It was the Fleet’s biggest ever Valentine’s Day win as the hosts swept first-time visitors AFC Totton aside at the Kuflink Stadium this afternoon.

Three goals in the first-half finished off the Stags and moved the Fleet up to fourth place.

It was a lively start for the Fleet with successive corners in the opening five minutes as Totton managed to clear their lines but couldn’t get hold of the ball at all. There was then a penalty shout from around the Kuflink Stadium when Dominic Samuel went down in the area but the referee waved away those appeals.

Craig Tanner saw action off the bench for the visitors early on when Scott Rendell was forced off with an injury while Tom Dallison was given a yellow for a barge on Ralph Vigrass, closely followed by one for Mustapha Olagunju.

Samuel saw a good chance with a headed effort collected by Ryan Gosney and then he couldn’t quite get a shot away in a packed box as the visitors survived another attack.

But the Fleet deservedly opened the scoring with 23 minutes on the clock. A patient buildup around the Totton box ended with a cross reaching Finlay Barnes in space after a misplaced headed clearance and he was able to drill the ball into the bottom left corner.

That advantage was doubled within three minutes when Ben Chapman found the target as the ball sat up nicely for him on the edge of the box and he made no mistake with the shot.

Two became three by the 39th minute and this time it was Jake Hessenthaler on the scoresheet.. Ben Coker whipped a delivery from a corner which fell to the Fleet’s No.4 at the far post. He might have shot first time but with the ball still within range, he was able to smash it into the roof of the net with his second touch.

Totton offered very little and barely came within range of their former goalkeeper Matt Hall as Fleet headed into the break well on top.

Fleet didn’t let their dominance let up although the second-half didn’t see the same goal return and the visitors were never in it despite two half-time changes.

The lively Barnes tested Gosney with a shot on target early in the second period but the goalkeeper had no chance on 55 minutes when the No.19 cut in down the right and sent a great strike into the top corner.

With the game won, Fleet could make a number of substitutions although they lost Ben Coker to a second yellow card. He received a harsh first yellow on 77 minutes for time wasting after delaying a free-kick and then took a second three minutes later after going into a tackle with Tanner that left both players on the floor.

With the Fleet down to 10, it didn’t do anything to affect the game. Totton had a couple of efforts from range but everything was off target and Hall had little to worry about.

EUFC: Hall, Passley (Kennedy 67), Coker, Olagunju, Dallison (Ehmer 46), Seaman, Hessenthaler, Edser (Appiah 65), Chapman, Barnes (Coley 76), Samuel (Cosgrave 65). Subs not used: Sandford, Peake.
AFCT: Gosney, Haunstrup (Linton 46), Hallett, O’Connor (Clarke 68), Cordner, Rose, Ward (Towns 68), Batzelis, Vigrass (Carter 46), Rendell (Tanner 10), Lee.
Attendance: 1,215 (29 away)
Images courtesy of Ebbsfleet United – Dave Plumb, Tom Harris