Ebbsfleet drew another blank at home to Hartlepool on a frustrating night at Stonebridge Road.

Garry Hill's side failed to score for the third time in four matches as the visitors got the point they came for.

A desperately poor game had 0-0 written all over it from the early stages with attacking quality scarce to say the least.

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Ebbsfleet came into the game on the back of a 2-1 win at Harrogate and manager Garry Hill made two changes to his starting line-up. Cody McDonald came in to partner Michael Cheek up front, with Corey Whitely dropping to the bench, while Dean Rance was preferred to Ebou Adams in midfield having served his one-match suspension.

Jack Payne made his 50th appearance for the club but Danny Kedwell was again named among the substitutes, meaning Andy Drury kept the captain's armband.

There wasn't much to shout about in a low-key first half which saw Fleet dominate possession without doing enough to open up the visitors.

Hill's side were bright early on, the front two buzzing around on the edge of Hartlepool's box and McDonald whipped a low left-footed shot just wide after spinning his man well.

For a minute Cheek was clean through down the right but he got his feet in a tangle and that allowed the visitors to get back and clear.

Goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore almost picked out McDonald with a long punt upfield but the striker went down trying to win the ball and immediately signalled for help. On came medical staff from both sides and the stretcher was called for but McDonald was soon back on his feet and able to continue - for the time being.

Chris Bush drilled a free-kick into the wall, wasting a good shooting position, but another Fleet player was in the wars soon after.

Drury jogged to the touchline with blood pouring from his head and when he came back on, the midfielder was sporting a bandage Terry Butcher would have been proud of.

The home fans came to life when Cheek got in down the right again and slid a low shot beyond goalkeeper Scott Loach but their cheers were strangled as the ball dribbled narrowly wide of the far post.

Only when Ebbsfleet gave the ball away did Hartlepool find themselves in attacking positions and even then, they didn't carry much of an attacking threat. Kabamba rolled a tame shot straight at Ashmore and Luke James dragged an effort across the face of goal after turning and making his way towards the box.

By this point, McDonald's night was over, the striker heading straight down the tunnel after making way for Whitely.

Centre-half Jack King latched onto two set-pieces but failed to hit the target and the referee had already spotted an infringement when Whitely lashed the ball home after Bush had flicked on a Payne throw.

Peter Kioso looped a shot into the Plough End from a rare Pools foray forward but these were 45 minutes which didn't deserve a goal from either side.

King got up well at the start of the second half to meet Drury's cross from the left but Rance, on the stretch, skied his knockdown high over the bar.

Whitely found a pocket of space, 25 yards out, but there was no conviction in his shot which almost cleared the roof behind the goal.

Fleet were doing most of the pressing and Payne curled a free-kick just wide before Weston found Cheek with a dinked cross, although his header lacked the power to trouble Loach.

At the other end, Ashmore easily gathered a James shot after a free-kick had run his way in the Fleet box.

Hartlepool, with 10 men behind the ball, were frustrating the home side in what was an increasingly poor spectacle.

Kedwell was sent on for the last 17 minutes and glanced a header wide from a long throw but Ebbsfleet, at times, were guilty of over-playing in the Hartlepool half.

Ashmore had been a spectator for most of the evening but his concentrations level clearly hadn't waned when he flew high to his left to claw a Kabamba shot out of the top corner.

The goalkeeper also got a touch to a late James shot, flicking the ball behind, while Kedwell smashed a shot over at the Plough End.

Liam Noble's long shot forced one final save from Ashmore but five added minutes failed to produce a grandstand finish.

Ebbsfleet: Ashmore, Wilson, Magri, King, Bush, Rance, Drury, Payne, Weston, McDonald (Whitely 29mins), Cheek (Kedwell 73mins). Subs not used: Adams, Miles, Moncur.

Hartlepool: Loach, Donaldson, Kioso, Cunningham, Anderson, Amos (Kitching 84mins), Featherstone, Noble, Hawkes (Molyneux 68mins), James (Muir 90mins), Kabamba. Subs not used: Richardson, Hawkins.

Attendance: 1,265.