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THIS EVENING'S MATCH PREVIEW – FLEET TOWN (HOME) KO 7.45 PM
13.04.10
The Fleet is in Town. No discharged seamen trolling the darkened fleshpots of East Dulwich in search of ladies of easy virtue, instead Andy Sinton's Hampshire boys coming to Champion Hill in search of points to maintain their toehold on the peripheries of the play-off party. Perhaps too revenge is on their mind for when last these two met less than a month ago on a dank, dark night beneath the arbours of rain lashed Calthorpe Park, it was Hamlet that emerged victorious against the odds thanks to Nyren Clunis 65th goal and defending of the highest order from a side that had found clean sheets as rare as hen's teeth. Defeat that day threatened to derail the Fleet promotion push also with a multitude of distractions from a plethora of trophy pursuits. Indeed the powers that be at Calthorpe Park seemed to have more eyes on the prize than Argus Panoptes, losing in the quarterfinal of the Ryman League Cup to eventual winners Leatherhead and beaten by Football League Aldershot Town in a penalty shootout in Hampshire Senior Cup semi-final in the weeks preceding the Hamlet reverse. Then in back to back quarterfinals the Fleet were back on the silverware trail beating first Winchester City in the North Hampshire Senior Cup then Hartley Wintney in the Aldershot Senior Cup, on successive days and both by the narrow score line of 2-1. Those ties seemed to take their toll as spendthrift Folkestone Invicta kept up their title challenge with a 2-0 win over tired Fleet the following Saturday. Despite slipping into the feared 6th spot, just outside the play-offs, as others have caught up lost games, the Fleet have stayed on course grinding out 7 precious points out of nine in their last three games without conceding a goal, an thrilling battle somehow finishing null at home to Sittingbourne, Tyron Smith's last minute winner clinching it away to struggling Walton Casuals and loyal servant Ed Smith 48th minute strike doing for troublesome Corinthian-Casuals.
Indeed loyalty has been key to the rise of the Fleet in recent years, though promotion has remained annoyingly elusive with the club losing in play-off in each of the last three seasons. Compensation has come of the form of local silverware – last season the pain of playoff failure was tempered by the lifting of a quartet of cup, the Hampshire Senior Cup, for the first time, the Russell Cotes Cup for the third straight year, the retaining of the Aldershot Senior Cup and the North Hampshire Cup for the first time. Despite all those cups cluttering up the trophy cabinet, the Fleet boss, Andy Sinton, knows that promotion must be delivered if the investment in the club is to be fulfilled.
With an ambitious chairman and the former England winger Sinton in the manager's hot seat, one might have expected the Fleet's success to be built on deep pockets and generous budgets but to peruse their squad, one finds a team, still young in years but bristling with experience as the Hampshire club have drawn from a flourishing production line of local talent. Three players have amassed a double century of appearances for the club, a rare feat indeed in these days when a player might swap clubs at drop of a fiver. At just 24, 2008-2009 Player of the Year Nathan Smart has chalked up more than 50 goals in all competitions for the Blues. At the other end of the pitch, there a stands a fearsome sight in skipper Steve Noakes, 220 outings for the Fleet and counting, a lynchpin in a defence that makes Scrooge seem philanthropic. These two were recently joined in the 200 Club by wingman James Field.
Main danger up front would seem to be veteran attacker, Mark Anderson, who boasts an enviable goalscoring record, 73 times finding the net, having started 110 games. This season he continues to find the net despite limited opportunities, 25 in 30, a dozen in the league a baker's dozen in the cups. With Dan Reed, 14 goals, and Field a single score behind, Anderson makes up the feared RAF attack force for the Blues. However Sinton be tempted into changes as he goes for the juggler, dipping into his squad recently bolstered by a quintet of signings picked up from Aldershot Town on deadline day.
Dulwich manager, Gavin Rose, might find himself raiding the nursery as injury and suspension play havoc with match preparation. Yinka Salami will be unavailable as the defender sits out the game, suspended for his double transgression at Croydon Athletic that saw him dismissed for a brace of cautions. One or two others who been through the mill as bodies were laid on the line in the recent escape from the relegation trawl might well take a deserved rest though all will be keen to repeat that Thursday victory and complete a rare double particularly over such lofty opponents.
Champion Hill is the place, 7.45pm the kickoff time. Be there for football in the raw.