The Fleet fell to their first away defeat of the season as an early penalty conversion was enough for Cheshunt to celebrate a hard-earned three points on a first ever trip to Theobalds Lane.
Reece Beckles-Richards was the man to blast the spot-kick past Mark Cousins that left Fleet searching for a breakthrough for the following 80 minutes without success.
Two changes for this last away visit of 2022 saw Dominic Poleon returning after illness alongside Ben Chapman, while Shaq Coulthirst and Luke O’Neill made way. Chris Solly was ruled out through illness while Greg Cundle was still nursing a knock.
On a pitch that played well considering the previous rain, snow and subsequent thaw, Cheshunt set out to disrupt Fleet’s rhythm from the start and Omari Sterling-James knew he was in a battle from the off as he was manhandled at every opportunity by Isaac Pitblado.
The home side capitalised on an errant back pass and what appeared to be a foul on Mark Cousins to make what proved to be the crucial breakthrough. Cousins made an excellent stretching save to push away a Rowan Liburd shot but the ball bounced wide to Zack Newton who was grounded by Joe Martin. As the referee pointed to the spot, Martin’s frustration saw him shove Newton and receive a caution for his misdemeanour. Beckles-Richards stepped up to send the ball beyond Cousins, who was also yellow-carded as he pressed home his claims for the earlier foul.
Cheshunt enjoyed a brief purple patch where Liburd drew another save from Cousins as a cross bounced around inside the box. However, the Fleet began to turn the screw a little more as the half progressed, but were thwarted by a series of physical challenges, with Sterling in particular coming in for punishment with almost every attack from Pitblado until the referee finally put a stop to it with a caution for the Cheshunt defender.
Rakish Bingham had the first sight of goal for the visitors on the quarter-hour when Sterling’s right-flank delivery almost caught him by surprise but he rolled a shot on target that Adam Desbois gathered.
There was more purpose with the next attack five minutes later when Dominic Poleon’s goalbound shot was blocked and then bounced up on to Lewis Hobbs’ arm to the disinterest of referee Robert Claussen.
Fleet began to up the pressure further with a succession of chances sparked by a strong run from deep by Toby Edser. He picked out Poleon but that effort too was blocked before the two players swapped roles. This time Poleon’s pace took him past the Cheshunt line and as he tried to cut back inside on his left foot, the ball rolled away leaving the No.14 with the option of a pass through to Edser instead, that effort ending up wide of the post.
The half closed out with Christian N’Guessan sustaining a further yellow card as Beckles-Richards tried to get away on the counterattack in time added on, their only sniff of a chance in the latter part of the half, while Desbois began to wind the clock down early on with a quite elaborate goal-kick routine.
Time was eaten up in similar manner in the second-half but Fleet just couldn’t find the key to fully unlock a rigorous and well-organised Ambers defensive line, despite the expected encampment in the home side’s half by the red shirts. The closest the visitors came was on 68 minutes when a fast-moving attack begun by substitute Franklin Domi ended up with Tanner’s quick-thinking shot being deflected off the woodwork and away for a corner.
Domi was once more at the heart of another promising move 10 minutes from time, his shot blocked as the amber shirts parted just enough to allow Sterling a clever back-heel from inside the box. That appeared to be heading over until Desbois flung himself across his line and landed on the ball to stop it in its tracks.
Poleon then had another good sight of goal but pulled his shot just wide while Cheshunt’s only meaningful attack of the second-half called on Tanner to be alert as he cleared off his line.
With six minutes added, the visitors kept plugging away but the home side held firm and celebrated their resolve on the final whistle as the curtain closed on the Fleet’s away visits this calendar year.
EUFC: Cousins, Jombati (Domi 59), Martin, Hollis, N’Guessan (Coulthirst 82), Edser, Chapman (McQueen 70), Sterling-James, Tanner, Bingham, Poleon. Subs not used: Finney, Haigh
CFC: Desbois, Cracknell, Pitblado, Alexander, Fernandes, Hobbs, Richards (Haxhiu 83), Maja, Liburd (Harris 77), Newton (Ekongo 72), Re. Subs: McKenzie, Edwards
Attendance: 561
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