A steadfast performance at a venue where the Fleet have enjoyed previous good form saw substitute Dominic Samuel win it late on. It was a hugely welcome three points for Dennis Kutrieb’s side who moved out of the bottom four for the first time since November as a result.
Maidenhead had their moments in a match where both sides hit the woodwork but the Fleet defence deserved their clean sheet and the travelling fans greeted the late winner with glee on a windy night at York Road.
There were five changes for the Fleet with Mustapha Olagunju back from his six-week injury lay-off while Franklin Domi was named on the bench after a similar amount of time on the sidelines.
The visitors started with confidence as Dominic Poleon and Rakish Bingham tried to quickly rekindle their relationship up front as they peeled off the home defence looking for a gap. The Fleet forced a number of set pieces in the early stages and from one Craig Tanner inswinger, Ouss Cissé rose well to force Craig Ross to leap high to take.
Ross was behind Declan Skura’s ambitious run and effort from distance before Tanner tried his luck from the byline with a cross that invited a touch from his teammates but Maidenhead cleared their lines.
The home side grew into the game from the midway point of the first-half and enjoyed the benefit of referee Alan Dale’s whistle on more than one occasion to fire a couple of free-kicks in Mark Cousins’ direction.
It was a free-kick at the other end the came closest to opening the scoring, however, when Omari Sterling-James’ low effort swung towards the far post and clattered off the base of it and away to safety.
Maidenhead had some woodwork of their own to curse just past the half-hour mark when former Fleet loanee Ashley Nathaniel-George found space to run into and aim at the target but his shot was climbing and smacked off the crossbar. The Magpies smelled blood and had a period in front of goal where they might have worked that crucial opening, Shawn McCoulsky coming too close for comfort before excellent work by Skura mopped that up.
There was more space to exploit three minutes before the break when Casey Pettit was on to a stray ball out of defence and he hit the post as Fleet hurriedly cleared their lines with home fans celebrating prematurely.
The home side tried to force a possession game on the Fleet in the second period and Cousins tipped aside Reece Smith’s shot while Fleet’s best openings saw well-worked approach play but shots that were blocked on the edge of the box, Sterling-James and Tanner both falling victim to those.
A flurry of substitutions by both sides as an even second-half entered its final 20 minutes saw Domi exert some influence from the Fleet right while Kenlock’s runs from the left of defence were a feature of the visitors’ play throughout – but opportunities were still at a premium.
Maidenhead substitute Chanka Zimba headed Zico Asare’s delivery just over but it was the Fleet subs that were to make headlines moments later. With 81 minutes on the clock, Domi chose to go it alone with a strong run towards the Maidenhead box. He slipped a pass into Poleon who turned it into space to his left and there to stroke the ball past Ross was Samuel to seal the points.
Pettit planted a shot wide in the dying minutes for Maidenhead but that moment aside, the Fleet were comfortable enough in holding on to their second clean sheet in three games for a win that might best be described as dogged – but that’s exactly the sort of resistance and fight the supporters will want to see in the coming months.
EUFC: Cousins, Kenlock, Olagunju (O’Neill 60), Skura, Wright, Cissé, Chapman, Sterling-James (Domi 78), Tanner, Bingham (Samuel 73), Poleon. Subs: Clifford, Ibe
MUFC: Ross, Asare, Beckwith, Lokko, George, McCoulsky (Zimba 75), Ferdinand, Pettit, Smith (Mitchell-Lawson 75), Massey, Barratt. Subs: De Havilland, Clerima, Adams
Attendance: 985
Vote for your man of the match below.
