The FA Carlsberg Trophy
The Final
2.30pm Saturday 10 May 2008
Wembley Stadium
Winning club receives £50,000, runners-up receive £25,000
Click here for this season's results
Chris McPhee went from zero to hero as he scored the goal that gave Ebbsfleet United an incredible FA Trophy victory at Wembley.
McPhee saw his first-half penalty saved by Martin Rice, but made amends just minutes later when he scored from close range to send Liam Daish's team on the road to victory.
Kevin Nicholson came close to an early goal as he struck a free-kick that brought the best out of Ebbsfleet 'keeper Lance Cronin. Nicholson drilled the ball firmly with his left foot after just six minutes, but Cronin plunged to the ground and tipped the effort wide for a corner.
Nicholson then turned provider as he delivered another fantastic free-kick on to the head of Tom Sills. When Sills glanced the ball towards the far corner it seemed destined for the bottom corner, but to the relief of the stranded Cronin it went narrowly wide.
In a dominant opening to the game for Paul Buckle's side, Roscoe D'Sane went close once more for the side playing in all-yellow. Nicholson guided a cross to the far post where Lee Phillips headed down for D'Sane to volley the wrong side of the post.
Ebbsfleet came to life and gave their fans something to cheer after 21 minutes when John Akinde turned his marker and closed in on goal, only for the ball to ricochet to the feet of Michael Bostwick who fired a low drive which Martin Rice dealt with at the second attempt.
Ebbsfleet earned a penalty when Chris McPhee went tumbling under the attentions of Rice, and Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot. McPhee stepped up but Rice saved the kick with a fine left-handed stop.
McPhee made amends for the miss just minutes later, on the brink of half-time, when he put Ebbsfleet in front after a tenacious battle from Akinde in winning possession before playing the ball across the face of goal for McPhee to finish.
Courageous to the last, Ebbsfleet held on to complete an incredible story for the club this season.
Ebbsfleet United: 1 Lance Cronin, 2 Peter Hawkins, 3 Sacha Opinel, 5 James Smith, 6 Paul McCarthy (c), 8 Stacy Long (4 Gary McDonald
84), 12 Chris McPhee, 14 Neil Barrett, 18 Luke Moore, 19 John Akinde, 25 Michael Bostwick
Substitutes Not Used: 21 Sam Mott, 10 Chukki Eribenne, 15 Mark Ricketts, 17 George Purcell
Manager: Liam Daish
Torquay United: 21 Martin Rice, 3 Kevin Nicholson, 4 Steve Woods (c), 6 Chris Todd, 7 Lee Mansell, 8 Tom Sills (11 Kevin Hill
89), 10 Lee Phillips (19 Danny Stevens
46), 14 Chris Hargreaves, 20 Roscoe D'Sane (9 Elliott Benyon
66), 24 Steve Adams, 26 Chris Zebroski
Substitutes Not Used: 5 Chris Robertson, 16 Matt Hockley
Manager: Paul Buckle
Referee: Martin Atkinson (West Riding FA)
Attendance: 40,186
