Saturday’s visit of Hampton & Richmond Borough will be the fifth meeting of the two sides in 12 months after two league meetings last season within weeks of each other produced a win apiece and this season’s earlier league and FA Cup clashes produced the same.
It’s been a case of winning on one’s own ground in this fixture of late and as the hosts this weekend, Fleet will be going all out to ensure that sequence continues.
After the events of the past week on 3G surfaces, Dennis Kutrieb’s side will be looking forward to getting back on to the green, green grass of home in pursuit of the points. It’s been almost four weeks since the last appearance at the Kuflink Stadium, the memorable 1-0 victory over Dartford, and the visit of Hampton marks the first of three home games over the next two weeks.
Fleet will have been pleased to see Joe Martin back in the squad after returning against Maidstone, given Sefa Kahraman begins his suspension for his two yellow cards at Dorking and the fact there are questions regarding Sido Jombati’s return following his injury at Dorking.
Meanwhile, Elliott Romain could get a chance to stake his claim to a starting place if Rakish Bingham’s injury – also sustained at Dorking – proves to be longer-term. Bingham, of course, was on target together with Chris Solly when Fleet saw off Hampton to the tune of 2-0 in the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round.
Hampton will have several new faces in their side since that FA Cup visit. Manager Gary McCann has seen several players depart, including some influential names in Sam Cox, Charlie Wassmer and Ryan Gondoh, while strikers Kadell Daniel and Charles Hagan have also moved on. New faces include former Eastleigh midfielder Jack McKnight, Woking loan pair Leo Hamblin and Tommy Block, striker Zach Robinson from AFC Wimbledon and Shane Dunne who has played most of his career in Ireland. Two more, Imran Uche and Brandon Barzey, have been recalled from dual-registration service at other clubs.
And only today (Friday) there was a further departure, with former Hartlepool striker Niko Muir moving on to Billericay Town
The loss of Cox, Wassmer and Gondoh left some gaps in the Beavers squad and the team plunged to the bottom of the form table of late, ending up in 14th place after starting the season looking odds-on for a play-off spot.
Defeat to Plymouth Parkway in the FA Trophy was followed by a run of poor results in the league, losing to Hemel, St Albans, Slough, Hungerford, Dorking and Braintree. But McCann has steadied the ship with a win over Concord, a draw at Dartford and a convincing 4-0 demolition of Bath City in the last week or two that suggests the Beavers might be returning to their early-season best.
Two of Hampton’s goals in midweek came via the same route – corners from the right headed home by Dean Inman and that’s one route to goal the Fleet will certainly need to block off.
MATCHDAY SMALL PRINT ——–>
ROADWORKS: PLEASE LEAVE AMPLE TIME
There are temporary traffic lights at the far end of Stonebridge Road as you head towards Swanscombe and this is affecting approach roads to the roundabout in front of the stadium. Please leave some extra time to arrive and park up – and order your tickets online to beat queues.
ONLINE SALES
Our online ticketing sales platform at fleetlive.club has tickets available until noon 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 1pm 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.
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 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.
