
Report by Jools Thomas
With the team safe from relegation, the temptation could have been to treat the afternoon as a stroll, but with Davis Haule as boss, this would not be allowed to happen and so it proved as FC collected all three points in an attack minded game.
The team made a perfect start with the opening goal arriving within the first minute. Alex O'Brien played in Aston Goss and with a deft flick, the winger poked the ball home for 1-0. Two quick fire chances followed soon afterwards and these could have increased FC's lead. In response, Fleet's Ben White may have had more luck with a volleyed lob on three minutes however the ball flew just wide of the angle.
Ty Deacon combined well with Ben Stevens with Ty's efforts just going wide as FC began to assert their dominance. This pressure was underlined with O'Brien grabbing FC's second on 11 minutes after a cross rule ball from Davis Haule left him unmarked with just the keeper to beat.
Fleet's David Cadete struck a ball just wide after a neat series of passing before Aston Goss' low free kick whistled past from the post from a range of 30 yards. Another Goss strike on 43 minutes could have produced a third had the striker composed himself more readily. The final action of the half saw Ty Deacon strike a decent shot that Ryan Pryce managed to cling to.
Keeper Pryce had presumably suffered some sort of injury as he did not reappear in the second half, instead midfielder Brett Stanley appeared between the sticks. His first piece of action saw him get in a muddle thereby allowing Davis Haule a strike on goal that went high and wide. James Weatherill was then made to work as Ben White struck a rare shot for the away team.
On 57 minutes, Ty Deacon scored the goal of the game. Very reminiscent of Gazza's famous Euro 96 goal against Scotland, the young forward controlled a ball over the top with one touch before smacking the ball home with his next. The game had become a stroll as O'Brien looked to feed the forwards with the excellent Joe Fitzgerald and energetic Charlie Hawtin providing suitable support on the wings.
It was one of these forays that led to FC's fourth goal. Hawtin was fouled in the box with the referee not hesitating to award a penalty. Davis Haule opted to take the spot kick and the biggest cheer of the afternoon was heard as the popular player boss stroked the ball home with ease.
Substitute Harry Wood hit a venomous shot from all of 40 yards that Stanley did well to palm away. At the other end, away captain Ben White could have claimed a freak goal on 82 minutes when Weatherill's attempted clearance hit the Fleet man before striking the post with the keeper gathering the ball gratefully at the second time of asking.
With just two minutes to go, Fleet were awarded a penalty when Azeez Alabi committed a foul in the box. It seemed that FC would not keep a clean sheet but then James Weatherill made a magnificent save from Ben White’s kick with Mitch Parker hitting the rebound over the bar.
Still the action was not over. Deep in injury time, Aston Goss patrolled the outside of the away box and when a chink of light appeared, Aston unleashed a powerful shot and despite an effort to save, the goalkeeper had little chance of preventing FC’s fifth.