The Wands might have hoped to cast a spell over the Fleet on Halloween but it was the wizards in red who provided the magic to set up their biggest win in the Kent Senior Cup for 10 years.
Fleet fielded new signings Myles Kenlock and Dominic Samuel while Jordon Ibe was also handed a start after his 45 minutes at Slough Town and all three served up a treat in their time on the pitch.
And it was Ibe who was almost on to two deliveries behind the Cray defence before setting Ben Chapman up for a low effort on goal as Fleet started to boss the game from the beginning.
Cray’s first signs of a threat came on nine minutes when Ellis Brown almost squeezed through two defenders but he was denied by an excellently timed sliding tackle by Luke O’Neill.
Chapman had plenty of running in him down the left and his 12th minute supply line to Nathan Odokonyero resulted in a shot on target by the near post that Shaun Rowley managed to divert behind.
Just past the quarter-hour, it was Cray’s turn once more and Yahaya Bamba rode a tackle in the Fleet box, Mark Cousins stopping his shot at the near post then managing to get back across to the middle of his goal to keep out Gary Lockyer’s firm follow-up effort.
Toby Edser’s disguised pass through to Ibe in the box just before the half-hour might have resulted in the No.33’s first goal but he was under pressure from Cameron Black who bundled him over as he tried to stay on his feet.
Ibe was heavily involved when the goal did come, however, on 35 minutes. Kenlock began the move, with Samuel finding Ibe whose shot was goalbound but scrambled out by Rowley. Back it came to Edser who made no mistake, volleying a shot into the opposite side of the net.
Samuel almost added a second a minute later when a pass dropped kindly for him but Rowley sent that behind at full stretch for the Fleet’s 11th corner of the night. And right on half-time one of those set-pieces helped provide the second goal of the evening as it arrived with Clifford. He shaped for a shot on goal, corrected himself and had another go with a great curling effort that left Rowley rooted to the spot.
Treated to a goal with almost the last kick of the first-half, the Fleet fans got another with almost the first of the second-half. From kick-off, Clifford drove his way through midfield to slip an inch-perfect pass on to the feet of Odokonyero who kept his balance and the distance from his marker to fire confidently beyond Rowley.
Cray weren’t quite finished as the rain kept up its relentless pattern, former Sevenoaks man Bamba drawing a good save from Cousins low to his right.
Edser scored his second and the home side’s fourth on 53 minutes when Luke O’Neill caused hesitancy in the Cray defence and they couldn’t prevent Edser from arriving to finish off.
Two minutes later it was 5-0 as the irrepressible Clifford continued to pull all the strings in midfield, another perfect short pass to the onrushing Greg Cundle enough for the substitute to bully his way through on goal and fire home.
Clifford was pushed over by Frankie Raymond in another careful Fleet buildup but the referee waved that away as Chapman twice roared in from the right to try his luck at the near post. O’Neill then turned Edser’s corner just past the other post as Fleet looked great value for a sixth. It almost came on the hour, Clifford dropping a delightful ball on to Odokonyero’s foot but the young striker couldn’t quite bring it under control.
Ibe’s goalbound effort was then sent looping over the bar by a Cray leg as Fleet continued to pile up the corner tally. O’Neill’s run on 68 minutes then caused a goalmouth scramble with both Edser and Chapman bravely throwing themselves at the ball to try to force it over the line to no avail.
O’Neill was determined to carve out the sixth goal that would have equalled Fleet’s 75-year-old margin-of-victory record in this competition and with 15 minutes left he sent over a cross that was met by Edser’s diving motion but he was just off-target with a hat-trick beckoning.
Cray might have grabbed a consolation late on when substitute Cameron McQueen-Hinkley sent an impressive shot curling just over the upright. Clifford, Edser and Cundle then shared a couple of passes between them, any of which might have ended up in the back of the net with a shot but it was Cundle’s that was charged down.
Cousins took a ball directly in the face as he scrambled across to keep out Lockyer’s free-kick but shook that off and Fleet were then home… if not quite dry!
EUFC: Cousins, O’Neill, Cissé, Kenlock, Edser, Clifford, Chapman, Fanimo (Hollis 46), Odokonyero, Ibe (Domi 72), Samuel (Cundle 46). Subs: Olagunju, Sterling-James
CWFC: Rowley, Mascoll, Black, Brown, Raymond (Ihied 80), Lockyer, Cook (Holland 62), Penfold, Wood, Rye (McQueen-Hinkley 72), Bamba. Subs: Webb, Hogue
Attendance: 237
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