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Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb saw his faith in strikers Rakish Bingham and Dominic Poleon rewarded in style on Saturday.
The Fleet boss could have easily axed either of the duo after a couple of below-par displays in the two festive period derby defeats to Dartford. But he resisted the temptation to bring Elliott Romain straight back into the starting line-up after his loan spell at Hemel Hempstead.
Poleon bagged a hat-trick and Bingham - playing in a deeper role at times - also netted in Ebbsfleet’s 4-1 win over Weymouth at Stonebridge Road, meaning the duo now have 29 goals between them this season.
“Dominic is a human being, he’s a good character who will always try hard,” explained Kutrieb.
“I’ve stuck with him, I could have easily made a change for Elliott Romain as he was outstanding during his loan spell. My thoughts were ‘no, stick with Raks and Dom’ because they deserve it a bit, they’ve done enough for our club so far.
“I can’t just pull them out as they’ve had two bad games. Apart from the last two matches, the ones before that we were more unlucky than bad so I wouldn’t pull them out just because they’ve had bad games. Sometimes you need to stick to your guns and that’s what I did because they’re great players and they showed that once more.”
It was a massive three points for Ebbsfleet, ending a run of four straight defeats in the league - a record that has seen them drop from top spot to third place.
According to Kutrieb, it was relief when Poleon put them ahead in the first half and then when Bingham made it 2-0, the Fleet’s confidence came flooding back.
“You could see after we scored our first goal that there was relief to get that first goal in the game,” stated the Fleet boss.
“We had a few opportunities before that but it was all about scoring the first goal and that’s what we drummed into the boys during the week. We were on the frontfoot and knew exactly what we wanted to do so well done to our players.
“We needed the second goal to feel the freedom to play and do more of what we want to do. They tried to press us very high and I’ve said earlier in the season that I like it when teams press up like that, it gives us more space to attack and score more goals.
“It’s always difficult when the opponent is just sitting deep and you need to find solutions. They tried to press us a bit differently and that gave us much more space as we had the composure to play.”
While the front two took the headlines, Kutrieb felt there were positives all over his line-up.
“I wouldn’t pick someone out,” he said. “Alex Finney was outstanding, he won almost every single header, Sido Jombati made great interceptions when we were struggling, Haydn Hollis was back to speaking and heading the ball away.
“Craig Tanner dropped deeper along Christian N’Guessan and always made good decisions. Toby Edser and Rakish Bingham did well, Dominic Poleon scored three goals, both wing-backs caused massive problems for them. Ben Chapman came on and made a great assist, Franklin Domi came on and nearly scored on two or three occasions. I can’t pick anyone out to say he was outstanding – everyone was really good and that’s what we need.”
