Woking were held to a 1-1 draw by a stubborn Ebbsfleet United side in the National League on Saturday.

Neal Ardley gave a league debut to Jacob Mazionis and a first league start under his tenure for Lewis Walker.

Matt Ward returned to the line up after an injury kept him out of the past two games, along with Ben Wynter, with Jermaine Anderson and Frank Vincent making way.

Meanwhile, former Woking loanee Toby Edser started for the Fleet, who had two matchday signings on their bench as well.

Just five of the Fleet’s starting 11 were involved in the reserve fixture back in August.

Ebbsfleet got the game underway, shooting towards the KRE, but the first meaningful attack was a Woking one.

Good work from Ward down the wing found Jamie Andrews, but he scuffed his shot wide.

A golden chance for the Cards came after 17 minutes when a route one goal kick was flicked on by Walker, but Inih Effiong got the ball stuck under his feet when he was trying to round Mark Cousins in goal.

Then came an even bigger chance for the visitors, when an intricate move ended in Edser scuffing his shot wide of the bottom corner with half the goal gaping.

Walker was winning the majority of his flick ons with ease, and the ball landed perfectly for Harry Beautyman, but his header was straight at Cousins.

After Ward won a free kick, which saw a third Ebbsfleet player booked inside half an hour, Dale Gorman’s delivery found Beautyman, but Cousins produced a top draw save to parry the ball over the crossbar.

An effort from George Moncur bounced awkwardly in front of Cards keeper Will Jaaskelainen before he had to block a follow up effort behind, ending a lacklustre first half in which the visitors managed to spoil the game on a number of occasions.

Woking never really got going, and work would need to be done were they to take all three points.

Nothing of note happened in the first 15 minutes of the second half until an inspired run from Wynter down the right-hand side saw him nutmeg a defender and be impeded, falling to the floor and getting a penalty from referee Ross Martin.

Beautyman smashed it into the corner to the right of Cousins to give Woking a much-needed breakthrough.

Just a couple of minutes later, Woking were caught napping from a Luke O’Neill throw in and Kwame Thomas’ shot across goal had to be cleared by Wynter at the back post.

Ebbsfleet did have their equaliser after 74 minutes when Moncur’s deflected effort from range looped into the top corner, giving Jaaskelainen no chance.

A swift Woking break saw Gorman play Ward down the right, whose cross was just deflected onto the shoulder of Effiong. The ball flew agonisingly over the crossbar as Woking looked for a second.

They were unable to do so, however, making it back-to-back 1-1 draws for Woking, while this was the Fleet’s third straight draw.

Woking ultimately came up short against a side who had a gameplan which worked well, but Ardley is still unbeaten as boss.

By William Bewsey