It was a goalless affair this afternoon for the bottom two clubs in their first meeting since 1982.

Harry Watling made two changes to the side that fell short on Wednesday with Jack Wakely and Todd Kane returning to the side whilst Franklin Domi dropped to the bench and Tyler Cordner missed out due to suspension.

The slow start to the match was hardly surprising given neither side wanted to slip up and the only chance in the first 10 minutes fell to Boston when a shot from distance by Jordan Richards was wide. 

The Fleet gradually emerged as the more ambitious of the sides in the first half and racked up the corner count. Aaron Cosgrave tried to slip through on to balls forward on several occasions and Ben Chapman took one of those corners down before whipping a ball back into the area which ran wide.

That was Chapman’s last bit of action, however, as he was forced off after landing awkwardly and Pape Souaré came on in his place on 17 minutes.

Boston’s best efforts saw top scorer Jacob Hazel get through a gap in defence but he was offside whilst Frankie Maguire lashed his effort over the bar.

Fleet’s own efforts were closer with Luke O’Neill’s 35th minute free-kick requiring a smart save from Aidan Stone. From the corner, a flick-on from Rakish Bingham fell for Toby Edser following up behind but he side-footed the chance just wide of the post. O’Neill then had another sight of goal just before the whistle, heading just over from another corner.

Boston looked more aggressive in attack after the break and Mark Cousins was forced into action early on as he tipped Lennon Wheeldon’s shot wide to earn Boston their first corner and like the Fleet in the first-half, the visitors racked up their own corner count in the second.

Bingham dragged a shot wide from just outside the box for the hosts but the Fleet had to withstand another couple of efforts from Wheeldon, Hazel and Sam Reed as Boston pressed in the closing stages – but it was the defences who would finish on top.

EUFC: Cousins, O’Neill, Stewart, Wakely, Chapman (Souaré 17), Kane (Manktelow 46), Wright (Poleon 68), Edser, Tanga (Domi 68mins), Cosgrave (Fonguck 85), Bingham. Subs not used: Berry, Dallison.
BUFC: Stone, Green, Leak, Rowe, Richards, Teale, Reed (Woods 70), Wheeldon (Chadwick 70), Maguire (Ward 82), Hill, Hazel (Aderoju 65), . Subs not used: Coates, Osborne, Lovelace.
Attendance: 1,563 (260 away)

Images courtesy of EUFC – Dave Plumb, Tom Harris