The Fleet ended 2025 on a high with a third Kent derby win this season and a third league victory in a row as goals in either half were enough to leave the hosts empty-handed.
It was another strong start from the Fleet that saw them get on top in the opening stages. Charlie Seaman’s excellent run into the box took him past his marker before he was stopped in his tracks while Dom Samuel’s headed effort was gathered by Mitch Walker inside the opening five minutes.
Josh Coley and Lennon Peake linked up neatly and Peake pulled the trigger on that but once again Walker kept the Fleet at bay.
Another excellent chance was created when Samuel turned his man to find himself one on one with Walker who managed to get low and parry the shot away from the target.
But Fleet took a deserved lead in the 18th minute. Peake sent over a corner delivery from the right that needed a headed clearance but the ball fall perfectly into the path of Toby Edser who controlled it and then arrowed a brilliant shot to leave Walker no chance of stopping it.
Decarrey Sherrif should have given Dover an instant reply when he came out on top in a duel with Matt Hall and he only had to slot the ball into an open net but somehow dragged the effort wide.
Dover began to force the Fleet back as half-time loomed and Luca Cocoracchio couldn’t find the target from a shot that curled just wide of the post, while Kenny Coker and Ryan Hanson also failed to trouble Hall.
Dover re-started where they’d left off after the break and Harry Beadle’s effort from a corner was headed over the crossbar and Cocoracchio had another opportunity.
The Whites’ leveller did arrive on 56 minutes when a free-kick was met by Coker who headed the ball home.
But any hopes for the Crabble fans that Dover might press home their momentum fell short and the Fleet capitalised. Samuel found the back of the net a few minutes later but was caught in an offside position, despite a conversation between the referee and his assistant over the award of a goal or otherwise.
But just past the hour mark the winner came. This time it was the Fleet’s Coker, with Ben having been introduced from the bench only four minutes before, whose run and cross from the left came in high and Samuel met it to head it home despite Walker’s attempts to clear from behind his line.
Samuel continued to pose a threat and his next effort from the edge of the area was blocked and Ronny Nelson’s follow-up was cleared too.
A chance to bury the game came when Jake Hessenthaler produced a neat touch to tee himself up for a shot but a Dover leg blocked that and Josh Coley’s run to the near post was also ended six yards out.
The Fleet didn’t need the third, however, as they head into 2026 within touching distance of the play-offs.
EUFC: Hall, Passley, Ehmer, Nelson, Seaman, Hessenthaler, Edser, Chapman (Kennedy 65), Peake (Coker 60), Coley (Cosgrave 78), Samuel. Subs: Barnes, Manktelow, Olagunju, Macaulay
DAFC: Walker, Charles-Cook (Marjoram 80), Jones, Beadle, Sodje, Hanson, Cocoracchio, Odelusi (Wilkinson 80), Coker (Onu 90), Baptiste, Shariff (Nikaj 80). Subs: Gillmore, Gurung, Mensah
Attendance: 813
Photos: ©EUFC (Ed Miller/Tom Harris)
