A late set of goals saw the Fleet bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to respond with a 3-0 win to keep Josh Wright’s side firmly inside the top seven. A quiet game came to life with 20 minutes left when Ronny Nelson opened the scoring and the Fleet went on to bury Maidenhead.

Ben Chapman claimed the first chance of the afternoon with a shot that he drilled from out wide but that effort was narrowly off target. 

After a slow opening 15 minutes, there were appeals for a penalty when Josh Coley’s strike appeared to hit the arm of Remy Clerima but the referee waved away those appeals.

Matt Hall was forced into action to deny Matt Robinson’s close-range strike and then a shot from Josh Umerah after a quick break was also blocked by the Fleet goalkeeper.

More penalty shouts were waved away as Josh Passley went over in the box before a crucial interception from Will De Havilland denied Dominic Samuel’s cross on the break towards Josh Coley finding its target. 

The Fleet tried to up the tempo and Toby Edser’s shot was blocked in the box on 35 minutes. Hall still had work to do as well and he tipped Jayden Mitchell-Lawson’s shot from 25 yards over before beating Ashley Yearwood to a through ball and then pushing out a Jordan Ragguette free-kick from under the bar.

Ragguette almost headed past his own goalkeeper in the opening minutes of the second-half and Fleet soon began to take control. Gene Kennedy had a shot kept away from the line by goalkeeper Jordi van Stappershoef before the breakthrough came.

With 20 minutes left, Charlie Seaman’s free-kick floated to the far post and Nelson was there to climb above everyone and past the Maidenhead keeper. A second came five minutes later when Kennedy won possession and Edser quickly picked out Samuel. The Fleet forward took a touch and fired low into the bottom corner.

Maxx Manktelow could have sealed it with his first touch after coming on but van Stappershoef got to FInlay Barnes’ pass first. Instead it was Kwesi Appiah who came off the bench to score in time added on. Aaron Cosgrave and Barnes set off a quick counterattack before Seaman sent a ball over to Appiah and he hit the third goal of the afternoon.

EUFC: Hall; Passley, Ehmer, Nelson, Seaman, Hessenthaler (Appiah 90), Kennedy, Chapman, Edser (Manktelow 82), Coley (Barnes 63), Samuel (Cosgrave 86). Subs: Coker, Fielding, Macaulay
MUFC: Van Stappershoef, De Havilland, Mantle, Clerima, Mitchell-Lawson, Yearwood (Pritchard 73), Ferdinand (Barratt 82), Robinson, Ragguette, Umerah, Dulson. Subs: Celestine-Charles, Cochrane, Onariase, Stewart, Collins
Attendance: 1,089
Images courtesy of Ebbsfleet United, Dave Plumb, Tom Harris