Heralded as the clash of the top two when it was first scheduled, Wednesday night’s match was appearing under the same billing until Dartford put the cat amongst the pigeons by taking top spot from the Fleet for the first time this season with their win on Tuesday night.
With three games in hand, Fleet have the chance to retake top spot with a win or draw at Havant, though the home side will be eyeing their own victory that would see them join their visitors on 36 points.
Fleet had nosed further ahead in the National League South race with a win last midweek while Havant dropped points thanks to a draw against Bath, but that was turned on its head by Saturday’s results to leave things – as is so often usual in this division – too tight to call ahead of our Emirates FA Cup break.
Dennis Kutrieb’s side make the trip to Hampshire nursing a few injury headaches that have seen Toby Edser, Christian N’Guessan and the longer-term Josh Wright and Joe Martin miss games, while Darren McQueen was taken off at half-time at Hemel after sustaining a steady catalogue of fouls against him.
Fleet will seek a first win over Havant since the end of the abortive 2020/21 season when Dominic Poleon scored the very first of his 33 goals for the club to take home a 2-1 result. Last season’s visit wasn’t quite so pleasant, with Havant ending a poor run of form to establish themselves in a 4-2 win.
Two of the goalscorers that day – Stefan Payne and Manny Duku – are no longer with the Hawks and they will also be missing Tommy Wright, who is suspended. Former Fleet defender Sam Magri is on loan at Gosport as he battles back from a long-term injury while Paul Rooney is still some weeks away from a return. Ex-Dover full-back Josh Passley is, however, expected to make a return.
Like the Fleet, Havant maintained a core spine from last season and added strength elsewhere. In this summer are players including Josh Nembhard (Hemel), Jake McCarthy (Weymouth), Gianni Crichlow (Braintree), Danny Wright (Torquay), Mo Faal (Enfield Town) and the marquee signing Jason Prior returning from Dorking Wanderers.
It’s an attack-heavy side with Prior having scored five but lingering behind Faal’s seven and the same number from James Roberts, who had a campaign somewhat in the wilderness on loan last season but has returned to stake his claim for a regular place. Billy Clifford remains a fixture in the Hawks midfield, often a tormentor of the Fleet in recent games, and he has struck up a useful partnership with McCarthy.
There’s little to choose between the Fleet and Havant this season, with Kutrieb’s men just edging the stats – zero defeats to Havant’s one, 37 goals scored to 33 and 16 goals conceded to 18. How that looks at the end of play will no doubt have a bearing on the future direction of this competitive season.
