Ebbsfleet moved three points clear at the top of National League South with a comfortable win at 10-man Dulwich on Tuesday night.

The game got the all-clear from a 3pm pitch inspection but there was drama before a ball was kicked with Ebbsfleet arriving late to a ground just 21 miles away from Stonebridge Road. They belatedly arrived about 20 minutes before the delayed kick-off time of 8pm, which was then put back a further five minutes.

Traffic issues aside, Ebbsfleet made two changes from the side that defeated Chelmsford on home soil seven days earlier. Darren McQueen replaced Omari Sterling-James and Shaq Coulthirst started with Franklin Domi dropping to the bench.

McQueen was part of the Dulwich side that put five goals against the Fleet in the corresponding fixture last season.

But this Ebbsfleet side are made of sterner stuff, with more seasoned professionals in their ranks while Dulwich are under the relatively new management of Paul Barnes, who had registered some impressive results in his opening weeks at the helm.

if Dulwich were hoping to catch the Fleet cold on a chilly evening at Champion Hill after their late arrival, their hopes were quickly vanished.

The visitors settled quickest and led after 10 minutes when Josh Wright unselfishly set up Coulthirst whose left-foot shot was clearly over the line despite the best efforts of a covering defender. It was only Coulthirst’s second goal of the season and his first since August, when the Fleet won at Concord.

Right-back Sanchez Ming picked up an early caution for the hosts after taking out Cundle and the all-action opening continued with chances at either end.

Luke O’Neill’s far-post header and Coulthirst’s follow-up backheel were both blocked before Dulwich broke and nearly levelled when Dan Smith dragged his right-foot shot wide of the upright.

Ebbsfleet made them pay within seconds, Coulthirst put Ming under pressure inside his own penalty area and the ball fell perfectly for Cundle to blast home into the top corner on 18 minutes.

It was mainly one-way traffic. Rakish Bingham produced an audacious flick in the middle of the park followed by a precise pass to the feet of Coulthirst, who beat the defender before keeper Charlie Grainger touched his left-foot curler onto the post.

Smith’s low shot at the other end was straight at keeper Mark Cousins while Joe Felix fired wide from an angle and both Frankie Raymond and Johl Powell were booked late in the half for needless fouls in their own half.

Whatever Dulwich boss Paul Barnes said at half-time certainly worked as it took them just three minutes to reduce the arrears, Powell taking a lovely touch after finding space in the penalty area before scoring beyond Cousins.

Fleet’s Wright was booked for a late challenge in midfield but any fears the visitors had that the tide was turning were quickly over when McQueen made it 3-1 on 53 minutes. Cundle’s short corner showed patience and he picked out McQueen on the edge of the area, his left-foot shot taking a deflection to find the bottom corner with Grainger rooted to the spot.

A game full of goals then boiled over for Ming when he correctly saw red on 63 minutes. Ming kicked out at Poleon as the Fleet player went past him off the ball, the assistant referee spotting the act of petulance.

Fleet boss Dennis Kutrieb reacted quickly as the incident took place right in front of the away dugout and was able to get Poleon away from the incident before his retaliation also earned him an early bath. Instead, referee Stephen Parkinson - who was excellent throughout - showed the Fleet striker a yellow card. Both managers were also booked before play restarted.

Coulthirst hit the post for the second time in the evening when he collected Poleon’s pass with 17 minutes left but they failed to create too many more clear-cut chances.

Dulwich introduced Ronnie Vint to shore up their defence and then Cameron Thompson made an appearance for the final eight minutes. Thompson featured for Dover in the Kent Senior Cup a week ago but opted for Champion Hill ahead of Crabble.

Dulwich: Grainger, Ming, Wood, Holland, Raymond, Taylor, Porter, Smith, Felix (Comley 90mins), Powell (Thompson 82mins), Krasniqi (Vint 77mins). Subs not used: Mills, Jones.

Ebbsfleet: Cousins, O’Neill, Solly, Finney (Jombati 58mins), McQueen, Wright (Edser 68mins), N’Guessan, Bingham, Cundle (Romain 86mins), Coulthirst, Poleon. Subs not used: Domi, Hollis.

Referee: Stephen Parkinson.

Attendance: 1,229.