It may not be about the results, as Fleet boss Josh Wright is keen to point out, but when the results justify the performance and entertainment value, then anyone watching can’t have helped but be impressed.
The Fleet were good value for their 2-1 win over an athletic Spurs side who reached last season’s Premier League 2 play-off semi-finals, with all the goals coming in an enjoyable first-half.
As expected the starting Fleet lineup reflected the side that finished the game at Brentwood less than 24 hours earlier but you certainly wouldn’t have known they’d been in action given the eagerness to get forward.
In the new black/gold anniversary third kit, surely the first time those colours have been worn by the home side in DA11, the Fleet were full of running, keen to match their younger opponents rather than chase around after them all afternoon.
Harvey Walker was the home side’s main outlet with several runs down the left in the opening minutes and he teed up a delivery for Dom Samuel before heading into the box himself, denied by a challenge by the near post.
Fleet were just beginning to stretch the visitors – and the Spurs defence was certainly stretched to its limits when a ball forward fell into the path of Daniel Ogunleye on 12 minutes. He strode on to it and with a measure of confidence in front of a home crowd for the first time, he struck it cleanly beyond goalkeeper Sam Archer for the opening goal.
Archer had to be alert 10 minutes later to steer Ben Chapman’s shot away but Spurs had started to find their passing game at the other end and Will Tizzard and Jake Vokins had to be on hand to clamp down on good work from Damola Ajayi.
The visitors were forced into a change on 25 minutes and substitute Reiss Elliott-Parris made an instant impact. He found space to work a shot that arrowed into the far right corner of Will Buse’s goal, out of the reach of the diving Fleet keeper, for the equaliser.
After Vokins had warmed Archer’s hands with another shot, Ogunleye appeared to have his ankles clipped as he went for goal again but the referee waved away those appeals. The Fleet made an instant switch after that, perhaps as a precaution, with the goalscorer making way for Olly Box.
It didn’t affect the Fleet one bit, however, as Box was soon on the scoresheet himself. After another Chapman shot had been well saved by Archer, Box was on to a Samuel pass in a flash, squeezing past a defender before rounding the Spurs goalkeeper. He was pushed wide but kept his head to direct his shot to the far post from a tight angle, where it bounced in off the woodwork despite the attentions of Elisha Sowunmi.
Another Chapman special ended the half when he picked up play from a Vokins set piece and sent a rocket off the post that Archer seemed to get a touch on, but no corner was given.
Spurs came out in the second-half and applied more possession-based tactics but couldn’t make a dent in the Fleet defence, with the black shirts putting in a strong shift from back to front.
When the Fleet did get it forward again, Box was to be found snapping busily around the edge of the area while Josh Passley and Samuel had a number of attempts at breaching the Spurs back line.
With the introduction of fresh legs in the last 15 minutes, Fleet laid siege to the visitors’ back line at times but somehow couldn’t force a third goal. Maxx Manktelow, Aramide Oteh, Charlie Seaman, Gene Kennedy, Ronny Nelson, Box and James Vennings all saw shots saved, go wide or cannon off a limb as the goal led something of a charmed life.
The win was well-received by the first Morrow Stadium attendance of the summer who have plenty more friendly action to come before the real thing arrives in August.
EUFC: Buse (Hall 62), Passley, Vokins, Tizzard, Hessenthaler, Edser, Chapman, Walker, Barnes, Ogunleye (Box 31), Samuel.
Subs from 75 mins: Nelson, Gbadebo, Vennings, Kennedy, Seaman, Peake, Manktelow, Oteh.
THFC: Archer, Feeney (Moncur 67), Sowunmi (Agyekum 80), Tingey (Adedeji 46), Dorrington (Furnell-Gill 67), Tyrese Hall, Adewole (Elliott-Parris 25), Ajayi (Lehane 78), Scarlett (Ramsey 46), Melia (Russell-Denny 46), Irow (McFadden 46). Sub not used: Maguire.
Attendance: 894
Photos: ©EUFC/Ed Miller
