Ebbsfleet slumped to their second defeat in a week at home to lowly Chester on Saturday.

The visitors went ahead midway through a first half which Ebbsfleet dominated without working the visiting goalkeeper enough.

And Fleet lost their way after the break, looking increasingly desperate in the face of stubborn Chester defence, before having substitute Bradley Bubb sent off in the closing stages.

Ebbsfleet's only change was an attacking one, Myles Weston replacing Dean Rance, while fit-again Jack Payne made the bench after three months out with a knee injury. Goalkeeper coach Michael Jordan was also named among the substitutes with Fleet having sent Jon Miles to Welling on a month's loan.

Weston, a good early outlet down the Fleet right, cut inside and tested Chester keeper Sam Hornby with a low shot before Danny Kedwell's effort from a Jack Powell free-kick hit Kingsley James and bounced kindly for the goalkeeper.

James Akintunde warmed Nathan Ashmore's palms after Chris Bush missed his attempted clearance but it was the home side doing all the pressing and Weston looked dangerous down the wing even if his final ball let him down at times.

It was against the run of play, therefore, that Chester went ahead in the 20th minute. Ashmore raced out of his box to intercept a through-ball but then changed his mind and went to run back, allowing Harry White a free shot at an open goal - which he duly accepted.

The home side kept passing the ball but with something to protect, the Blues packed men behind the ball and defended doggedly for the rest of the first half.

Sean Shields cut in from the left and forced a sprawling save from Hornby before Powell fired a shot over from distance.

Ebbsfleet's deliveries from wide areas remained erratic but they almost unpicked the Chester defence with a lovely passing move on the edge of the penalty area. Bush had the final touch, arrowing a cross-shot through the six-yard box and just wide.

Daryl McMahon's frustration in the technical area was exacerbated when Jordan Gough escaped a booking after dragging Weston to the floor as he looked to break. Kedwell hooked a volley wide from Andy Drury's right-wing cross and Weston glanced a Shields delivery just wide as the men in red continued to probe.

The pattern continued through to half-time, Kedwell seeing one effort blocked and dinking another just past the angle when Weston raided down the right again and picked him out at the near post.

Striker Bubb replaced full-back Sam Magri at half-time as Fleet switched to a back-three and went with two up front.

Bit it was the visitors who started the second half on top, White crashing a shot over at the Plough End, where both sets of fans were making a good racket.

Ebbsfleet lost their way for a while and when Powell's free-kick from the left swirled wide, their appeals for a foul in the penalty area were waved away by referee Alan Young.

Only a superb save from Ashmore stopped White making it 2-0 after he got the wrong side of Bush and Ebbsfleet then got in a terrible mess trying to clear their lines.

Coulson made way for Payne and the home side started to get their foot on the ball again, with Shields drawing a save from Hornby after driving inside.

A whipped Bush cross almost dropped for Bubb in the middle and Powell curled a free-kick wide from 35 yards but still Fleet were faced with a stubborn yellow wall as time ticked away.

And a bad day for McMahon's men got even worse when Bubb was shown a straight red card for a late lunge on Halls.

Ebbsfleet: Ashmore, Magri (Bubb 46mins), Clark, Winfield, Bush, Drury, Powell, Weston, Coulson (Payne 64mins), Shields, Kedwell. Subs not used: McCoy, Rance, Jordan.

Chester: Hornby, Hall-Johnson, Halls, Astles, Gough, James, Turnbull, Dawson, Shaw, White, Akintunde (Hannah 61mins). Subs not used: Lynch, Bell, Jones, Udoh.

Attendance: 1,389.