Fleet made it to a third Kent Senior Cup semi-final in three years with a win at VCD Athletic, in the first competitive meeting of the sides.

Elijah Anthony earned his first start of the season and capped it with the opening goal, with the rest of the action coming in time added on.

It took both teams a while to get the tempo up and running with neither side creating much of a threat in the opening stages. The hosts had the first chance but that effort from the edge of the box was wide.

The Fleet went in front just past the 10-minute mark when Josh Passley crossed from the right, Aaron Cosgrave fired across to the far side of the box and Anthony arrived to drill the ball home.

Ronny Nelson was busy at the other end of the field as he cleared an effort off the line to keep the Fleet in front and VCD saw another chance come off the post.

Dominic Samuel tried for a second goal when he looked to catch Vickers keeper Bobby Mason off his line before Anthony popped up again with an effort that curled just past the post.

Maxx Manktelow slid in on two deliveries from set pieces while at the other end Jonathan Macaulay leapt high to collect a corner delivery as VCD continued to look dangerous from set pieces.

Samuel was busy in the opening stages of the second half with chances dropping for him but he couldn’t keep his first effort low enough and a second was blocked and sent behind by Mason.

The closest opportunity for a second came from substitute Josh Coley who got on the end of a neat forward move and he smashed that one goalwards only to see Mason tip it over. He then sent a second shot over the bar shortly after that from Charlie Seaman’s pass.

VCD kept moving forwards in search of an equaliser and saw one of their best opportunities hit the bar.

It all looked to be heading for a single-goal victory but there was plenty of drama in added time. First, the hosts went down to 10 men when a raised elbow from substitute Ollie Freeman on Franklin Domi left the referee with an easy decision to make.

The Fleet capitalised on the advantage as Coley found George Moncur out wide. He advanced from the left to drive the ball across goal and past Mason leaving Fin Barnes to send it into the roof of the net.

There was still time for another goal, however, and Lee Bird reduced the arrears as VCD pinged the ball across the six-yard box, hitting the bar before it eventually went in off the post but it was too late for the Vickers to push the tie to penalties.

EUFC: Macaulay, Passley, Anthony (Coley 59), Nelson, Chapman, Manktelow (Seaman 68), Domi, Moncur, Peake, Cosgrave (Kennedy 59), Samuel (Barnes 80). Subs: Coker
VCD: Mason, Ikebuasi, Griffin, Evans, Christie, Fenn, Kaleba (Freeman 56), Bird, Heatley, Ayai, Gboda. Subs: Rutherford, Barrington, Sampson
Attendance: 112
Photos: ©EUFC/Ed Miller