Fleet might well still be awaiting a first clean sheet of the campaign, but it’s not been for the want of trying by Tyler Cordner and his teammates in recent weeks.
The Bournemouth U23 loanee has been impressive in his three games so far and he put in another assured performance at the heart of the Ebbsfleet defence at Woking.
Effortlessy switching from a 4-4-2 setup to 3-5-2 midway through the first-half and doing an excellent job in shackling the lively Dave Tarpey, Cordner helped stem the Woking tide.
“It was a good game, we started well,” he told BBC Radio Kent’s Charles Webster. “We were happy with our first-half performance and disappointed to come in 1-0 down. We got the ball down a little bit more and we opened them up at times. Coming here and knowing they were the league leaders, we didn’t have as much pressure on our backs but in the second half it was good character to come back and get the two goals. It was a thrilling game.”
As the newest addition to the side, Cordner is keenly aware of the need to fit in quickly but he’s not alone in a squad that has only been together since July.
“In the changing room, the gaffer and Hendo were constantly saying, the last three games we’ve got the results through hard work and we’ve got to just stick together as a team,” he said. “We’re all new in the changing room, from last year’s Ebbsfleet team so togetherness is a big thing for us this year. Hopefully we can keep together like we did today and get more results.
“Obviously, we’d like to turn these points into three but we can’t complain coming to the league leaders and getting a point away from home after being 2-0 down. We’re certainly a good enough side to go out and get more results and I think we’ll do that in the coming weeks.”
The 20-year-old is with the Fleet until January 2020 and he’s been pleased with the way things have gone for him so far.
“It’s been really good,” he said. “I’m still new to the [club] and still learning a few names here and there but I’m enjoying it and getting a lot of football so hopefully it keeps continuing. I’ve had a couple of good games, we’ve got three draws and I’ve played in the last three so hopefully we can continue and get three points.”
Keen-eyed away fans at Woking might have noticed Cordner lining up free-kicks alongside Myles Weston and Frankie Sutherland and the defender has some previous successes with set pieces – a successor to Chris Bush perhaps?
“Last year at Havant I took a few free-kicks and netted a couple,” he revealed. “I’ve taken them for Bournemouth U23s as well. It’s something I’d like to add to my game and I scored a few last year. As a defender, not many people do it so having that is another step up.”
And stepping up is something Cordner is keen to do with Ebbsfleet, as the latest stage in a blossoming career could lead to much bigger things on his eventual return to Bournemouth.
“I went away with the [Bournemouth] first team to Barcelona and La Manga,” he said. “It was a good trip and I thought I’d done well but due to a lot of people in my position that are more experienced, they wanted me to go out and get games and I can’t complain.
“I had a lot of League clubs interested because I was in the National League last year, I played 35 games, but that didn’t come about and Ebbsfleet came in for me and it was a no-brainer to come. If I can get games under my belt, that’s what I want to do and I’ve heard good things about the club.”
