It was a tricky day at the office for the Fleet as Wealdstone broke their losing streak to bounce back from three defeats in a row. Thavon Campbell’s brace either side of Josh Wright’s headed equaliser saw the Fleet suffer a third away defeat of the season.
Dennis Kutireb made four changes to the side that beat York seven days ago with Toby Edser, Billy Clifford, Nathan Odokonyero and Darren McQueen all returning to the side as Omari Sterling-James, Craig Tanner and David Amoo all dropped to the bench. Dominic Poleon missed this afternoon’s match as he continued his international commitments with Saint Lucia.
Wealdstone started brightest in the opening minutes but the Fleet came close to an opener in the sixth minute. A misplaced back pass from skipper Jack Cook saw the ball fly past Jed Ward and it clipped the woodwork, the goalkeeper just about clearing the ball from danger. Minutes later, Campbell claimed a strong chance for the hosts with his effort from a tight angle skipping past the post.
A worrying moment for Joe Martin followed, who lost his footing which allowed Campbell through on goal and one on one with Mark Cousins but the Fleet keeper stood strong and made a quality save.
A drinks break was in place in soaring temperatures and the Fleet started with more confidence after that – Ben Chapman sent a low delivery into the area in an attempt to pick out a fellow Fleet player. However it was Ward who collected. Wealdstone countered from the Fleet’s initial shot and Cousins once again made.a sublime one-handed save to keep a Micah Obiero effort out. His mid-air leap to reach the ball was almost as impressive as the save itself.
A great ball across half the length of the pitch picked Chapman out wide. He drove the ball towards goal leading to a shot on target, which was palmed away by Ward. This was the strongest spell for the Fleet as they continued to push for an opener, earning successive corners, with Luke O’Neill trying his luck on two occasions.
There were claims for a penalty from the Fleet when Ward lost possession to Edser in the area. The Fleet’s number 17 outmuscled the keeper but he was then sent tumbling. The referee insisted on playing on.
Wealdstone had impressed through midfield and their busy standout performer Abdulsabur Abdulmalik saw a late shot denied by the gloves of Cousins.
The second half was a 50/50 affair in the opening encounters. But with 63 minutes on the clock, Wealdstone found the opener and it was on-loan Rochdale man Campbell who found the back of the net as he turned the Fleet defence to position himself in enough space to shoot and fire past Cousins.
Wealdstone’s advantage only lasted three minutes as the Fleet bounced back to keep their record of scoring in every match this season. Substitute Craig Tanner put over a superb delivery from the left corner and that was met strongly by Wright at the far post and his bullet header left Ward no chance.
But in an all-action closing period, Fleet went down to 10 men when Chris Solly was shown a red card for bringing down Campbell in the penalty area, put under pressure by a ball over the top that caught the Fleet defence upfield. Campbell was the player to step up for the penalty and convert, sending the ball down the middle for the winner.
Wealdstone thought they’d earned a third when a ball to the far post opened up a big gap to aim for but great communication from Wright and Cousins enabled the Fleet goalscorer to clear away from the line.
Wealdstone were then awarded a free kick as Cousins advanced to upend Campbell on the edge of the area, earning himself a yellow – Olomola stepped up to take that but his effort was deflected wide. Both sides ended the match with 10 men as Obiero was shown a barely noticed second yellow card in the 104th minute in a tetchy closing period after a challenge on Cousins as he came up for a corner led to a heated exchange.
The Fleet pushed late on for an equaliser as they dealt with being a man down but Wealdstone held on to claim their first three points against us at Grosvenor Vale.
EUFC: Cousins, O’Neill, Martin (White 72), Solly, Wright, Clifford (Tanner 59), Chapman, McQueen (Sterling-James 59), Domi, Edser, Odokonyero. Subs: Amoo, Coulthirst
WFC: Ward, Cook (Barrett 57), Barker, Allarakhia (Andrews 90), Ferguson, Obiero, Clayden, Abdulmalik (Olumola 70), Bowen, Mundle-Smith, Campbell
Attendance: 1,422
Vote for your man of the match below.
