Ebbsfleet United boss Garry Hill on the 2-1 win at Boreham Wood
06:00, 27 August 2019
updated: 09:46, 27 August 2019
The significance of Ebbsfleet's first win of the season wasn't lost on manager Garry Hill.
Fleet arrived at Boreham Wood on Monday bottom of the National League with just one point from their first six games.
But they left having dug in for a 2-1 victory which lifted them off the foot of the table.
Scroll down to hear from Ebbsfleet manager Garry Hill
Ebbsfleet played against 10 men for 85 minutes and led 2-0 for much of the game but were hanging on at the end.
Hill said: "It was a major win here today, there’s no doubt about that.
"We had to get those three points sooner rather than later it was very anxious towards the end.
"You’re going to get like that whether you’re a supporter, management or players. You all get nervous towards the end of the game because you want that first win. It’s a big win.
"As you can appreciate, it’s been tough. It doesn’t matter who you are or how long you’ve been in the game, it’s not very nice when you’ve had the start we had but you can see with the performance that we’re all in it together."
Femi Ilesanmi was the last man when he brought down Lawrie Wilson in the third minute and was shown a straight red card.
Hill said: "It was a big advantage to have very early in the game and he’s got to go whether it’s in the first minute, the 50th minute or the 90th minute. He’s brought him down and taken him out of the game and of course it gave us an ideal opportunity.
"We punished them in that time, a good goal from James Ball and then a great ball into the box and Gozie Ugwu’s got on the end of it.
"We had chances to put the game completely out of their reach, we had that little bit of width, we were getting down the sides and it was causing them a problem but we didn’t capitalise on it and all credit to them, they kept working and they had a little spell, 10 minutes before half-time, where they were getting balls down the sides of us and they were quite lively up top.
"To come in 2-0 up, it was very hot for both sides and probably with us having a small squad, it was always going to be a case of who could last the 90 minutes.
"We had a goal disallowed which would have made it completely safe but it wasn’t to be and they kept coming - all credit to them.
"They made it tough for us, they got a goal back from a penalty and they really had a go to try to get the equaliser but we saw it through.
"Jordan Holmes (in goal) did very well pushing one over the bar and dealing with a big cross into the box, he came and took it well.
"I want to donate (that win) to the supporters because there was a good following here today and it’s been tough for them as well as it's tough for us.
"To follow that one-point game with three points and with a home game against Aldershot on Saturday, we’ve got time to prepare and rest and see where we go from there."
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