The second of Fleet’s two scheduled ‘blank weekends’ has passed and after tonight’s clash against St Albans City, it’s pretty much Saturday to Saturday for Dennis Kutrieb’s side to the end of the 2021/22 season.
This will be – any potential postponements excluded – the last night under the Fleet lights through to the end of the campaign and the scene couldn’t be better set for Fleet to respond to last week’s defeat at Dartford.
With seven days having passed since that one, new signing Louie Moulden has been able to spend a full week training with his new teammates and is in contention for a squad place – whether that involvement will be as a starter or on the bench is one of a few decisions Dennis Kutrieb will have been mulling over since last Tuesday.
Both Greg Cundle and Joe Martin came off with knocks at Princes Park, though without a game on Saturday there was a period of extra recuperation for some of Fleet’s wounded. With four wins and a draw from the last five at the Kuflink Stadium, the Fleet will be seeking to extend that record with games against Slough Town and Eastbourne Borough to follow on home soil this month.
Much will depend on the visitors, too, of course. St Albans City were something of a surprise package last season after fending off the relegation places in 2019/20. And they began this season in equally eager form only to drop off the pace after their FA Cup heroics earlier this season.
Manager Ian Allinson has won promotion from this division before with Boreham Wood in 2015 and he would have been concerned by his team’s run of just two wins in nine recently, a slump that sent the Saints from a season’s high of second down to ninth.
But recent results have seen optimism return, with St Albans bagging a pair of 1-0 victories against Slough and at Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday, leaving them four points behind the Fleet with two games in hand.
The last meeting of the sides came at Clarence Park early last season, the Saints rallying from 2-0 down to win 3-2 with a little help from two-goal Shaun Jeffers. The former Fleet trialist is still the man to watch given his such devastating form for the visitors, having scored 20 goals in 21 games. For all Jeffers’ goal blasts this season, however, St Albans haven’t quite been firing on all cylinders up front of late, having scored more than one goal just once in the past nine games, with three of those blanks.
Elsewhere in the Saints squad is the familiar figure of winger John Goddard who spent 2019/20 at the Fleet. And they have some new blood, too, with highly-rated loan signing Cameron Green from Wrexham likely to operate on the left side of defence. And also in the back four, but on the right, is another loanee, Luton Town’s Avan Jones.
This will be St Albans’ 15th visit to Stonebridge Road since 1972 and they’ll be looking to turn around a record that has seen Fleet win the last eight of those, most recently when Sam Deering’s incredible shot straight from kick-off set us on the way to a 3-1 win in 2016.
MATCHDAY SMALL PRINT ——–>
ONLINE SALES
Our online ticketing sales platform at fleetlive.club has tickets available until 5.00pm on matchday. We would advise pre-purchase for both your and our convenience in gaining admission to the ground.
On-the-day ticket sales continue to be available from the windows by main reception, accepting card and cash payments. Turnstiles open at 6pm but please remember they will only be accepting online tickets (printed out or on your device) and tickets bought at the windows on matchday. The dedicated season-ticket gate will continue to accept your season-ticket cards as usual.
Tickets may also be purchased before the game from local pubs The Edinburgh Castle and The Rose.
NEW CATERING OUTLET
Check out the new food stall to the left of the main turnstiles entrance with new burger offerings in addition to Würtsel Haus German sausage and pomme frites!
CAR PARKING
Car-parking as per usual on matchdays is available at Ebbsfleet International Car Park C for £3. Please have the correct change if possible to aid our parking staff and again, we would recommend an early arrival. Please note that the areas near to Northfleet Station, namely Railway Street and Hamerton Road, have recently become resident/permit-only parking and non-valid vehicles will be ticketed. The area on Thamesway before the roundabout as you approach the Kuflink Stadium is a designated clearway – though that is not particularly apparent as you approach – so you are advised not to park here because of the risk of being ticketed.
MATCHDAY PROGRAMMES
If you wish to purchase your programme in advance for collection from our club shop before you enter the ground, you can do so either via our online shop or when booking your matchday tickets online.
Programmes are also on sale at the ground from the club shop, the popup bar as you enter the turnstiles, the Main Stand tea kiosk or in the Social Club behind the Plough End, costing £3. Advance-order programmes will be available to pick up from the club shop before the game and before you enter the turnstiles.
