Determination and his side’s ability to find goals from midfield and defence were crucial to achieving three points in the North Kent derby, according to the sponsors’ man of the match Dominic Poleon.
As he told BBC Radio Kent’s Matt Cole, it’s not always about the strikers’ contribution, despite a 19-goal pairing between himself and Rakish Bingham so far this season, and Elliott Romain’s recent brace against Bath City.
“I give [Ben Chapman] that, it’s always nice when you know the team’s chipping in with goals and that just shows the quality. It’s not always the strikers that will score, sometimes the midfielders and today happens to be a defender so I’m delighted for the three points and delighted for Chaps.
“We’ve got a good team, I like the way we play, the style of play. You try to score, if you can’t score try to assist. If you can’t assist, try to put a good performance in and help the team win. So I’m just going to keep trying to do that.
“It was tough, enjoyable and we put a lot of work in. Everyone’s grafting right until the end, to the final whistle. We’re not going out there for a draw and we’ve got the three points. It was a great team effort, we knew it was going to be difficult. They’re a good side, one of the better sides in the league and I always felt it would be down to fine margins.”
Roared on by the biggest home league gate against Dartford for 62 years, Poleon said his teammates could feel the vibe even before kick-off.
“You could feel today something was a bit different,” he said. “Extra fans in, [even during] the warm-up, the atmosphere that the fans created… you could tell there was that little bit extra in it. And it’s only right we as players go out there and do our bit and send them home happy and I think we’ve done that.”
With the three points in the bag, Poleon’s says it’s now all about the next game if Fleet want to keep their noses in front of the chasing pack which includes Dartford despite the 1-0 win.
“It’s tight, but as players you look one week someone is second [in the table], you look the next game they’re fifth. So just take it game by game. We’ve got to go out there and win as many games as possible and let the table take care of itself.
“If you can get a couple wins and just keep winning then it’s all about game by game, not getting too carried away with a win, not getting too carried away with a bad result. Keep chipping away, keep working hard and I think the rest will take care of itself.
“Last week [against Billericay] we slipped up, anyone’s capable of beating anyone and it’s about who turns up on the day and and does the business. So we’ll be looking to get a little run going definitely and keep plugging away.”
