LONDON, CMC – Ebbsfleet United manager Danny Searle hailed St Lucia striker Dominic Poleon as one of the “quality forwards” in his side.
The 31-year-old fired a second-half equalizer that enabled Ebbsfleet to maintain their impressive recent form with a 1-1 home draw against Southend United in the English National League on Good Friday at Stonebridge Road.
As Southend is known, the Shrimpers took the lead in the first half when forward Harry Cardwell flicked home his 17th league goal of the season.
Fleet have won five of their previous six league matches, and they responded in the second half when Poleon struck less than 10 minutes after coming off the bench in front of a bumper crowd.
“Dom has got that quality in abundance,” Searle said. “As I’ve said to quite a few people, we have three real quality forwards in the building. We’re fortunate.
“When the other two maybe aren’t putting the ball in the back of the net, we’ve got one that will come on.”
Ebbsfleet has been unbeaten at home since Searle took charge last month, and the manager felt his side was the better team for large spells in the contest.
“They’re a perfect side,” he said of Southend. “You can see their quality. Their bench is strong, and there are a certain number of players that weren’t even involved, which you are looking at and thinking, ‘They’ve got a delicious core of players. ‘
“To get anything out of the game, we had to play at our best – and I thought we were perfect. Honestly, I thought we were the better side for large parts.”
Fleet are now 19th on 48 points in the 24-team league – the fourth tier of English football – and four points clear of the relegation zone.
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