Welling boss Peter Taylor felt Ebbsfleet’s display in handing out a six-goal derby thrashing was the best he’s seen at National League South level.

It’s only been a small sample size for Taylor, who took over as Welling boss in September.

But he was a keen admirer of Dennis Kutrieb's methods and his Ebbsfleet side after they brushed aside Taylor’s Wings, and knows they will take some stopping.

Taylor watched Welling get stuffed 6-0 at home by Dartford, and also praised Hampton who hit back to win 3-2 at Park View Road earlier in the season.

“Ebbsfleet were good,” reflected Taylor. “I was expecting us to do well, and show them that we’re athletic and we’ve done well on the ball at times. But we couldn’t get near them at times.

“I think a lot of that was us switching off and not pressing early enough but to be fair, as I said to the players, I’m not going to take credit away from Ebbsfleet because they’ve always got an option on the ball.

“They move it quickly and you can tell they are very well coached. They will take some stopping.

“The performance they put in was the best I’ve seen at this level since I’ve been back in. Hampton were also very good and I saw Dartford play Welling before I joined and they were a decent team.

“Ebbsfleet also had a couple of injuries as well so it just shows you the strength of their squad!”

There were obvious shortcomings in Welling’s defending and desire, but that didn’t stop Taylor from praising their opponents.

The Wings boss added: “We started so poorly. I don’t want to take anything away from Ebbsfleet, they are a terrific team. The manager is coaching them superbly, you can tell they are full-time and they have lots of options every time they get the ball.

“They’re very difficult to play against but saying all of that we started poorly as well. They scored three goals early doors where their players are playing around in our penalty box and they shouldn’t have the time and space to do that.

“That’s disappointing. I’m disappointed with lots of things we did but very impressed with Ebbsfleet.”

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