Daryl McMahon was full of praise for his Ebbsfleet players after their play-off victory at Hampton & Richmond on Wednesday night.

Fleet won the first leg 2-1 at the Beveree thanks to goals from Dean Rance and Aaron McLean.

Hampton's goal was scored by Duncan Culley after Fleet goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore spilled a Christian Jolley shot.

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McMahon said: "I thought we were excellent from start to finish, barring a mistake, which is very rare indeed from Nathan.

"It would have been a comfortable 2-0 at half-time and in the second half I thought we dealt really well with everything they threw and we had chances for Mac, Deero, Drury, we looked a threat from set-pieces as well.

"I thought it was a very good performance on a difficult pitch.

"I thought Dean Rance was absolutely outstanding. He showed why I put him in the team - he won tackles and headers, excellent energy, screened the back-four really well against Culley as well and got a goal.

"It was never going to be a pretty game. If you come here and try to win pretty, it’ll go against you.

"They’ve got athletes in their team and what Dean does is cover the ground very quickly."

Ashmore won't want to watch Hampton's goal back in a hurry but McMahon spoke up in support of his goalkeeper.

He said: "We’ve conceded 30 goals in 42 league games. He’s been unbelievable all year for us and that’s his one mistake, hopefully, out of the way now."

McMahon also thanked the supporters who backed his team in large numbers at Hampton.

Fleet fans probably accounted for more than half of the 1,689 inside the Beveree - giving Hampton their biggest crowd of the season and the players fantastic vocal backing.

McMahon said: "I thought they were amazing. They’ve been terrific all season.

"I think they’ve seen the work ethic of the players. To get 96 points and play the football we’ve played and score the goals we’ve scored, I think they appreciate that and the players appreciate them.

"I thought the fans were absolutely outstanding."

He added: "We’re halfway there. I only do one game at a time and that one’s done now, it’s half-time, we’re winning 2-1 and we get ready for Sunday."

The second leg at Stonbridge Road kicks off at 3pm.