A deserved second draw of the season against Rochdale kept Fleet undefeated in four against this afternoon’s opponents as one of the best and most disciplined performances of the season will have given Josh Wright and his players plenty of encouragement.
Four changes for the Fleet included two debutants as Aaron Bolger and Josh Passley both started, with Aaron Cosgrave and Franklin Domi – deployed in an advanced position – also returning.
Rochdale tried to get going quickly and Tobi Adebayo-Rowling was on the receiving end of a neat diagonal pass on three minutes. He managed to hoist a cross along the Fleet box but Kairo Mitchell couldn’t reach it.
But after that, Rochdale struggled to impose themselves on the Fleet save for another Adebayo-Rowling cross on 17 minutes that drew Mark Cousins into the fray and he required lengthy treatment for a boot to his head.
Cousins had thankfully recovered to be alert enough to come out to take the ball from Mitchell’s feet when a pass from midfield somewhat fortuitously found its way through to the Dale striker.
Passley had a couple of useful crosses from the right before Alex Lankshear’s quick interception in the final third earned a corner on 29 minutes, although the Fleet were asking questions about a potential foul on Domi on the edge of the box. Tom Dallison nodded the resulting attack after that corner over the bar.
Stout defending from Anthony Stewart kept out Rochdale’s next attack on 33 minutes as the hosts tried to up the tempo in response to frustration from the home fans. Two minutes later Sam Beckwith drove a powerful shot through the box that Cousins had to take at the second attempt as it came back up off the wet surface.
Fleet had a couple of promising breaks but the final ball eluded Cosgrave and when Dallison did find him with a header on the stroke of half-time, the flag went up.
The visitors were accomplished in containing Rochdale for the most part and the home side had just the one corner to show for what was a frustrating and ultimately goalless first 45 for them.
The second half began in much the same manner although Mitchell needed stopping in a goalmouth scramble six minutes in and moments later at the other end, Passley’s perfectly weighted cross gave the Fleet their best opportunity to score but Domi put it over the bar with only Sam Waller to beat.
It was a busy few minutes as with the next attack, Rochdale broke quickly and Conor McBride’s pass into the box for Mitchell saw the striker go down as Passley came across to shepherd the ball to safety and the referee waved play on despite the protestations of those in blue.
Fleet enjoyed some solid possession play after that but almost rued it when Adebayo-Rowling was lucky to keep a ball in play on the break and Rochdale poured forward with the visitors having committed men. It was wasted, however, as Ryan East shot from a good position high over the bar.
Cousins had to reach for Mitchell’s pull-back with 20 minutes left as McBride came haring into the box to try to convert and the Fleet goalkeeper bravely clawed away another attack in the six-yard box before a foul on Toby Edser ended that Rochdale move.
The game remained on a knife-edge and Domi gave Dale a real scare with 15 minutes remaining, lifting a great long-range effort goalwards that needed a surprised Waller to get back and palm it up and away. Waller was picking the ball out of the air again on 80 minutes when Dallison’s delivery caught the Dale defence napping and substitute Kwame Thomas got his head on it with a low dive.
Rochdale applied the pressure in added time, earning a corner with the last kick of the game but in all honesty Fleet had gone toe-to-toe with the play-off hopefuls throughout the 90 and a late goal would have been an unjust return on their considerable efforts.
EUFC: Cousins, Passley (Chapman 66), Stewart, Olagunju, Dallison, Lankshear, Bolger, Edser, Moncur (Manktelow 82), Domi, Cosgrave (Thomas 70). Subs: Bingham, Samuel, Aoraha, Firth
RAFC: Waller, Gordon, Beckwith, Hogan, Adebayo-Rowling, East, Allarakhia, Burger (Ayinde 59), GIlmour, McBride (Henderson 82), Mitchell (Rodney 71). Subs: Ferguson, Kingdon, Weston, Buyabu
Attendance: 2,134 (58 EUFC)
Photos: Dan Youngs
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