Ebbsfleet 0 Histon 1

Ebbsfleet's Blue Square Premier play-off hopes suffered a blow on Monday when they lost their unbeaten home record to Histon.

A dull affair was livened only by the inept display of referee John Hopkins, who brandished nine yellow cards during the 90 minutes - including two in the direction of Fleet defender Darius Charles.

The second, for diving, was an amazing decision after Charles lost his momentum having been clearly clipped by Histon's Antonio Murray.

Charles saw red with just three minutes to play, by which time the Fleet had already run out of ideas to break down a stubborn Histon defence.

Although the Fleet started brightly, chances were few and far between. A penalty appealed for handball was turned down and Neil Barrett had three half-chances.

The only goal arrived on the stroke of half-time when a long throw into the Fleet box was helped on at the near post and Damian Reeves' overhead kick beat Lance Cronin.

The Fleet had an effort cleared off the line in the second half but, playing their second game in three days, they lacked the creativty to break down the visitors.