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Ebbsfleet United goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore saved two penalties in the dramatic play-off win against Whitehawk

Nathan Ashmore has described the moment his penalty save took Ebbsfleet through to the National League South play-off final.

Ashmore kept out Sam Rents and Jake Robinson's spot-kicks in the shootout as Fleet came through their semi-final against Whitehawk after the two-legged tie had finished 3-3 on aggregate.

Liam Graham fired the first Hawks penalty against the post, with only Dave Martin and Nick Arnold finding a way past the former Gosport keeper.

Nathan Ashmore celebrates saving a penalty in the shootout Picture: Ruth Cuerden
Nathan Ashmore celebrates saving a penalty in the shootout Picture: Ruth Cuerden

Ashmore said: "It’s a great feeling, an unbelievable feeling.

"I’ve gone all season and not saved one penalty, so to get two in one game, to get into the final, happy days.

"As soon as it went to penalties, I was 100% confident we were going to win, that I was going to save at least one, maybe two, to help the team out.

"You can prepare for a one-off penalty in a game but in a penalty shootout, everything goes out of the window. You just have to pick a side and hope for the best.

"Never change your mind and believe you’re going to save it and go 100%.

Stuart Lewis embraces Nathan Ashmore after the penalty shootout Picture: Ruth Cuerden
Stuart Lewis embraces Nathan Ashmore after the penalty shootout Picture: Ruth Cuerden

"Thankfully I saved two and did enough to put one of them off because he hit the post.

"It's a good experience. I enjoyed it.

"We set out to not give them too much space and thankfully we did enough.

"They had a good spell for about 15 or 20 minutes when they kept popping everything into the box. We defended well and thankfully we went through on penalties."

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