It’s another Tuesday night on the road as the Fleet embark on November, making the journey to Hampshire to face Farnborough, writes Libby O’Connell.
Form guide
Saturday was a hard day on the road as the Fleet finally faced a defeat after the 12-game unbeaten start to the season. At a disadvantage from the 16th minute sending-off of James Vennings and down to 10 men, Ebbsfleet did well to keep the scores level for the remainder of the first-half.
Daniel Ogunleye filled the travelling fans with hope as he converted what appeared to be a perfectly legitimate opener on 55 minutes, but an offside flag cut those celebrations short. Truro pushed forward after that to secure two somewhat messy goals, and a third from the penalty spot. With Camron Gbadebo also sent off in the final minutes for a second yellow card, it means suspension for those players starting on Saturday, meaning they are eligible for this trip to Farnborough.
The Fleet remain third in the table, just two points behind top spot, with games in hand and they still enjoy the best goal difference in the division so the Truro defeat can be laid to rest with a bounceback performance in Hampshire.
Farnborough are in 16th place, 11 points behind the Fleet. Their recent form has been mixed, with three defeats separated by two victories. They suffered a heavy defeat on Halloween, losing 5-0 to Horsham on home turf. The Wednesday prior saw them pick up three points with a solid 2-1 victory against Weston-super-Mare, providing some relief after their 2-0 loss to Folkestone the previous Saturday. Farnborough have also suffered a couple of heavy defeats this season, losing 4-0 to both Tonbridge and Billericay. Their overall record currently stands at five wins, two draws and seven defeats.
Last time out
The two teams are no strangers to each other, first meeting in the 1990/91 season when the opposition were Farnborough Town. There have been 23 meetings between the sides in all (11 of them since Farnborough’s reformation), with The Fleet winning 12, drawing six and losing five. You have to go back to 2011 to find Farnborough’s last win, in that infamous game when Preston Edwards was sent off after 10 seconds.
The most recent meetings, during last season, ended in two draws, finishing 2-2 at the Fleet and 1-1 at Cherrywood Road. Toby Edser (below) scored in that one as Fleet threatened to run riot in the first-half but in the end had to settle for the point.
Who’s who?
Former Fleet skipper Max Ehmer is perhaps the most noteworthy name likely to appear on the teamsheet. The centre-back, who wore the captain’s armband last season, signed for Boro following his departure from Stonebridge Road at the end of that campaign.
Ehmer made 21 appearances during his time at the Fleet, having arrived with plenty of experience behind him, including almost 500 EFL appearances, most of them for Gillingham. He also played for Bristol Rovers and QPR.
Experienced campaigner Tom Lapslie plays a key part in Farnborough’s midfield. The 31-year-old joined them ahead of this season and has been a regular starter for much of the season so far
Before joining Farnborough, he made 152 appearances for Colchester United, as well as spending three seasons at Torquay United before joining Chelmsford City last season.
Forward Mason Bloomfield, a former Fleet trialist in 2020/21, scored both goals inside 15 minutes in Farnborough’s recent 2-1 victory over Weston-super-Mare. This is now his third spell at Boro, having first joined in December 2022.
Throughout the rest of his career, Bloomfield has played for teams such as Hartlepool, Barnet and Bromley, where he was part of their FA Trophy-winning side alongside Vennings. He’s also previously featured for Chelmsford City, Billericay Town, Brentwood Town, Aveley and Norwich City.
The manager
Spencer Day has held the managerial position at Farnborough since 2011, following his departure from Chertsey Town, where he spent four years as both owner and manager from 2007. During his time at Farnborough, he has led the club to two promotions, most recently guiding them back to Step Two football following their play-off victory in the Southern League Premier South at the end of the 2021/22 season.
The referee
Kai Morgan takes charge this Tuesday night, having refereed two of our games last season – the 3-0 win over Torquay and the 4-0 victory against Hampton & Richmond Borough. The Portsmouth official has been at this level since midway through the 2024/25 season.
Commentary
FleetLive will be broadcasting on YouTube here.
