EBBSFLEET UNITED 1-0 WEYMOUTH
Report by Ed Miller
The Fleet moved back into the top half of the table
following this afternoon’s morale-boosting victory over Weymouth as George
Purcell’s first league goal of the season proved enough to bag the three
points.
Liam Daish said that the midweek victory over Stevenage had given him food for thought about his selection and he was as good as his word with four changes from last week’s defeat at Cambridge. Danny Slatter slotted in at right back and Dean Pooley into the centre of defence with Mark Ricketts and James Smith making way. Jamie Hand got the nod ahead of Craig Stone and Purcell was selected to partner Michael Gash up front.
The opening 20 minutes were scrappy with neither side getting the ball down enough to thread together a meaningful attack and the Fleet’s two half-chances fell to players outside the box with first Neil Barrett and then Luke Moore skidding shots from distance wide of the post. Weymouth sought to use Chris McPhee’s intelligent running down their right wing to release Stuart Beavon and Pierre Joseph-Dubois through the middle and the former Fleet star was soon reacquainted with Sacha Opinel as the pair wasted no time over pleasantries. There was little love lost between the sides and the visiting skipper Anton Robinson was putting himself about at the heart of some robust midfield challenges.
But the goal that was to prove the winner galvanised the Fleet into more meaningful action and it arrived on 23 minutes. Danny Slatter’s desire to get forward saw him intercept a wayward Weymouth pass and he advanced down the right. After a good interchange with Moore, he found room in the corner to send in a cross towards Barrett but Weymouth defenders Cameron Mawer and Scott Doe got in a tangle and the ball fell for Purcell to lash home a volley from just inside the penalty area that rippled the net and the Fleet were in front.
The Fleet picked up the pace and Stacy Long was at the heart of things, hitting through balls for Purcell and Gash, his subtle lob over the defence on 35 minutes for Gash the pick of the bunch but the Fleet striker’s shot was scrambled away by goalkeeper Danny Knowles. Yet it was a Fleet attack that almost proved their undoing on 42 minutes when Long’s set piece was scrambled upfield. Charles and Opinel made a hash of the attempted clearance and suddenly Beavon and two of his teammates were through on goal. With only Lance Cronin to beat, and perhaps affected by the fact his name was spelt wrong on the back of his shirt, Beavon attempted to lift it over the goalkeeper but Cronin got down smartly to smother the ball.
After the break the Fleet were much the same, their tails up, with Long, Moore and Purcell combining well and running off the ball to offer so many more options than has been the case in recent games. Long took the first of seven potshots on 54 minutes that curled wide of the upright and at the other end Cronin had to be alert to a dipping high ball from substitute Ryan Williams. Long then had another three efforts as he buzzed around the edge of the box making things happen and – presumably tired of his high, long-range efforts – attempted a more audacious chip over a stranded Knowles but this again crept wide.
In between the Long display, Purcell had an effort minutes when he twisted and turned inside three defenders and shot over, while Moore’s 65th minute effort had a similar result. With all the Fleet’s admirable efforts coming to nothing in search of a second goal, it was no surprise when Weymouth started to get more involved. Williams was making good progress down the wing and McPhee still looked a danger and was by some way the best player in a Weymouth shirt.
Beavon forced Cronin into a smart stop on 70 minutes but the turning point came six minutes later when Charles received treatment following a clash with McPhee. The Fleet defender soldiered on but he was reduced to hobbling and it unsettled the defenders around him with Weymouth looking likely to break away and score. It took some minutes for Mark Ricketts to replace him and the Fleet’s concentration seemed to disappear with him as the Terras upped the ante. On 82 minutes, McPhee slipped between Ricketts and Pooley to turn an Adam Bygrave shot just wide of the post from close range.
But back came the Fleet and substitute Craig Stone began a move that saw Purcell skip between three defenders and release Hand, but the midfielder’s shot was saved. Knowles parried another Long effort on 87 minutes and two minutes later Stone broke down the right and advanced past the last defender before loosing off a decent shot that Knowles tipped over the bar onto the netting.
It was the last act of note as Fleet held out during four minutes of time added on for a well-won three points. Daish’s men should probably have wrapped things up sooner, and could have been punished for showing Weymouth such mercy, but the displays of Long and Purcell in particular will have given the majority of the 1,005 fans inside Stonebridge Road a warm glow. Add to that the sixth clean sheet at home in succession and things are looking up as we approach the crucial Christmas period.
TEAM: Cronin, Slatter, Opinel, Pooley, Charles (Ricketts 78), Hand, Barrett (Stone 83), Long, Moore, Purcell, Gash. Subs not used: French, Shakes, Ibe.Att: 1,005
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