ugwu

Gozie’s got his bearings back in a Fleet shirt

With spells at the Fleet such a long time apart, Gozie Ugwu could be forgiven for losing his bearings. But with his fifth goal for the club secured seven years after his fourth, he’s certainly not suffering from any problems in finding the target.

“When I first arrived at the ground [to sign],” he told BBC Radio Kent’s Matt Cole, “I went to the old side of the ground just from muscle memory! They had to tell me to drive back round. The fans and the players, they’ve all welcomed me in. It’s just like old times to be fair and I’m really enjoying it.”

Ugwu rounded off a sublime Fleet attacking move midway through the first half to send his side on their way at the Gallagher Stadium and such was the speed of the counter, he wasn’t sure Corey Whitely had even seen him.

“It was a great counterattack from the team,” he said. “Corey was on the right side and I don’t think he saw me at first. And he just put a great ball in and then it was just up to me to put it away and thankfully I did that.

“I just relied on the fact that he’d see me because I thought if I shout him, he might not hear. It all happened a bit too fast. Corey’s a great player and obviously he spotted me on first sight and it was a great ball.”

Fleet dug in to hold a 1-0 lead going into the final moments but it needed Michael Cheek’s 13th goal of the season to seal victory. And Ugwu felt the local-derby nature of the game contributed to that and the players kept their heads, roared on by an official count of 622 โ€“ but likely more โ€“ Fleet fans.

“It was a bit of a scrappy game,” he said, “but you know, that’s what local derbies are like, everyone putting it in and it was up to us to just keep our heads. We knew we would get an opportunity and thankfully we were able to put them away today.

“[It was] definitely an awesome atmosphere, I thought our fans were unbelievable all game really. We could hear them straight from the start and I think in games like this we need all the support we can get. I definitely think the boys felt that support.”

Since Ugwu’s arrival at the Fleet, Garry Hill’s side have scored eight goals in three games and the former Woking frontman believes all the strikers have plenty to give to the end of the season.

“Both of them {Cheek and Kedwell] are two great players,” he said.”They each have their own attributes that makes them effective in the game. I’ve just looked to come in and add to that with my attributes and try to work with them in training and in games and with whoever gets the opportunity. All three of us can do a job, that’s the good thing about it.

“We’re just going to keep working together. It’s a team effort so whoever’s on the pitch at the time I’m sure they’re going to give their all. I just look to make an impact in whatever way I can. Whether that’s assists or goals or just being a nuisance up top, I try to do what I can for the team.”

The win over Maidstone keeps Fleet in touch with the top seven and with the gap closed to three points, there’s plenty riding on the midweek rearrangement at Halifax.

“Each season to be fair there’s always a team that makes a late surge for the play-offs,” said Ugwu. “But we’re just going to literally take each game as it comes. I believe that if we can carry on doing that, the results will take care of themselves.

“The games are coming thick and fast. We need all the bodies we can get. Some boys may be coming back. We’ve just got to recover after today and look forward to Tuesday and look to get a result there.”

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