Havant & Waterlooville 0 Ebbsfleet United 1 match report: Rakish Bingham scores late winner in National League South

Ebbsfleet regained top spot in National League South after Rakish Bingham’s late winner at Havant on Wednesday night.

Bingham drilled home from 12 yards after the hosts failed to clear a Craig Tanner free-kick with two minutes remaining at Westleigh Park.

The Fleet looked to be heading for a fourth draw in their last six league games until Bingham converted one of the few chances in a keenly-fought affair.

The game was originally scheduled for September 10 but was postponed after the death of the Queen.

It meant it was no longer first versus second with Dartford gatecrashing the party by taking top spot 24 hours earlier, but Fleet’s win means they are back in pole position and with two games in hand on their rivals from Princes Park.

Without the influential Christian N’Guessan, Ebbsfleet moved skipper Chris Solly into midfield which meant Haydn Hollis played in the heart of their defence.

It was Ebbsfleet who started brightest, Havant playing the ball out from the back and twice giving it away in quick succession providing an early source of encouragement for the visitors. After seven minutes, Bingham played in Tanner who fired over.

Then Omari Sterling-James ran at the Havant defence down the right but his left-foot shot was lacking in both power and accuracy.

Havant started to settle and assert their authority. Billy Clifford delivered two dangerous free-kicks before nearly threading in Jason Prior but Fleet keeper Mark Cousins was out smartly to save at the striker’s feet.

Challenges started to fly in with Havant’s Josh Passley and Fleet’s Solly both talked to by referee Ruebyn Ricardo, who kept his cards in his pocket during the first 45 minutes.

Havant dominated the rest of the half. James Roberts ran and ran down