Bottom of the table Fleet Spurs grabbed their first win of the league campaign against Ringwood Town.
Fleet Spurs battled through the cold at Long Lane to take all three points, beating an underwhelming Ringwood 3-1 to secure their win of the season.
Joe Petty grabbed a consolation goal with 10 minutes to go for the home side, but Tom White’s quickfire second-half brace put the game out of reach for Richard Morse’s side.
Ryan Goddard had given the visitors a 1-0 lead at the break as Ringwood were made to rue a series of chances carved out by skipper Ben Harris in the opening 15 minutes.
Ringwood made two changes to the impressive 5-4 win over Bemerton in midweek. Joss Holford started in midfield as Joe Petty was dropped to the bench and Sammy Brown started wide on the left in place of Harrison Fay who was suspended.
Ringwood looked comfortable in the opening exchanges, keeping the ball and looking to build attacks down the right wing through Harris. The winger was unable to open the scoring however, with two of his efforts blocked and the final one blazed high over the bar.
Fleet’s Sam Khera found his way into the referee's book after 20 minutes with a late challenge on Harrison Clarke in the middle of the park, as the home side knocked the ball about with confidence.
Fleet looked like a side that had only picked up one point prior to this game, as Ringwood dominated for the majority of the first half, but the visitors took the lead through Goddard after 35 minutes. The midfielder latched on to a cut back from Jayson Dalton and fired home from the edge of the box to beat Joel Hirdle in the Ringwood goal.
The goal had come against the run of play, but signs of complacency had been creeping in to the home side's game who had a lot of the ball during the first half, but their inability to use it quickly cost them, allowing Fleet to grow in confidence after going in front.
During the interval, Fleet replaced Kai Harris with Shane Gibson, and Ringwood soon made their own change when Callum Horton was replaced by Charlie Hitchings after feeling a twinge in his hip, just five minutes after the restart.
Things soon got worse for Ringwood as Fleet doubled their lead after a shot by White from an acute angle squirmed its way past Hirdle at the near post. In truth Ringwood's 'keeper will feel he should have done better as he failed to hold on to White's tame strike.
Minutes later, and White found the net again. This time the striker rolled the newly introduced HItchings, and slipped the ball past Hirdle into the bottom corner - putting the visitors 3-0 up with half an hour to play.
Ringwood looked shell shocked to find themselves three goals down, but Fleet deserved everything that got from this game. Hard graft and teamwork had put the away side in a commanding position, and this was epitomised by the constant shouts of encouragement to each other as they looked to hold on to their first win of the campaign.
With about 20 minutes to go, both sides made a series of changes. Ringwood brought on Petty on for Joss Holford and Owen Peart for Josh Taylor as Morse looked to revitalise his team. Spurs replaced Harry White and Sam Khera with Joe Morris and Dennis Penchev to give fresh legs to a side that had been working ever so hard.
As the game entered the final 10 minutes, Ringwood gave themselves a glimmer of hope as Petty found the back of the net. A nice one-two between the substitute and Sammy Brown ended in the midfielder finishing neatly from the edge of the box and into the bottom corner.
It would be to no avail though, as Fleet managed to run down the clock and take all three points. Ringwood failed to get going and were unable to inflict any real pressure on a defence that had conceded 38 goals in their last 10 games.
Ringwood: Joel Hirdle, Nick Magee, Jack Knight, Harrison Clarke, Max Mason, Callum Horton (Charlie Hitchings 45’), Josh Taylor (Owen Peart 70’), Joss Holford (Joe Petty 70’), Harry Smith, Ben Harris, Sammy Brown
Fleet: Aaron Bofton, Jayson Dalton, Ethan Yewings, Sam Khera (Dennis Penchev 71’), Jamie Grggs, Dale Small, Harry White (Joe Morris 69’), Jack Wilson, Tom White, Kai Francis (Shane Gibson 45’), Ryan Goddard