Pic: Edmund Boyden
NATHAN ASHMORE helped put a dent in his friends' promotion hopes when he made his Ebbsfleet debut against former club Gosport Borough – but they still gave him a lift home on their bus!
The 26-year-old keeper faced the unusual scenario of playing his old team-mates just days after signing for their National League South rivals.
Ashmore, considered one of Non-League's best stoppers, kept a clean sheet on his Fleet bow in the table-toppers' 2-0 win having made the move from the club where he spent five years.
But play-off chasing Boro were happy to welcome him aboard their bus for a beer and a proper send-off during the journey back to the south-coast.
Surreal
“It was very surreal,” Ashmore, who had another shut-out in last Tuesday's 0-0 draw with Maidenhead, told The NLP. “I played for Gosport on the Tuesday night and literally the next game I was playing against them.
“We're all mates off the pitch so after the game it was definitely hard seeing them off. I was in the car about to go back with my girlfriend, my mum and a friend when we drove past them.
“They were going back to Portsmouth as well so I thought I'd go back with them so I could say goodbye properly. It was nice of them to let me do that.
“They gave me a bit of stick and were hammering me, but they're all happy for me that I got the move.”
Ashmore says he couldn't turn down ambitious Ebbsfleet. His career started in the Wessex League Division One with United Services Portsmouth before moving to Havant & Waterlooville and onto Gosport, then in the Southern League South & West.
He has been part of two promotions and the remarkable run that saw the Hampshire club reach the FA Trophy final against Cambridge United two years ago.
And with Daryl McMahon's Ebbsfleet full-time, it meant Ashmore could quit the day job.
“I was working in a restaurant in Portsmouth – called Nandos!” Ashmore said. “Every time I played I would get battered for it by team-mates and fans. But I was playing semi-pro football and I needed another job, so it was good fun.
“They've been really understanding with my football and understood when I needed to leave straight away. I've never been full-time and I've gone the long way to get it.
“But I'm glad I've done it that way. Even though I've not played at the highest standard, I've got loads of experience. I've had two promotions with Gosport, played at Wembley, and hopefully there's more to come.”
Gosport have been hit by financial issues this season with players going unpaid recently. But Ashmore says the strong team spirit in the dressing room will hold firm.
“That's what is keeping them going at the moment,” Ashmore said. “They are a tight group and all good friends who go out together.
“When we used to go away on a horrible trip we used to dig in together and get results. Hopefully they can keep doing that and get out of the sticky patch they're in.”
