finished third in this division last season.

"Our defensive shape was really good," McMahon said. "Basingstoke are a very good counter-attacking team and I thought we defended against the counters really well.

"We limited them to not many chances on our goal, which is important, and we created a lot of chances, especially in the second half, so I’m delighted with that.

"I don’t know if Basingstoke had an attempt on target, I thought we defended really well. Brandon’s not had too much to do in goal.

"It was good for us to beat them. They beat us three times last season so starting the season at home to them was always going to be difficult and it’s great to get the win.

"It’s a good start but there’s loads to do still."