Rakish Bingham’s first Fleet hat-trick, scored in 40 second-half minutes, brought Fleet three more points and a rise to 15th in the table in a dramatic match against 10-man Gateshead.

Danny Searle made two changes to the side that travelled to Aldershot on Tuesday night – Dominic Samuel returning to the starting line up and Tommy Fogarty earning his first league start in place of Dominic Poleon and Hayden White.

There was pressure from the Fleet early on, which allowed Rakish Bingham to dispatch a shot from close range but a sliding challenge from a Gateshead player blocked that chance. 

The game-changing moment came quickly with just four minutes on the clock when Louis Storey was shown a straight red card for a last-man challenge that brought Dominic Samuel down outside the area. The resulting free-kick was taken by Billy Clifford who saw his shot palmed away by goalkeeper James Montgomery.

The Fleet took advantage of the extra man by opening the scoring in the eighth minute. Brilliant play in the midfield from Clifford allowed him to drop a pass in the path of Bingham. A quick run from the Fleet forward positioned him for a shot and the ball edged past Montgomery for Samuel to meet it in the six-yard box.

Gateshead made a tactical change, withdrawing Kieron Evans for defender Robbie Tinkler and while they had a couple of moments in attack, Ed Francis’s free-kick from the edge of the box curling wide, it was the Fleet who were in full control of the opening stages.

The Fleet had chances to extend the lead but found the Gateshead defence a tough one to crack and the visitors equalised on 40 minutes from a misplaced Ben Chapman pass across midfield. A quick interception saw Callum Whelan latch on to the ball and he took a shot from range that took a deflection as it flew in with Gateshead’s first shot on target.

Whelan was celebrating again just before the half-time whistle. Francis lifted a pass into the Fleet box and as Mark Cousins and Myles Kenlock waited to clear, Whelan cheekily hooked a foot around the ball and it bounced over the line with Declan Skura chasing.

A strong start to the second half saw the Fleet level after chances from Bryant Bilongo and Samuel were denied. A penalty was awarded on 52 minutes when Samuel’s shot struck the hand of Mamadou Jobe and Bingham stepped up to thunder it into the roof of the net.

Clifford had a chance go just wide before the Fleet regained the lead on 64 minutes. Toby Edser was the provider with a cross to the far post where Bingham arrived to connect with his head for 3-2.

Bilongo’s last bit of action of the afternoon would see his darting run and shot go off target. Gateshead were down to nine men for a period after Luke Hannant sustained a self-inflicted injury in trying to bring Bilongo down in the process but he came back into play after lengthy treatment. 

Fleet looked to put the game to bed and introduced Poleon and Darren McQueen. And Poleon had a great chance to make it four when he was one on one withMontgomery who got a strong hand to the Fleet top scorer’s attempt to chip the ball over him. The two players fought for the loose ball, with Whelan coming across and hacking down Poleon on the edge of the box to earn him a yellow card. 

Added time saw Greg Cundle take a shot from distance and the rebound from the save falling to Poleon who saw Montgomery make a double save. Gateshead forced a succession of corners and Cousins had to pull off a great save from Francis’s shot with both sides making every effort to get the next goal and the visitors angered on a couple of occasions when they claimed a penalty of their own.

With nine minutes time added, Bingham would complete his hat-trick halfway through that to make the game safe. Clifford supplied a pass and Bingham clipped the outside of the post with that but when Cundle’s next effort was parried by Montgomery, Bingham was there to lash it home to the delight of the home crowd.

EUFC: Cousins, Fogarty, Kenlock, Skura, Bilongo (Cundle 73), Chapman (McQueen 80), Wright, Clifford, Edser, Bingham, Samuel (Poleon 80). Subs: Tanner, Domi
GFC: Montgomrey, Whelan, Richardson, Storey, Francis, Worman (Dinanga 68), Evans (Tinkler 9), Brown, Hannant, Adom (Booty 53), Jobe. Subs: Grayson, McBride
Attendance: 1,560 (79 GFC)

Images courtesy of Ebbsfleet United/Dave Plumb