The Beveree has been a tricky venue in the past for the Fleet and it looked like being that way again until Josh Wright’s substitutes fired a pair of late goals to keep the upward movement in the league table going.

Three changes saw Olly Box, Camron Gbadebo and Jake Vokins return to the starting lineup against a Hampton side that included former Fleet midfielder Wes Fonguck.

An energetic start saw Will De Havilland booked inside less than two minutes for taking out Lennon Peake as he made a run towards the box. Both sides had good sights of goal in the first-half and the hosts came close to capitalising from a mix-up at the back with Will Buse almost caught out in an advanced area but Hampton failed to bury the chance as Jasper Mather was denied by Gbadebo. At the other end, Kwesi Appiah was one on one with goalkeeper Marco Underwood when he anticipated a pass out of defence but the Beavers keeper scurried back in time to keep that one out.

Hampton enjoyed plenty of the ball and a series of corners but none of it presented a solid opportunity before Jake Vokins got away down the left for the Fleet in search of his first of the season but his effort from range was wide of the mark.

The closest chance of the match for the Fleet came moments before the break as the visitors ramped up the pressure. A delivery into the box from Josh Passley’s run gave Vokins a shot on goal from a few yards out but that was cleared off the line by Luis Fernandez. 

The second-half tempo was no quicker than before the break for much of the opening period and Josh Wright wasn’t slow to change things, bringing on Ben Chapman and Daniel Ogunleye with only seven minutes of the half gone. Hampton saw a header just clear the bar as they looked to fancy their chances of breaking the deadlock.

Gene Kennedy fizzed a couple of powerful shots from outside the area that weren’t far off and Underwood got an important hand to the second of those to tip it over the bar.

With neither side able to really press heading into the final 10 minutes, Fleet found the advantage. Some neat approach play found Appiah who was able to push a low ball into the path of Chapman who struck it at goal and it came off the inside of the post to settle in the net.

Wright has often urged his side to get a second and they did just that five minutes later. This time it was fellow substitute Barnes with a spectacular finish as he swapped sides from left to right and casually picked out the opposite top corner as the ball soared off his foot and over the goalkeeper.

That was more than enough to secure the points as the Fleet’s patience paid off in the end, with a clean sheet bonus to add to the win.

EUFC: Buse, Passley, Gbadebo, Nelson, Vokins, Peake (Chapman 52), Vennings, Kennedy, Edser (Barnes 78), Box (Ogunleye 52), Appiah. Subs not used: Oteh, Manktelow, Walker, Hall.
HRBFC: Underwood, Sodje, De Havilland, Fernandez, Waruih (Widdrington 89), Fonguck (Kretzschmar 66), Siziba, Mather (Sho-Silva 66), Atkinson, Akpan (Field 83), Waweru (Grego-Cox 83). Subs not used: Millins, Jackson.
Attendance: 1,152
Images courtesy of Ebbsfleet United, Tom Harris, Ed Miller