Involvement in a relegation six pointer is rarely a sign of a healthy season. Even less so when it’s in September. But that was the prospect facing Ebbsfleet tonight as we made the relatively short hop across the home counties on a Tuesday evening.
The bad news: our ailing side had only managed two wins on the road in 2024. The good news: one of those two was away at Maidenhead. A win would lift Fleet off the bottom and above the home side. Clearly a must win, then.
The game began in energetic, yet scrappy form. Your reporter’s experience was not assisted by the NLTV camera technology in play, which was comparable to an early 2000s home camcorder. At least the commentary was entertaining. The price we pay for working late and working away!
The first chance came on 7 mins as a smart freekick led to a headed shot-come-cross for the home side. Flashing across the face, no Maidenhead player managed to connect.
Plenty of half promising attacks came and went over the next 20 minutes, before Fleet’s second corner of the evening led to a defensive scramble for Maidenhead. No effort in anger, but something to take a positive from.
At this point it must be noted that we look much calmer in possession than earlier in the season. One central midfielder dropping to offer an angle to the centre-halves makes possession far easier to retain, reduces the risk of counterattacking on a turnover, and – dare I say it – makes us look like we can build cohesive moves up the pitch.
On 34 minutes, a fantastic touch from Bingham released the play down the right – but unfortunately the smart cutback to Fonguck couldn’t be converted. It was by far the best passage of play and best chance of the night.
But it’s Ebbsfleet away in 2024 – so the good news couldn’t last. On 39 minutes, Maidenhead found space out on their left far too easily and a deflected cross broke to Abrahams on the edge of the area, who found the finish. 1-0 down. Again.
That was the half, really. Lot’s of energy, not a lot of quality in the final third for either side.
Back out for the second period and the story was much the same. We had more of the ball, more energy, but still never really threatened.
Maidenhead striker McCoulsky had won a corner by battling with the Fleet defence on 51 mins – and on the 55th he buzzed ahead of Dallison and won a penalty. It looked mightily soft on broadcast, but Dallison was on the wrong side of the attacker. Asking for it. McCoulsky dispatched the penalty. 2-0.
We love coming back from 2-0 down this season. We love doing it on the road even more. Could we do it again?
It didn’t look likely on the 62nd minute as Olagunju, who had otherwise had a good game, made a mess of a clearance – sending McCoulsky through on goal. He couldn’t convert. A let off, as another would surely have been curtains.
An absolute bizarre sequence unfolded on 68 mins as Olagunju was pulled up for fouling a Maidenhead forward. It certainly wasn’t a foul – and the referee failed to dish out the red card that would’ve been warranted by a foul as the last man. Both sets of fans were unimpressed.
From a dangerous position, Abrahams lumped the resulting freekick out of the stadium. He’d done that before, too. Your reporter thinks someone might want to look into that, because there can only be a few explanations for two efforts so poor.
On 77 minutes, Fleet began to build serious pressure. Last ditch blocks and clearances came in from the Maidenhead back line in response. 2-0 it stayed.
On 81 minutes, two further last ditch interventions maintained the home side’s clean sheet. Off the line, and an impressive diving header. It looked like it was just going to be one of those evenings.
After that, we really failed to show desire to push on and win the game. On 92 mins, Josh Wright picked it up on the edge of the area and guided the ball into top corner. If it had been 0-0, your reporter would have been jumping all over the room. But it wasn’t. And, true to form, we failed to push on.
This is a painful loss for the club. One we certainly couldn’t afford. Reflecting, it’s clear the change in management has helped in some aspects, but we’re still far from where we need to be. Questions need to be asked of those in charge of recruitment – all the way up to the owners.
To fix some of the issues from tonight (which are not representative of all the issues we currently face) your reporter suggests focusing on bringing in someone with strong ball striking quality, and a midfielder who can better link with Bingham when he drops deeper. I don’t know really. But it can’t get much worse.
