Darren McQueen’s brace secured the three points this afternoon against Boreham Wood with Luke O’Neill also landing on the scoresheet, writes Katie Humphris.
The action came thick and fast in the opening 10 minutes. Darren McQueen was fouled by Femi Ilesanmi roughly 20 yards out. O’Neill whipped the free-kick towards goal, however his ball was just wide.
In the 21st minute, the Fleet found the breakthrough courtesy of O’Neill. A corner delivery from Franklin Domi floated into the area to eventually knock into the path of McQueen who took a shot on goal. His low powered shot rebounded and opened the gate for O’Neill to fire the ball into the roof of the net to earn his third of the campaign.
1-0 soon became 2-0 when a superb long ball from Domi found McQueen in the box alone. The flying winger calmly brought the ball down to his feet and executed the shot to perfection to slot the ball past Ashmore and double the Fleet’s advantage.
The Fleet continued to dominate Boreham Wood but the visitors snuck a goal back through leading goalscorer Angelo Balanta. A well-taken shot from the edge of the area slid into the bottom corner of the net.
Boreham Wood nearly claimed a second in quick succession when a promising attack fell for Lee Ndlovu to drive a shot – his effort would fly wide of goal.
An action-packed first-half came to a close with the Fleet leading at the break for the first time since York City at the start of the month.
It was a slow-paced start to the second-half with both sides easing themselves back into the game. Cameron Coxe had a strong opportunity to earn Boreham Wood an equaliser but he dragged his shot wide.
A spectacular save from Mark Cousins denied Ilesanmi who rose above his man to produce a thumping header on target.
Boreham Wood not only found themselves a goal down but also a man down, when Billy Sass-Davies was shown a straight red for a reckless challenge on Josh Wright.
The Fleet took advantage of Boreham Wood’s struggles. A training-ground style corner set-piece earned the Fleet their third of the afternoon. Both Haydn Hollis and Domi let the ball fly past them and McQueen stood prepared, blazing the ball into the roof of the net, leaving Nathan Ashmore no chance of keeping that one out. The match began to fizzle out with seven minutes added to the initial 90. The Fleet continued to put on a show and dominate possession. Billy Clifford was denied in the closing stages by an excellent Ashmore save, along with a strong hand from the former Fleet keeper to block Tanner’s long range strike.
EUFC: Cousins, O’Neill, Wright, Cisse, McQueen (Clifford 73) , Domi, Solly, Chapman (Tanner 73), White, Amoo (Coulthirst 80), Hollis. Subs: Edser, Odokonyero
BWFC: Ashmore, Coxe, Ilesanmi, Payne (Whelan 84), Ndlovu, Marsh, Balanta (Stephens 71), Agbonthoma, Sousa (Abraham 82), Sass-Davies, Robinson. Subs not used: Owens, Griffiths.
Attendance: 1,524
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