The Fleet kicked off the tie in the brilliant sunshine to begin our Pre-Season campaign and the Gulls started well and saw an early shot deflected behind for a corner as they forced a number of set pieces. However, Ebbsfleet's first real foray in behind came on the 11th minute when Olly Box played across field to Maxx Manktelow coming in off the right flank but he couldn't put his header on target.

Rem Oteh led the Fleet's line with plenty of energy as he got on the end of Finlay Barnes’ ball, rounded the goalkeeper but was off balance and stumbled before his shot was cleared off the line by Dom Brobrovskij. The Canvey keeper, David Hughes, was quickly back to his feet to then parry away Barnes' more direct route to goal with a low drive through the middle.

Due to the weather, the referee called a hydration break midway through the half, which gave Garry and his team a chance to review the opening stage and make some tactical adjustments. Shortly after play resumed, the Fleet's Barnes teed up an inviting free-kick for Box whose header was cleared and Kennedy’s effort on goal was blocked late on.

Half time: Canvey Island 0-0 Ebbsfleet United

Garry Kimble made 10 changes at the break, and Ben Chapman quickly got things off to a start for Ebbsfleet with a bending shot that swung through the box and past the post. Four minutes later, the Gulls got away on a counter from a Fleet corner and should have opened the scoring but Rasheed Salau planted the ball wide from a promising angle.

The Fleet went even closer just on the hour mark, as a good run by Chapman saw him fouled by the Canvey defender and Charlie Seaman struck the resulting free-kick off the crossbar, which was quickly cleared away by the Gulls' backline.

Ebbsfleet's Harvey Walker and Jake Vokins combined well down the left and both had several runs into the area but nothing dropped in the box for the visitors. Both sides had solid chances to win it as an Ebbsfleet shot nicked the post at one end before a Fleet defender performed an acrobatic stop on the line from a goalbound Canvey effort.