EBBSFLEET UNITED 3 WREXHAM 1

Making their first appearance at Stonebridge Road in nearly half-a-century, Wrexham's dreams of reaching Wembley in the FA Trophy lay in tatters at the final whistle.

Despite taking the lead through against the run of play through Jefferson Louis, Wrexham had no answer to Ebbsfleet's free-flowing football with the holders maintaining their grip on the trophy they won last May.

The Dragons last appearance at this venue had come in March 1961. Then Ebbsfleet's near neighbours Gillingham were forced to use the ground after their own Priestfield Stadium had been closed by the Football Association following crowd disorder against Oldham.

Despite the somewhat surreal atmosphere that day, Wrexham recorded a 3-0 win thanks primarily to a brace of goals from future Welsh international Wyn Davies.

This time round there was little chance of that scoreline being repeated and Dragons boss Dean Saunders will be looking for a significant improvement when Salisbury visit North Wales on Saturday.

Referee Steven Beck endured a difficult 90 minutes in the first encounter at The Racecourse and his first real decision on 17 minutes saw John Martin booked for a rash challenge on Andy Fleming.

The colour of the card was in stark contrast to the one branded at Aurélien Collin four days earlier and left manager Dean Saunders clearly frustrated on the touchline. Fleming extracted a measure of revenge on 38 minutes when he caught Martin late, with yellow this time the right decision.

The home side had created the first chance of the game after seven minutes when neat inter-passing provided Giuseppe Sole with a clear opening but the former Woking man's close range shot brought a comfortable save from Gavin Ward.

The Wrexham keeper was tested again three minutes later when slack defending from Ashley Westwood provided Stacy Long with an opening but Ward held the striker's shot with ease.

With the visitors gradually getting a foothold in the match, Jefferson Louis saw a snap shot fly high and wide over Lance Cronin's goal on 21 minutes. But that chance provided a rare sighting of Wrexham in the opposing half as Ebbsfleet regained the ascendency with Long and Gash causing consternation in the Wrexham rearguard.

And it was Gash who almost turned provider for Luke Moore but the latter's acrobatic effort few wide of Ward's right-hand post.

Wrexham came close to breaking the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when Marc Williams' industry brought a free-kick on the edge of the Ebbsfleet box.Having had one previous sighter four minutes earlier, this time Brown's effort left Cronin flat-footed but flew narrowly past the upright.

With neither side making any further changes at the interval, Ebbsfleet were first to show with Barrett's low shot at least on target.Then the game suddenly sprang into life when Wrexham took the lead on 51 minutes.

Jon Brown's free-kick from the left was only partially cleared and, whilst Westwood was wrestled to the ground by Gash off the ball, Opinel's wayward header fell at the feet of Jefferson Louis who rifle home a low right foot shot into the corner of the net. The talismanic frontman ran towards the small band of Dragons fans to celebrate.

Undeterred the home side responded well and levelled six minutes later. Sole's pace took him clear of Taylor and his shot went across the advancing Ward and rolled over the line. That was the signal for Fairhurst to replace the ineffectual Brown with Flynn pushing further forward to create a 4-3-3 formation.

Two minutes later Crofts brought down Barrett inside the area, but Ward produced a fine save to deny Luke Moore from the spot, the Gillingham loanee being booked for good measure the visitors then had to withstand some sustained pressure with Fairhurst clearing a goal bound shot from Long.

But the home side's dominance had to tell and on 75 minutes Luke Moore thrashed home a long range shot from fully 20-yards to make amends for his penalty miss. There could be few arguments that Ebbsfleet deserved their lead.

The introduction of Patrick Suffo and Jamie McCluskey for Flynn and Fleming after 78 minutes did little to change the flow of the game and Ebbsfleet made sure of a semi-final place with a thunderous shot from John Martin seven minutes from time.

The only consolation for Wrexham is that they now have two less BSP games to re-arrange. And in the end, promotion is what this season is all about.

Ebbsfleet United: Lance Cronin; Derek Duncan (Sacha Opinel 22), Darius Charles, Leon Crookes, Mark Ricketts; Giuseppe Sole, Neil Barrett, John Martin, Luke Moore (Ricky Shakes 90); Stacy Long, Michael Gash.
Subs: Dean Pooley, Sam Mott, Matthew Judge.

Wrexham (4-4-2): Gavin Ward, Neil Taylor, Ashley Westwood, Mike Williams, Sam Williamson, Jon Brown (Nathan Fairhurst 52), Andrew Crofts, Andy Fleming (Jamie McCluskey 78), Ryan Flynn (Patrick Suffo 78), Jefferson Louis, Marc Williams.
Subs: Wes Baynes, Darran Kempson.

Referee: S Beck (Beds)
Attendance: 992
Away: 111

Bookings -
Ebbsfleet: Martin
Wrexham: Fleming, Crofts

FINAL WHISTLE: A 3-1 loss and it reflected how the game went. A grim performance in which you'd struggle to find anyone who did themselves justice. At least we won't have to rearrange those two league games that clash with the semi finals, but it's a good job we didn't play Kiddermonster tonight, as a performance like this would have meant we dropped three valuable points. There's a big week coming up at Colliers Park as we lif ourselves for Salisbury.

Injury time: Ebbsfleet have a goal disallowed-Long offside

90 minutes: A crazy scramble in the Ebbslfeet box.  Both Louis and Williams try to get onto a through ball, and in a tangle of legs the keeper manages to grab hold of it.

89 minutes: Crooks' misheader falls to McCluskey unmarked six yards out but his toe poke hits the keeper and is it trickles towards the line he pounces onto it.

87 minutes: Shakes for Moore

86 minutes: Marc Williams heads a corner just over from six yards. It would have been a consolation though, as this game is already over.

83 minutes: GOAL A superb strike by Moore from distance after being set up by Moore. It moved a lot in the air although Ward might be disappointed not to get a hand to it.

80 minutes: No sign of a revival-Ebbsfleet are well on top and our midfield is nowhere.

78 minutes: Suffo and McCluskey on for Flynn and Fleming

75 minutes: GOAL Gash forces Mike WIlliams into a weak clearance and Moore lashes a terrific shot in from the edge of the area. Hard to see where an equaliser would come from.

71 minutes: Ward drops a corner into the crowd, Opinal shoots from close range, going just wide, but Louis can't take a chance and clears it back to him, and his second shot's cleared off the line by Fairhurst. Ward is injured and needs treatment, apparently a facial injury. No sub keeper as usual, but he's okay.

68 minutes:We've managed to regain some measure of equilibrium, but we're going nowhere when we have the ball

64 minutes: We're playing 4-3-1-2 with Flynn behind the front two. It ain't working!

63 minutes: Enormous pressure on us, and we're surviving more by luck than judgement. Ward makes an excellent save low to his left from a Moore shot. We can't get out of the defending third

58 minutes: Penalty to Ebbslleet. Crofts brings down Barret as he runs clear and is booked. WARD SAVES MOORE'S KICK LOW TO HIS LEFT! Poor penalty, but who cares?

$57 minutes: GOAL A messy equaliser. A lucky rebound allows Sole to break clear in the left channel and his shot trickles inside the right past despite Ward getting a hand on it. Immediately Brown is replaced by Fairhurst.

55 minutes: Ebbsfleet have responded well to going behind, as you might expect of a side with a good cup fighting pedigree. We're having to dig in a bit.

52 minutes: A chance for Ebbsflett to hit back-Long runs clear but under pressure his shot is too straight.

51 minutes: GOALLLL!!!!! Out of nothing a poor ball in by Westwood is headed straight by Opinal to Louis, totally clear, who slots it in the bottom right corner!

47 minutes: A neat 1-2 on the edgeo f our box but Barrett shoots straight at Ward/ Good job they've been shooting too straight! I was right about the crowd-992 with 72 from Wrexham

46 minutes: Here we go-no subs for either side.

Right, here they come for the second half: let's hope Deano's inspired them during the break and they'll come out a different team! Another strong second half's required! That attendance figure in the top left corner's pretty accurate, by the way! Looks like less than a thousand.

45 minutes: Marc Williams does well to win the ball on the edge of the box and get a free kick. Brown clips it over the wall and just wide. Immediately the ref blows for half time. We've got to pick up after the break as we once more haven't troubled the Ebbsfleet keeper and are riding our luck a little at the back.  The midfield has been anonymous and the strikers starved of service.

44 minutes: Sole makes a bit of space for himself on the edge of the area and curls his shot over: we've created nothing and have been second best in midfield: an improvement's needed in the second half.

43 minutes: A couple of rash tackles in the space of five seconds by Opinal, but the ref keeps his cards in his pocket.

40 minutes: Fleming gets revenge on Martin with a high tackle and gets booked.

36 minutes: Flynn lacks strength tracking back and Ricketts gets round the back of the defence, but his cross is overhit. We're certainly not imposing ourselves. Maybe Dean's waiting for extra time when that much-vaunted fitness can kick in!

35 minutes: Williams back on.

34 minutes: Marc Williams stays down after a hard challenge by Opinal, although to be fair the Frenchmen seem to go in for a low ball with his head! He's hurt Williams anyway, and he limps off for treatment.

32 minutes: Underhit backpass by Westwood, who's looking a but shaky, and Ward just beats Long to it. Eeeeek!

30 minutes: A hooked shot from the edge of the box by Moore goes jsy wide, although Ward had it comfortably covered.

28 minutes: Our first corner, but Brown puts it straight out!

22 minutes: Williamson does well to cover round the back of the centre backs after Gash nearly goes clear as we don't deal well with a long ball to the edge of the box. The attack seems to spark Ebbsfleet into life as we've loked a bit more steady in the last five minutes

21 minutes: Crooks fouls Marc WIlliams as he runs through-not quite the last man, but the ref doesn't even speak to him when he surely should have got a yellow.  Brown blasts the free into the wall and the rebound falls for louis who shoots well over from 25. Opinal comes on for Duncan, like-for-like at left baclk

16 minutes Awful over the top tackle by Martin on Fleming looks like a red, but the ref decides it's only a yellow! This is the same ref who sent off Collin on Saturday of course! Very consistent!

14 minutes: That's a bit more like it. A nice build up between Marc Williams, Louis and Brown ends in a driven cross from the latter: Barrett has to make a spectacular header clear at the far post.

12 minutes: Was that a faint chorus of "Are you Chester in disguise?" I just heard?

11 minutes: Is this the first time we've been in the attacking third? Louis' cross from the right is blocked.

7 minutes: A real let-off. Awful error by Westwood on the edge of the box, he's caught in position but Long, clear on goal, shoots straight at Ward. We're not getting a grip in the middle.

6 minutes: First shot of the game: a neat lay-off by Gash and Sole stumbled as he shot from ten yards so it went without too much pace straight at Ward.

5 minutes: Pretty even still-at least we're enjoying a bit more possession. At the moment it's as grim as dull as Saturday!

3 minutes: All Ebbsfleet at the moment-we've not had much possession. Mind you, the ref's just given us a free kick in midfield-maybe's he's improved from Saturday!

19.45 Here we go!

19.27 Welcome to Sunny Kent! As a bit of a first we'll be bringing you full text commentary on tonight's crucial FA Trophy quarter final replay at Ebbsfleet!

Wrexham revert back to a full strength side after Saturday's disappointing showing - Ashley Westwood and Neil Taylor come in for Christian Gyan and Aurelien Collin at the back, Marc Williams is up front with Sam Aiston dropping out of the squad and Jon Brown moves to the right wing, while Ryan Flynn replaces Wes Baynes.

Ebbsfleet make two changes, Mark Ricketts replacing Craig Stone, who of course broke his leg on Saturday, and Luke Moore coming in for Ricky Shakes.