RESURGENT FLEET MAKE STRUGGLING WANDS PAY
EBBSFLEET United’s recent resurgence under new manager Danny Searle continued with an emphatic win over Dorking Wanderers in this relegation six-pointer at Meadowbank.
Charlie Carter put the Wands in front midway through an evenly contested first half but Rakish Bingham’s low strike from range quickly levelled.
A sweetly struck freekick from Luke O’Neill put Fleet in front and after Dorking captain Tony Craig was sent off for a second yellow card, Bingham and sub Domimic Samuel rounded off victory.
Searle said: “We always knew it would be a hard fought contest and there would be defining moments in the game which dictate where the points are likely to go, so to equalise as quickly as we did after conceding was important.
“After getting in front we knew we were going to have to face more direct pressure and an onslaught but we did really well to weather that, and I think we deserved our win.”
On the back of battling away performances at York and Kidderminster, Dorking just about enjoyed the better of a fairly low tempo opening and took the lead on 21 minutes – Carter sweeping home a loose ball after visiting keeper Mark Cousins and Alfie Rutherford had competed in the air.
Several minutes later though Bingham restored parity; spinning beyond Haydn Hollis in midfield and advancing into space outside the box before unleashing a low drive which cannoned into the goal off the inside of the post.
Fleet continued to exploit space vacated in the central area between Dorking’s middle and defensive thirds, and in the lead up to half-time O’Neill wrapped a free-kick beyond Harrison Male from 25 yards out to give his side the lead.
Wands boss Marc White introduced Joe Cook and Luke Moore at the break to freshen up his side, and they began the half brightly with Jason Prior having a goal ruled out for offside and Carter spurning an excellent chance after rounding Cousins.
That momentum was thwarted though just past the hour mark as Craig received a second caution for a high challenge, and not long after striking the woodwork, Bingham managed to net his second on 72 minutes, slamming home a Ben Chapman cut-back from the right. Samuel came on straight after the goal and after hitting the side-netting, found the net properly with less than five minutes remaining, slotting past Male in a one-on-one to wrap it up.
Dejected White said: “Obviously it’s a really disappointing result. Unlike in the previous home fixture, I thought we set up in the right way today, but conceding goals in a similar manner and timing to recent weeks is incredibly frustrating.
“It was going to be an uphill battle from there, and the dismissal then massively compounded that.” STAR MAN: Rakish Bingham (Ebbsfleet) ATT: 1,858 ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★ REFEREE: Sam Mulhall