The points headed north as FC Halifax Town put last season Emirates FA Cup defeat here behind them with a goal in either half.
Dennis Kutrieb made two changes to the side that fell short on Tuesday night at Eastleigh. Nathan Odokonyero and Craig Tanner returned to the side whilst Ouss Cissé and David Amoo dropped to the bench.
A quiet and somewhat scrappy opening 15 minutes saw little to trouble either goalkeeper. A corner swung into the area by Tylor Golden looked promising but the ball floated into the gloves of Cousins to keep Halifax at bay and Haydn Hollis deflected another Halifax effort off target. At the other end of the field, the Fleet earned a clear-cut chance when a superb run from Odokoneyro down the right teed up Ben Chapman but his connection wasn’t a clean one and Sam Johnson was able to collect.
It was Halifax who found the breakthrough with 23 minutes on the clock. A deep free-kick from Florent Hoti was swung to the the far post for the tall figure of Adam Senior to get his head on to it and send it across Cousins and in.
A chance for an equaliser came with some short passing and possession football, with a final ball out to Luke O’Neill whose aimed for the top corner but his shot was drilled narrowly wide. Ben Chapman wasn’t far off with a free-kick that went close once again, that heading just over the crossbar.
After the break Odokoneyro came close to securing his second of the campaign when a goal kick landed kindly in the path of the striker. But with little support, he attempted to go it alone and Johnson was out to block. Moments later, there was a shout for a penalty when substitute Omari Sterling-James was bundled aside off the ball as he attempted to run on to O’Neill’s pass but the referee waved away that one.
And the visitors doubled their lead as we approached the hour mark. Aaron Cosgrave,mon as a substitute early in the first half, capitalised on an error out wide from the Fleet and was able to find room to strike the ball home. Hayden White then had to clear off the line after Cousins could only get a hand to Ryan Galvin’s effort and Millenic Alli was left with an open goal but found White in the way.
At the other end, Amoo had a powerful shot denied by Johnson as Fleet saw plenty of the ball but couldn’t break down the visitors’ back line in a tight game of few goalscoring chances.
EUFC: Cousins, O’Neill, White, Hollis (Sterling-James 46), Domi, Solly, Wright, Chapman, McQueen, Tanner (Edser 58), Odokonyero (Amoo 69). Subs: Cissé, Coulthirst
FCHT: Johnson, Golden, Senior, Stott, Galvin, Keane, Hunter, Hoti (Thompson-Sommers 69), Alli (Summerfield 82), Cappello (Cosgrave 5), Oluwabori. Subs not used: Evans, Wright.
Attendance: 1,559
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