Ebbsfleet 2 Salisbury 1

A BRACE from Chukki Eribenne helped keep Ebbsfleet’s Blue Square Premier play-off hopes alive after a home win over Salisbury on Tuesday.

Two goals in a six-minute spell midway through the first half effectively ended the game as a contest as City’s 12-game unbeaten run was brought to an end.

Fleet took the lead just after the half-hour mark when Michael Bostwick laid the ball into the path of Stacy Long, who crossed from the left to allow Eribenne to stab home from close range.

The former Weymouth striker added to his tally on 36 minutes when a free-kick from Peter Hawkins was flicked into his path by Luke Moore, with Eribenne getting up well to send a looping header over the advancing Ryan Clarke.

Salisbury pulled a goal back in the 90th minute when substitute Darrell Clarke headed home from 12 yards, but by then it was too little too late.

Ebbsfleet manager Liam Daish said: "I didn’t think we had our destiny in our own hands during the second half. I knew they were going to come at us and throw caution to the wind, but I thought we could have controlled the game more."

Ebbsfleet: Cronin, Ricketts (Bull 90mins), McCarthy, Hawkins, Opinel, McPhee, Barrett, Bostwick, Long, Eribenne (Nade 86mins), Moore. Subs not used: Mott, Stubbs, Maskell. Attendance: 670.