Ebbsfleet slumped to their fourth home defeat of the season in front of the live TV cameras on Saturday evening.

A Chris Bush own goal settled their National League match with Gateshead to make it three without a win for Daryl McMahon's side.

Once again they failed to turn possession into clear strikes at goal as owner Dr Abdulla al-Humaidi watched on from the directors box.

Danny Kedwell returned for Ebbsfleet and Darren McQueen also started up front having ended his year-long wait for a goal in the 1-1 draw at Dover four days earlier. Sam Magri replaced the injured Dave Winfield in defence as boss Daryl McMahon stuck with a 3-5-2 system.

Lawrie Wilson was drafted in to play wide on the right and Andy Drury returned to partner Dean Rance in the heart of Ebbsfleet's midfield.

New signing Luke Molyneux made his debut in a three-man attack for Gateshead having joined on loan from Sunderland.

Referee David Rock made two big calls in the first six minutes. First, he dismissed Heed's penalty appeals when Molyneux played in Steven Rigg, who tumbled under Magri's lunging challenge.

Then Mr Rock missed a clear tug on McQueen by last man Robbie Tinkler as the striker attempted to latch onto Kedwell's flicked header.

Corey Whitely dragged a low shot wide but it was Gateshead who went ahead in the 13th minute. Ebbsfleet have conceded far too many poor goals already this season and this was another as Nathan Ashmore pushed Tom White's shot against Bush, who turned to see the ball roll into his own net.

Gateshead had it easy for the rest of the first half as Ebbsfleet, in front of a quiet home crowd, lacked energy, invention and leadership all over the pitch.

The visitors were winning 50-50s, using the ball better and could have doubled their lead when Tinkler's low cross from the right fizzed right through the six-yard box.

Gateshead were playing all the football and when they did lose possession, they pressed as a team to deny Fleet space.

There were sporadic moments of encouragement for the home side but never anything you would describe as sustained pressure.

McQueen, who slipped over several times in promising positions, hooked a bicycle kick over the bar after the pace of Whitely had forced a corner down the right.

Whitely saw a shot deflect behind and Bush knocked the resulting corner down for Kedwell but he failed to trouble Aysnley Pears in the Heed goal.

The home defence was punctured by one straight ball late in the first half and Steven Rigg should have made it 2-0, instead rolling his low shot across the face of goal.

Shields was doing his best down the Fleet left but his whipped cross just before half-time was behind McQueen as the visitors went in feeling comfortable.

Having failed to register a single shot on target in the first half, the home side righted that within a minute of the restart. Whitely's driving run created an opening for McQueen, who forced a save from Pears at the foot of his near post.

You felt Ebbsfleet could only improve on their limp first-half display and there was more tempo to their play, although Whitely's free-kick from 25 yards sailed harmessly into the Plough End.

Shields' deep cross from the left reached Wilson at the far post and he knocked the ball across the face of goal but there was no red shirt on hand to force it home.

Scott Boden curled a shot just wide for Gateshead but largely the visitors were being penned back in their own half now.

Possession without penetration has been a theme of Ebbsfleet's season so far, however, and with 11 men behind the ball Heed were rarely troubled.

The home side were too predictable and so was the final outcome.

Ebbsfleet: Ashmore, Magri, King, Bush (Graham 66mins), Wilson, Rance, Drury, Whitely, Shields (Cheek 80mins), Kedwell, McQueen (Coulson 66mins). Subs not used: Powell, Miles.

Gateshead: Pears, Tinkler, Kerr (Devitt 90mins), Mellish, O’Donnell, Forbes, White, Olley, Molyneux (Thompson 70mins), Rigg, Boden. Subs not used: Foden, Hunter, McManus.

Attendance: 1,392.