It was a rather lower-scoring affair than either of the previous two encounters between the sides as Fleet kicked-off pre-season with a win at Punjab United.
Goals from Trialist A, Rakish Bingham and Dominic Poleon were enough for Fleet to retain the Steve Cook Memorial Cup at the ground that bears his name as the visitors fielded different sides in each half. Dennis Kutrieb also included two trialists in the side, with the goalscorer the only one to play 90 minutes.
It was Fleet who carved out the early chances with Darren McQueen prominent in the opening stages, his run infield from the right on two minutes releasing Shaq Coulthirst who pulled his shot wide.
Trialist A was buzzing around midfield and he forced a way through from that position to see a shot saved by Punjab keeper Liam Northwood, who then thwarted Coulthirst’s next attempt.
From A to B and it was Trialist B who went close on the quarter-hour, bringing down a high ball forward to work a good opening but his low shot rolled wide of the far post.
Punjab went close to scoring 10 minutes later when a shot rolled along the line beyond Mark Cousins and Chris Solly had to be on hand to steer that to safety. But lively and solid as Punjab were in spells, Fleet were soon back on the offensive, Craig Tanner’s solo run producing two shots from the Fleet winger, both saved with some panache by Northwood.
The opening goal came on 31 minutes when Coulthirst’s delivery from the left could have been picked off by McQueen but Trialist A arrived first to fire it home. That lead lasted only two minutes when straight from a corner, Chris Edwards saw his delivery clear Cousins and float in.
McQueen might have restored the lead, first on 41 minutes with an excellent long-distance effort that just cleared the far post and then a similar attempt on the stroke of half-time also just off-target.
There were 10 new introductions for the Fleet in the second-half although it was a much quieter affair for the opening period. Greg Cundle advanced to the byline early on to pull the ball back for Trialist A but he struck that one over the bar.
It took another 15 minutes for anything more of note to occur, Cundle again the man at the centre of the action, advancing into the box only to be felled for a penalty. Bingham despatched that with his customary accuracy and Fleet were 2-1 to the good.
Bingham turned provider next, setting up Poleon whose shot cannoned off a defender before ricocheting dangerously close to goal. And Bingham might have notched a second when Cundle’s cross sat up for him in the six-yard box. New signing Luke O’Neill then smacked a free-kick down the middle that just cleared the bar.
With 15 minutes left, Bingham’s weaving run saw him pick the far corner for his shot that just ran the wrong side of the post. But five minutes after that the game was settled. Bingham once more provided from the left channel after a good passing move through midfield, finding Poleon who did very well to keep his balance and shrug off the attentions of a defender before placing a reverse shot out of Northwood’s reach into the bottom corner.
Poleon might have made it a quickfire second three minutes later when Cundle cleared upfield from a Punjab free-kick and on to it in a flash, Poleon turned well beyond his marker but steered his shot wide.
A physical encounter for much of the 90 minutes, the game ended as Elliott Romain and a Punjab defender clashed in a tackle and the aftermath convinced the referee a pre-season friendly wasn’t worth the ensuing bad tempers and he blew up a few minutes early!
Fleet now move on to Chatham Town on Tuesday night for their second pre-season visit.
EUFC First-half: Cousins, Martin, Jombati, Solly, N’Guessan, Paxman, Trialist A, McQueen, Tanner, Coulthirst, Trialist B.
EUFC Second-half: Haigh, Domi, Finney, O’Neill, Chapman, Trialist A, Cundle, Sterling-James, Romain, Bingham, Poleon.
