From Matchday 1 to Matchday 5, the first of Fleet’s rescheduled games takes place this Tuesday night at Slough Town’s Arbour Park – writes Libby O’Connell. Ebbsfleet are now beginning a steady run of back-to-back catch-up fixtures in amongst the scheduled games and cup ties which will make for a busy few weeks ahead.

Form guide

Despite still being behind in matches played, the Fleet are wasting no time catching up on points as they bagged another win on Saturday against Kent rivals Tonbridge Angels. Although the climb in physical positions has been slow, moving from 22nd to 21st as a result of Saturday’s win, a similar result at Slough would move Josh Wright’s side into 15th place – all of which is ultimately meaningless, however, until there are more games played.

The 2-1 victory on Saturday started with an eye-catching early effort from Gene Kennedy that picked out the top corner to place the Fleet ahead just five minutes in. 

Some 20 minutes later, Lennon Peake delivered for Kwesi Appiah to reach the ball with a diving header and send it into the back of the net. Further attempts followed suit from the likes of James Vennings and Peake, whose attempts went just wide.

Despite Ebbsfleet’s strong performance, Tonbridge responded during added time in the first-half and sent an effort past Will Buse to set up a much more equal second-half.

Slough have started the season with a struggle. Manager Alan Julian paid for their poor form only a few weeks into his reign before the Rebels grabbed their first win almost three weeks ago against AFC Totton. However, there have been nine defeats either side of that, including a recent FA Cup exit at the hands of Chatham Town. 

Despite the lack of wins, Slough have been involved in some high-scoring games, putting three in the back of the net during their 5-3 defeats to both Dover and Hampton & Richmond – although they have conceded 23 in all. 

Last time out

Last season was the first pair of meetings with Slough since an FA Cup clash in 2023 which ended in defeat for the Fleet. Last season’s August Bank Holiday fixture (above) added fuel to the fire as the Fleet suffered an unexpected 2-0 loss at Arbour Park. The last performance against the Rebels in March, however, saw Josh Wright’s squad earn a workmanlike 2-1 victory against a very defensively resolute Slough side.

Opposition insight

Eyes will be on the teamsheet this weekend looking for Harvey Walker’s name after Slough’s reigning player of the year made the mvoe around the M25 to the Morrow Stadium this summer. The left-sided player was a big hit at Arbour Park and he’ll be looking to add to the debut he made against Hemel for the Fleet.

Some of his former teammates are notable in the lead-up to Tuesday night, such as attacking midfielder Johnny Goddard who scored against the Fleet last season and played for us in 2019/20 (below).

New signing at centre-back, Josh Brooking, may also be worth keeping tabs on, following his arrival from Aldershot in the summer. He came up through youth academies at Reading and Chelsea, aand represented England at youth level.

The manager

Slough Town appointed Alan Julian to replace Scott Davies in the summer but with the former Dartford and Sutton goalkeeper sacked earlier this month, the interim management team is currently made up of academy head coach Ryan Case, assisted by players Goddard and Henry Ochieng.

The referee

Martyn Mitchell of High Wycombe makes the journey to Slough, having first refereed in the National League North and South in 2024/25, having been in charge of the Southern League Division One Central play-off final before that. An RAF FA referee and squadron leader, his other matches to date this season have all been in the National North.

Commentary

Match commentary comes from Charles Webster on FleetRadio over at YouTube here.