Havant & Waterlooville 3-3 Ebbsfleet United

Ebbsfleet staged a remarkable recovery at the start of the second half to earn a draw at relegated Havant & Waterlooville.

Trailing by three goals at half-time, the visitors were level before the hour mark as they closed the gap to the play-off places to three points with two games remaining.

Alfie Rutherford opened the scoring after 22 minutes when he converted the rebound after Ryan Woodford's header hit a post.

Michael Cheek somehow managed to hit the bar with the goal gaping as the visitors looked to respond, but instead Havant struck twice at the end of the first half, through Rutherford and then Dan McNamara, to leave Ebbsfleet with a mountain to climb.

Danny Kedwell's close-range finish pulled one back a minute after the break before Cheek made up for his earlier miss with a turn and shot into the net from the edge of the area.

And Sam Magri completed the comeback six minutes after that to leave the hosts stunned.

With more than 30 minutes still to play, Ebbsfleet would have fancied their chances of going on to claim victory, but they could not find a fourth goal as they missed the chance to move to within a point of seventh-placed Eastleigh.

Match report supplied by the Press Association.

• Line-ups
• Live Text

Line-ups

Havant & Waterlooville

• 28Bilboe
• 2Strugnell
• 3WilliamsBooked at 65mins
• 14CarterBooked at 28mins
• 7Fogden
• 5Woodford
• 8Lewis
• 18McNamaraBooked at 75mins
• 20RutherfordBooked at 78mins
• 25Cordner
• 27PaulSubstituted forQuigleyat 60'minutes

Substitutes

• 10Quigley
• 12Banjo
• 15Huggins
• 22Molyneaux
• 29Jalloh

Ebbsfleet

• 1Ashmore
• 3Magri
• 4Rance
• 10Drury
• 8AdamsBooked at 38minsSubstituted forPayneat 46'minutes
• 5WinfieldBooked at 78mins
• 9Kedwell
• 11Weston
• 12CheekSubstituted forGrahamat 76'minutes
• 19BushBooked at 75mins
• 23WilsonSubstituted forWhitelyat 63'minutes

Substitutes

• 13Miles
• 14Moncur
• 16Payne
• 18Whitely
• 22Graham

Referee:

Sam Allison

Attendance:

1,097

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Havant & Waterlooville 3, Ebbsfleet United 3.

Full Time

Posted at 90'

Second Half ends, Havant & Waterlooville 3, Ebbsfleet United 3.

Booking

Posted at 78'

Dave Winfield (Ebbsfleet United) is shown the yellow card.

Booking

Posted at 78'

Alfie Rutherford (Havant & Waterlooville) is shown the yellow card.

Substitution

Posted at 76'

Substitution, Ebbsfleet United. Bagasan Graham replaces Michael Cheek.

Booking

Posted at 75'

Chris Bush (Ebbsfleet United) is shown the yellow card.

Booking

Posted at 75'

Dan McNamara (Havant & Waterlooville) is shown the yellow card.

Booking

Posted at 65'

Rory Williams (Havant & Waterlooville) is shown the yellow card.

Substitution

Posted at 63'

Substitution, Ebbsfleet United. Corey Whitely replaces Lawrie Wilson.

Substitution

Posted at 60'

Substitution, Havant & Waterlooville. Joe Quigley replaces Chris Paul.

Goal!

Posted at 57'

Goal! Havant & Waterlooville 3, Ebbsfleet United 3. Sam Magri (Ebbsfleet United).

Goal!

Posted at 51'

Goal! Havant & Waterlooville 3, Ebbsfleet United 2. Michael Cheek (Ebbsfleet United).

Substitution

Posted at 46'

Substitution, Ebbsfleet United. Jack Payne replaces Ebou Adams.

Goal!

Posted at 46'

Goal! Havant & Waterlooville 3, Ebbsfleet United 1. Danny Kedwell (Ebbsfleet United).

Second Half

Posted at

Second Half begins Havant & Waterlooville 3, Ebbsfleet United 0.

Half Time

Posted at 45'+1'

First Half ends, Havant & Waterlooville 3, Ebbsfleet United 0.

Goal!

Posted at 45'

Goal! Havant & Waterlooville 3, Ebbsfleet United 0. Dan McNamara (Havant & Waterlooville).

Goal!

Posted at 44'

Goal! Havant & Waterlooville 2, Ebbsfleet United 0. Alfie Rutherford (Havant & Waterlooville).

Booking

Posted at 38'

Ebou Adams (Ebbsfleet United) is shown the yellow card.

Booking

Posted at 28'

Mike Carter (Havant & Waterlooville) is shown the yellow card.

Goal!

Posted at 22'

Goal! Havant & Waterlooville 1, Ebbsfleet United 0. Alfie Rutherford (Havant & Waterlooville).

Kick Off

Posted at

First Half begins.

Lineups are announced and players are warming up.