Gravesend 2 Stevenage 1

For 74 minutes of this match, Gravesend & Northfleet found the jinx to be in full working order.

Fleet boss Andy Ford had received the Nationwide Conference Manager of the Month award for August at the start of the game and this so-called poisoned chalice, which tends to afflict all new recipients, had the Fleet trailing 1-0 and lurching towards a first defeat of the season.

Also under threat on saturday was the club’s cherished 17-match unbeaten record in the competition.

Enter substitute Moussa Sidibe, kid brother of the Gillingham striker and a quicksilver winger who is clearly no respecter of superstitious tosh.

Fifteen minutes later, the Fleet players were milking the applause of their wildly appreciative supporters after two-goal Sidibe had turned the game on its head to climax absorbing and hugely entertaining afternoon at sun-drenched Stonebridge Road.

Ford was honest to admit afterwards that the manager of the month jinx had crossed his mind as his side toiled in the heat to wear down the Stevenage defence.

“When we were 1-0 down it was in the back of my mind,” he said. “You try and wash it out of your mind and I kept telling myself that if it happens it happens.

“You can’t stop giving manager of the month awards because of superstition. The one I really want is September’s.”

Ford pointed to the quality he now possesses on the bench as a big reason for Saturday’s success which saw the club rise into third place - two points behind leaders Barnet.

“We now have players on the bench capable of coming on and changing games, which we saw today,” he added. “Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t but it certainly worked against Stevenage.”

Before Sidibe’s intervention, the Fleet were trailing to a spectacular 20-minute angled drive struck by Dannie Bulman from outside the 18-yard box that smacked against the far post and rebound in.

Stevenage goalkeeper Andy Woodman, a virtual spectator in the first half, was made to work in the second as the full-time visitors surprisingly wilted in the heat against part-time opponents.

Sidibe first made his presence tell in the 75th minute with a cool finish from Manny Omoyinmi’s pass for his first goal of the season.

With three minutes remaining, he brought the house down when the Fleet broke quickly and Andy Drury slipped a peach of a pass into the path of Sidibe who again finished in style.

Stevenage were immediately reduced to 10-men when Rob Quinn was ordered off for using foul and abusive language to referee Steve Rubery.

Gravesend: Wilkerson; Protheroe, Shearer, Moore, Skinner; Surey, Saunders, McKimm, Drury; Louis, Omoyinmi. Substitutions: Sidibe for Surey 65 mins, Essandoh for Louis 75 mins, Pinnock for Omoyinmi 85 mins. Not used: Mitten, Gledhill.

Attendance: 1,756.