Nine-man Fleet hold on

Report by Steve Cantle

Eddie Smith scores for Fleet

League leaders Fleet had to settle for a point after finishing this ill-tempered contest with only nine men.

Going ahead after only 7 minutes through a neat lob from striker Ed Smith, the home side looked to be cruising when a surprise equaliser saw the visitors level things on 35 minutes, James Rose heading in a free-kick.

Fleet had dominated up to this point, their quick-passing game creating plenty of problems for their opponents and several chances. One of these on 21 minutes to Darren Campbell should have led to a goal, but the pacy wingman tried to complete the move by dribbling past Moles keeper, Chuck Martini, rather than testing the keeper with a shot.

With the scores level, Fleet’s fluency deserted them and although their keeper, Justin Gray had little to do in the first half, five minutes after the break he had to be at full stretch to save a chip from Molesey’s Phil Ruggles.

Eight minutes into the second half Fleet were reduced to 10 men when mid-fielder, Ben White earned his second booking of the game, this time for dissent, and he left the field.

Fleet continued to attack, but although Smith and Campbell saw plenty of the ball, the Molesey defence held up well, John Murphy being the pick with several crucial tackles.

With seven minutes remaining Fleet lost their second player of the game when mid-fielder Michael Douglas was ordered off after being booked for the second time. With a two-man advantage the visitors pressed hard for the winner, and it needed a last-minute goal-line clearance by Fleet’s Will Salmon to deny them and preserve a valuable point for his side.