Having gone so long without a head-to-head this season – the Clarets were one of the last teams we met in this campaign so far – it’s now a second Fleet-Chelmsford clash in five weeks as we take the short trip to the Melbourne Stadium.
Visits to this corner of Essex have often been eventful affairs and even last season’s goalless draw was not without incident. This season once again throws up an enticing affair, with Fleet looking to consolidate that top spot further still while Chelmsford need the points to keep ahead of a pack of play-off-chasing rivals.
Tuesday night’s stirring comeback victory at St Albans was certainly a pulsating 90 minutes with hard work and resolve at the heart of the Fleet’s win. This will be a fourth away trip in five games, with another to come in midweek, so Dennis Kutrieb’s playing squad will be pushed to the limit in their bid for points before February and March are through.
Dominic Poleon continues to make the headlines and his 26th league goal of the season leaves him just four short of Matt Godden’s 30 in 2015/16, a target surely within reach sooner rather than later. But as Poleon himself has been at pains to point out, it’s a team game and no matter where those goals come from, the important thing is that they do come and they bring the points with them.
Ben Chapman had a hand in both goals on Tuesday night while skipper Chris Solly was one of those whose steadying performance at the back typified everything that was right about his side’s second-half showing.
The home side, meanwhile, came to the Kuflink Stadium in January with an outside chance of seizing automatic promotion but that amibition has probably dwindled by now after some poor form. Chelmsford went on to lose to Welling, Bath City and Havant, while managing only draws at Hungerford and Dover, to drop out of the play-off zone temporarily.
However, they will have been galvanised at home by a last-minute winner against Tonbridge Angels on Monday night, former Bromley man Liam Trotter letting fly with a shot that earned his side three points and their place back in the top seven.
The Clarets have also been hit by a couple of departures since last we met, Henry Ochieng signing for Aldershot Town and Eduino Vaz in the market for a move into the EFL. But manager Robbie Simpson has more than made up for that with the capture on Friday of Woking winger Tyreke Johnson on loan until the end of the season. Fleet fans might recall Johnson – a former teammate of Toby Edser – scoring an excellent goal against us at Kingfield in 2019.
Chelmsford have also recruited ex-AFC Wimbledon and Colchester United striker Michael Folivi while into the ranks have gone loanees Ody Alfa (QPR) and Ernaldo Krasniqi (Huddersfield Town), although they both face late fitness tests.
Definitely missing for the Clarets will be former Fleet striker Reece Grant who is in the middle of a suspension, although former reds skipper Dave Winfield will lead the Essex side into battle.
Experienced Canada international Simeon Jackson is the main man for goals in a side that doesn’t score many but equally boasts the best defensive record in the division, something Fleet will have to navigate better than last season’s 0-0 draw at the Melbourne Stadium when City’s defensive resistance shut them out.
Scoring at the Melbourne Stadium is something the Fleet haven’t done too often in the recent past – just once in the last five visits – so travelling fans will prefer to cast their minds back to the game before that run on Boxing Day 2014 when the Fleet won 5-1.
The last five visits have yielded three goalless draws and two defeats, a 2-1 reverse in our last promotion season of 2016/17 typical of the hard game the Fleet can expect in Chelmsford. Our record before that is much better, however, with four straight wins including the memorable play-off semi-final victory in 2010/11.
• Tickets for the game can be bought at a £2 reduction compared to the gate price here.
