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 the left but shot wide, Clifford’s free-kick was headed over by captain Joe Oastler.

On the stroke of half-time, Tanner gave away possession on the edge of his own area but Ethan Burnett was unable to take advantage as his first-time shot went wide.

The key battle of the half was down Havant’s right as Passley was up against Cundle, the Fleet man doing more than his fair share of defending which was a clear indication of the way the opening half had gone.

The game followed a similar pattern at the start of the second half. Jason Prior headed wide from Clifford’s near-post corner after 50 minutes.

Havant thought they should have had a penalty when Muhammadu Faal went down in the box as he looked to turn past Sido Jombati but the referee was not interested as the player threw himself dramatically to the ground.

Fleet went close on the hour as Sterling-James’ right-wing cross took a deflection, which meant it was just ahead of Dominic Poleon at the far post.

Then a minute later, Oastler appeared to bring down Poleon, but with no foul coming the Fleet striker carried on down the right wing and took an early shot from distance with keeper Ross Worner off his line, but was unable to find the vacant net.

Havant seemingly had better claims for a foul on Faal when Cundle gave the ball away and the Havant forward ran at Hollis, who appeared to bring him down 25 yards from goal but the referee was again unmoved.

Ebbsfleet immediately broke down the other end, leading scorer Poleon with his first clear sight of goal when he ran at the home defence but his low left-foot shot from the edge of the area went inches wide of the upright.

The Fleet again went close with nine minutes left as they grew in strength late on, Worner beating away Cundle’s right-foot curler, the ball just evading the onrushing Poleon.

The best chance of the night came in the 84th minute when another excellent Clifford corner was somehow headed wide by Oastler six yards out from goal. It proved a crucial miss as Bingham struck just four minutes later.

Havant: Worner, Passley, Newton, Oastler, McCarthy, Prior, Clifford, Gobern (Crichlow 89mins), Roberts (Kalinauskas 89mins), Faal (Wright 74mins), Burnett. Subs not used: Read, Baker.

Ebbsfleet: Cousins, O’Neill, Jombati, Sterling-James, Bingham, Tanner, Poleon (Romain 90+1mins), Cundle (Domi 81mins), Solly, Monlouis (Edser 70mins), Hollis. Subs not used: Paxman, Coulthirst.

Referee: Ruebyn Ricardo.

Attendance: 1,251.