If Fleet concede early these days, it seems only to annoy them as for the third time in 2023 they came from behind to win by a comfortable margin. A quickfire response sent Dennis Kutrieb’s side in 2-1 to the good at half-time and while Hampton made a battle of it by pulling a goal back in the second-half to make it 3-2, the Fleet went on to blitz them with a further three-goal spree.
There were four changes for the home side, with Omari Sterling-James, Haydn Hollis, Billy Clifford and Toby Edser earning starts after the draw at Chippenham.
Fleet will have wanted to shake that off early but Hampton had the first chance when Jake Gray slipped a pass through to Sam Deadfield on three minutes but he rolled a shot just past the post.
However, Fleet succumbed to an early goal nonetheless when Connor Kurran-Browne had room on the right to dig the ball out and cross to the far post where he found Ruaridh Donaldson unmarked to stretch and head an effort across Mark Cousins and in.
Fleet responded with a number of half chances, Greg Cundle’s cross pinging around the six-yard box but Rakish Bingham unable to force it home. Goalkeeper Endurance Johnson pushed away Clifford’s pacy delivery before he got down to Luke O’Neill’s effort after a glanced header on by Bingham.
Johnson was a little less sure when Sterling’s 17th minute shot along the floor caught him out and he rather fumbled the save on his line.
It was one-way traffic but Hampton were well drilled and kept the red shirts at bay, though picked up two cautions in doing so. How they managed to survive Fleet’s best opportunity on 28 minutes when O’Neill provided Bingham for a run. His cross was scrambled away from the line, Cundle’s follow-up was clawed away by Johnson and Poleon’s two shots on the end of that rebound both hit blue shirts.
But just as it seemed it was going to be one of those luckless affairs, Fleet were level on 35 minutes. Good work by Cundle and Edser out wide took them through a couple of defenders. Edser advanced to the corner of the six-yard box where he was upended by Deadfield. The debate about who would take it was barely complete on the terraces before Poleon stepped up and struck his 23rd league goal of the season.
That wasn’t enough for goal-hungry Poleon. Six minutes later, Cundle and Edser were mixing it together again on the edge of the box and a quick-thinking ball back into the area from Clifford was nodded on by Bingham, landing for Poleon who was unbalanced but got enough on his shot to send it rolling over the line with the Hampton defence still mesmerised by the assist.
Sterling and Hollis might have added to the total in time added on but the Fleet home support was happy enough with the turnaround they’d witnessed as half-time descended.
Hampton were convinced they’d earned a penalty or two in the opening moments of the second-half and Dan Wishart rifled one wide as the visitors went about the task of getting back into the game.
That task was made even harder just before the hour when Fleet made it 3-1 with yet another Poleon-Bingham masterclass. The double-goal scorer was set free by a long ball into his path. He held off Shane Dunne to power into the box to supply Bingham racing alongside and the No.9 turned a shot away from the attentions of Luis Fernandez and into the far corner.
Dunne was enjoying a better role on 65 minutes when he found the top corner with a well-placed shot from the edge of the box to reduce the arrears to 3-2 but he was beaten to a ball in midfield by Bingham on 70 minutes that led to Fleet’s fourth. Bingham’s brilliant interception set him free to close down the target and while he might have squared it for Poleon, he kept his eye on the target and deposited it past Johnson.
Fleet fans were still on their feet when it became 5-2 within three more minutes. It was Poleon’s hat-trick as he gathered Cundle’s delivery, turned his man and struck a sweet shot into the corner.
With Hampton run ragged, Darren McQueen was introduced and immediately drew a yellow card from Dan Wishart whose tackle might have earned a red from a less lenient referee.
The sixth goal arrived with Edser borrowing a little piece of Poleon’s panache from the previous strike and finding the same side of the goal as he wrapped a fine shot around his boot and it curled beyond Johnson after some neat passing from a rampant Fleet.
In the final five minutes Poleon was away on the break again but this time he was denied for a corner before Hampton’s opening goalscorer Donaldson slotted a shot just past the post that was diverted wide by Cousins.
So just the eight goals today’s paying spectators had to settle for – as the average crowd continued to rise with a buoyant 1,615 in the ground as Fleet’s form took another upward turn.
EUFC: Cousins, O’Neill, Solly, Hollis, N’Guessan, Clifford (Domi 63), Sterling-James, Cundle (McQueen 75), Edser, Bingham (Coulthirst 78), Poleon. Subs: Jombati, Romain
HRBFC: Johnson, Jenkins (Crowhurst 46), Donaldson, Inman, Fernandez (Whittingham 61), Gray, Kurran-Browne, Wishart, Deadfield, Clifton (Barzey 71), Dunne. Subs: Wood, Rowe
Attendance: 1,615
Vote for your man of the match below.
