BASINGSTOKE Town brought 2014 to an end on a high note, producing an outstanding second-half display to comprehensively defeat Vanarama Conference South promotion rivals Ebbsfleet United on their own ground.

The victory was Town’s third of the season over big-spending Ebbsfleet and moved them up a place to sixth in the table, a single point off third, with games in hand over all of the sides above them.

Basingstoke reverted to a 3-5-2 system, and the first half was a cagey affair, with the visitors defending deep to frustrate Ebbsfleet.

The hosts had plenty of pressure and a couple of half-decent opportunities early on. Billy Bricknell went closest, forcing Stuart Moore into a smart save after being played through, with Rob Dickie doing well to prevent Sean Shields netting the rebound.

Instead, it was Town who took the lead, somewhat against the run of play, after 19 minutes. Louie Soares put in a teasing delivery from free-kick on the left side and Robbie Rice appeared to get a slight touch to take the ball beyond Brandon Hall, though the two players were still disputing who it should be credited to after the game.

It took Ebbsfleet a while to recover after going behind, but they ramped up the pressure as the first half came to a close.

A low free-kick found Kenny Clark at the far post, but he was unable to divert the ball on target, while Moore produced an outstanding finger-tip save to push Darryl McMahon’s free-kick onto the post.

It looked like the visitors would survive until half-time, but they failed to do so, conceding in stoppage-time.

A corner was cleared, but Town failed to get out of their penalty area and put pressure on the ball, which was delivered back into the box. A knock-down found midfielder Matt Johnson and he gleefully smashed the ball into the roof of the net from close range to give his side an equaliser that they probably deserved.

It should have been a real boost for the hosts, who had stopped Town providing much in the way of an attacking threat by pressing high up the pitch.

It’s a high-energy tactic, and one that seemed to catch up with them in the second half, Town finding much more space and getting onto the front foot.

Simon Dunn saw his shot blocked after good play from Chris Flood, while the pace of Lloyd Macklin, an early substitute for the unwell Pat Cox, caused Ebbsfleet problems as the game opened up.

His first contribution was to break forward and fire in a low shot that Hall failed to hold. Flood had the ball in the net from the rebound, but the offside flag was raised.

Ebbsfleet went down the other end and very nearly grabbed the lead. James Harper’s square pass gifted possession to Tyrone Marsh and he managed to evade the last defender before getting in a low shot that Moore did excellently to save.

It was a key moment in the match and Town reacted well, creating more chances. Flood flashed a shot across the face of goal, while Rice nearly converted David Ray’s header across goal from a well-worked free-kick.

Dunn saw another shot blocked but the midfielder did mark his return from injury with a goal on the hour. Excellent work from Flood resulted in Clark gifting the ball to Macklin, whose pace took him clear of the defence. He smashed in a powerful shot that Hall was unable to hold and Dunn was on hand to collect the rebound and fire home under pressure.

Ebbsfleet responded with a substitution and the incoming player, Matt Godden, almost had an immediate impact, his effort from the edge of the area dropping just wide.

The game was ended as a contest with 17 minutes left as Macklin broke clear and was brought down by Hall just outside the area. The goalkeeper was shown a red card as the last man and replacement ’keeper Jamie Turner failed to deal with Soares’ low free-kick, the ball bouncing off his chest for Ray to force home.

Two more goals in the final five minutes put some gloss on the final result.

Good play from Shaun McAuley and Nathan Smart resulted in the latter being fouled in the area and McAuley slotted home from the penalty spot, making it 4-1 five minutes from time.

The visitors added a fifth a couple of minutes later, Tom Bird’s excellent low shot from just outside the area taking a nick on its way past Turner, with Ray claiming his second goal of the game. Another job for the dubious goals panel.

There were four minutes of injury-time and Town thrilled their supporters by playing keep-ball for almost all of it, leaving Ebbsfleet chasing shadows as they completed their second victory of the Christmas period.

Click here to watch a post-match interview with Basingstoke Town manager Jason Bristow

PLAYER RATINGS

Stuart Moore – 8 (out of 10)

Looked shaky at times in the first half but made two outstanding saves, the second of which at 1-1 had a massive bearing on the game.

Nathan Smart – 8

Caused real problems with his pace down the right side and won the penalty that made it 4-1.

Tom Bird – 9 (Gazette Star Man)

A constant threat down the left. Ray may claim the final goal, but it was a fantastic shot with his weaker foot that probably would have gone in anyway.

Robbie Rice – 8

Didn’t put a foot wrong defensively and popped up to score the opening goal.

Rob Dickie – 7

Tried to over-play at times, giving the ball away in bad areas, but looked solid when he concentrated on defending, making some vital tackles and headers.

David Ray – 9

Sound defensively, comfortable on the ball when under pressure and in the right place at the right time to force home the third goal before deflecting Bird’s shot home.

James Harper – 6

Not a good first half and almost gifted Ebbsfleet a goal at 1-1 with a suicidal square ball. Much better in the final half-an-hour, when Ebbsfleet allowed him to have the space to show off his range of passing.

Simon Dunn – 8

Unable to get involved in the game before half-time, but got into dangerous positions after the break and took his goal really well.

Pat Cox – 5

Struggling from the start and failed to have any sort of impact on the game.

Chris Flood – 7

Didn’t really have a kick in the first half but found space after the break. Will be disappointed to have strayed offside for the disallowed goal but his hard work closing down the opposition led to the vital second goal.

Louie Soares – 8

Another player who failed to get into the game in the first half, though it was an outstanding ball into the area which led to the opening goal. More involved after the break and another free-kick set up the third goal.

SUBSTITUTES

Lloyd Macklin (for Cox 32min) – 8

Ebbsfleet simply couldn’t handle his pace on the counter-attack.

Shaun McAuley (for Soares 75min) – 7

Linked up nicely with Smart in the build-up to the penalty, which he converted calmly.

Jamie Brown (for Dunn 80min) – 6

Came on with the game won and helped to close it out.

Subs (not used): Case, Jenkinson.

Ebbsfleet United: Hall, Huke (sub Pooley 90+4min), Howe, Johnson, Acheampong, Clark, Shields (sub Turner 73min), McMahon, Bricknell (sub Godden 62min), Marsh, Cook. Subs (not used): Corcoran, Osborn.

Attendance: 897