Forest Green Rovers moved to the top of the National League as Fleet were unable to breach the 23-place gap at The New Lawn this Tuesday night. The hosts had the perfect start with an early goal but the Fleet dug in and stayed in the game until a two-goal burst shortly after half-time took the game away from them. Substitute Wes Fonguck’s consolation put his side back in it but try as they might, there was no way back.
Todd Kane’s injury on Saturday meant he was one of four players changed from the lineup, with Fonguck, Franklin Domi and Kwame Thomas also out of the starting eleven, to be replaced by Tom Dallison, Ben Chapman, Aaron Cosgrave and Dominic Poleon.
It was another quick start by the Fleet with Chapman winning a corner inside two minutes and Forest Green had barely been in it before they took the lead on seven minutes. It came from a corner that was cleared to the edge of the box where Kyle McAllister swept it through a crowd first-time and with Mark Cousins unsighted, Fleet were unfortunate to see it fly in.
Three minutes later McAllister threaded a pass through the box out wide to Manny Osadebe who launched a shot that Cousins did well to push away over the bar.
Fleet didn’t benefit from the same fortune the hosts had enjoyed for their goal when Louis John and Dallison got up to a corner and from close range, Jed Ward managed to keep out Poleon’s effort in a goalmouth scramble.
The home side stroked the ball around comfortably but Fleet’s defensive discipline kept them at bay in a tidy first-half display, with top scorer Christian Doidge kept quiet throughout the first 45.
The next real action came four minutes before half-time with some patient Forest Green buildup allowed Charlie McCann to take a shot in a similar manner to the opening goal but Dallison got the block in.
Osadebe almost wriggled his way through after that on the counterattack and Doidge nipped in to take the ball off his toes, directing it on target but without enough power to beat Cousins at his near post.
Having dug in and defended well in the first-half, Fleet – with two half-time changes – were undone within 90 seconds of the restart. Liam Sercombe powered through from midfield to gain possession and he played in Tom Knowles down the right who crossed past Cousins for Jamie Robson to touch over the line at the far post.
And Knowles put the game beyond the Fleet five minutes later. A ball forward slipped under the feet of Greg Cundle, allowing the Rovers sub to collect and fire beneath Cousins to make it 3-0.
Cousins prevented Adam May scoring a fourth with a diving save and Wes Fonguck wasn’t far away at the other end with a glancing header on 67 minutes that Jed Ward had to pluck out of the air.
Fonguck was much more precise four minutes later when he strode through midfield, starting in his own half, and then let fly with an unstoppable shot that beat Ward to reduce the arrears.
Fleet had their tails up and the home side looked a little nervous in case a second goal would make the end that bit more unsure but a couple of free-kicks didn’t reach the target for the visitors who couldn’t reduce that two-goal gap in the time left.
EUFC: Cousins, John (Fonguck 46), Souaré (Cundle 46), Stewart, Dallison, Wright, Kellermann (Domi 64), Chapman, Tanner, Cosgrave (Thomas 81), Poleon. Subs: Berry, Bingham, Wakely
FGR: Ward, Inniss, Moore-Taylor, Robson (Tozer 94), Long, May, McCann, Sercombe, McAllister (Knowles 38), Osadebe (Cardwell 90), Doidge (Quigley 78). Subs: Searle, Tozer, Bunker, Maddox
Attendance: 1,311 (66 EUFC)
Photos: ©EUFC/Katie Humphris
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