Hendon 1 - 4 Tanners

There are games where Leatherhead can have chance after chance but somehow you know that the ball won't cross the line.  Thankfully, last night was not one of those games as we scored with ease to rush to a 4-0 lead.

I was already in a good mood as the soup did not disappoint.  In terms of football food I would put it up there with a hotpot pie at Marine and a balti pie at Aston Villa.  We did not have to wait long before our spirits were lifted further by an early goal.  The 'keeper, despite his 7 foot frame, failed to deal with a corner swung in towards the goal and the ball fell kindly to Ruel who scored just minutes into his debut.

Leatherhead continued to look upbeat and created some good passages of play.  Our second goal was something of an oddity though.  Dan Gallagher launched a rather harmless looking shot towards the goal.  It lacked power and you felt sure that the 'keeper would deal with it, but somehow he either misjudged its flight or saw it late but the ball kissed the underside of the bar and went in.

Second half and we were met by drizzle and a more determined Hendon side and the game suffered a little, from a Leatherhead supporter's perspective.  We had enough time to debate what a stupid choice the away kit was; too close to green to allow enough of a striking difference.

Leatherhead did somehow manage to distinguish themselves from the home team enough to score two more.  Some nice work down the left hand side and a good cross from Theo found Derry at the near post.  His instinctive strike beat the 'keeper low down at his near post.  Then Midson broke free down the middle, but had hardly left the centre circle when he saw the 'keeper way off of his line.  A cheeky lob beat him to make it 4-0.

Hendon did pull one back.  A powerful strike from distance that beat Zaki and deceived us from behind the other goal.  We thought it had struck the post and bounced clear.

A fine win, and back to that neck of the woods for Wingate & Finchley on Saturday...

Travelling Tanners

There or there-abouts Hendon host us tonight, and what hosts they plan to be; bringing back their famous mulligatawny soup with real ales to wash it down with.

Hopefully we are as organised as Hendon.  Last season a young lad called Mendes was a joy to watch, while an old lad had not completed his forms properly thus wiping out our 3-1 win.

Kick off at 7.45.  Directions can be found here.  See you there.

Game Off

The Surrey Senior Cup, unsurprisingly has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.  Persistent rain over the last 24 hours has made the Fetcham Grove pitch, and my back garden, unplayable.

Details of the rescheduled game will no doubt follow shortly...

Thurrock 2 - 0 Tanners

It was one of those days when the ball wouldn't fall for us, and we weren't going to score if we played all night.

 

The unbeaten run came to an end unceremoniously on a miserable day at a ground sandwiched between the M25 and a budget hotel. A superb number of travelling fans arrived in confident mood and we all nodded smugly to each other when we saw the team was at full strength.

 

We started brightly with plenty of possession and threatening positions. The best chance came early on when the steadfast Jerry had a free header from 8 yards but it sailed over the bar. Unfortunately this wasn't a sign of anything to come, and we failed to create any more clear chances from all our possession. Our patient build up lead to little else. Thurrock were more clinical and simply shot and scored on 37 minutes. 4 minutes later and it was 2-0.

 

Sammy had had enough of himself by half time and took himself off. He must have said something to himself. A brief resurgence at the start of the 2nd half gradually petered out. Jack had also had enough of himself and on 69' replaced himself.

 

Thurrock are now officially a bogey team.

 

Expect an understandable 11 changes for the Surrey Senior Cup on Wednesday as a small squad have played twice a week since mid December and Dulwich visit on Saturday.

Travelling Tanners

The nine game unbeaten run will no doubt feel as heavy as the pitch today as we travel to mid-table Thurrock in the league.

The well earned draw kept us in 9th place, but now just three points behind the ****-off places with games in hand.

Kick off at 3pm.  Directions can be found here.  Good luck fellas.

Margate 0 - 0 Tanners

We have all been there (usually at Woking), a freezing cold night with little going happening on the pitch.  That is the picture the commentator painted on Pundit last night, and suddenly the task of packing the contents from under the stairs seemed more pleasurable.

This is many ways was the game I thought we were going to play in the FA Cup. Organised defending with careful measured attacks.  By all accounts our first real shot (although off target) did not come late into the game.

The win streak ends, but we are still unbeaten and in the chase...

Travelling Tanners

It's not the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round, but it is close.  Two teams on the same points that lurk just under the ****-offs battle it out tonight.

Leatherhead are having quite the purple patch with seven wins in a row, but Margate are a side who just beat Dulwich Hamlet... they can put on quite a moving display.

Kick off at 7.45.  Directions can be found here.  Good luck fellas.

Tanners 1 - 0 Tonbridge Angels

Leatherhead's recent run of form is the best it has been since the 1996-97 season, where we last won seven games in a row.  Caution for Sammy though, as that appears to be a stumbling block having reached the same amount on three other occasions before we get to our best ever run of 11 (1948-49).

Leatherhead do appear to be on to something though, having won the last two games largely through a war of attrition and retaining possession.  Something that seemed unthinkable only 12 months ago.

The opening exchanges were entertaining enough.  Not the changing of ends before kick off though, that was just annoying and made buying half time tea harder.  I would say we had the better of it in the first half, given the Tonbridge 'keeper was taking an age to take a goal kick.  Our goal came from a fine free flowing move that saw Tom Derry running free down the right, who picked out Tom Richards' run into the box.  His powerful side volley gave their 'keeper no chance.

Second half and Tonbridge grew into the game a lot more and the crowd became a little nervous.  A fine save from Zak being the peak of nervous energy, but somehow we regrouped and saw the half out with another period of playing the ball into the corner.

A tricky midweek away trip to Margate approaches on Tuesday, where they will no doubt be looking for FA CUP revenge.  Bring your dolphins.

Tonbridge Angels are coming

The club are predicting a big crowd tomorrow.  Free entrance for kids (although I thought most of the blighters snuck in free anyway!) and Tonbridge should bring a few.

Support will be needed as our guests sit just three points behind us and no doubt have ideas of climbing the table themselves.

Kick off at 3pm.  See you there.

Tanners 2 - 1 Merstham

I don't think we are high enough up the league that we could consider our guests a banana skin, but to lose to them would certainly be a massive prick to our bubble. It was good to see Hayden Bird again...

I have heard a lot of good things about Leatherhead's style of play while I was on holiday and I was more than a little bit concerned that I would be the unlucky returning charm last night.  Certainly, while we looked the better side, we appeared somewhat laboured.

We thought Jerry had scored in the first half.  Coolly bringing down a ball on his chest and drilling it past the 'keeper, only to see it ruled out for offside.  Although, there was more than a hint of the lino not seeing the defender's position when the ball was kicked.

Second half and we looked even more unlikely to score for the first 30 minutes as our guests wasted time right from the whistle.  To add insult to injury they scored from a fantastic effort from distance.  This appeared to be something of a tactic as they had tried from distance a couple of times before, but this effort was unstoppable as it bent into the top left corner.

The Merstham 'keeper brought about our comeback, seemingly more interested in asking the lino how much time he had more to waste (about 18 minutes) than the run of Midson who score from the type of header you only normally see in league football.  From some distance and purposely placed into the top corner.

Finally Leatherhead were fully on top and we started to attack with real purpose.  Tom Derry was put through on goal and for a second it looked like he had given up on the idea of scoring, but this was just the ice cool composure of a player who can simply bend the ball around the 'keeper into the side netting.  2-1 and it was now our turn to waste time in the corner.

This timewasting was a little hard to watch but did the job as we won our sixth game in a row. Tonbridge Angels arrive on Saturday to test this winning streak further...

Merstham are coming

Merstham take centre stage in this league production of the Mick Sullivan Derby.

The official preview stated our visitors were struggling, but I think that is a little harsh.  They have a bit of a nasty defeat recently but if it were not for this purple patch of form we would be very much along side them, so I treat our guests (who always seem to raise their game against us anyway) as dangerous opposition to face.

Curtain raises at 7.45.  See you there!

Leiston 1 - 2 Tanners

This was an outstanding performance by Sammy Moore's Green and White Army. 

Well about 30 of us made the long trip so more of a Platoon, but those that made the effort were richly rewarded with the league performance of the season. 

Fortunately, the game wasn't all ticket but then Leiston aren't a massive club like Dorking Wanderers.

Leiston were blown away by our speed, skill and commitment in the first 30 minutes and the ball was rarely out of their half. We could easily have been 2 up but, and as often happens when you don't take your chances, Leiston ran the down the other end and scored. Sammy's side are resilient and mentally tough, heads stayed up, and we got our reward with a superbly taken goal by Tom Derry on 40 minutes.

The 2nd half was much more even and Leiston started to show why they started the game in 5th. A defensive mix up gave the ball to the gaffer outside the box and Sammy slotted the ball past a stranded keeper with the precision of a Swiss watch. Leiston threw the kitchen sink at us but we would not be moved.

Merstham are next up. Hayden Bird has always liked to Grouse about us and gets his team fired up but Toucan play at that game. With Jack and Tom Storking the goal, Zak Swallowing up any crosses, and a Swift midfield, we can hopefully enjoy a Nightjar after the game.

Travelling Tanners

Leiston is on!  This game has taken on significance thanks to an amazing run of form over the festive period.  I just hope it isn't all ticket.

Kick off at 3pm... so leave soon... good luck fellas!

Tanners 2 - 0 Tooting

A slam dunk of a festive period from Sammy and the lads as we grab 12 points out of 12.

Remarkably, if we win our games in hand we would be in the play-off zone but there's a lot of work to be done before then.

This was a relatively straight forward game and could easily have won 4-0 as we were too strong for Tooting. Goals from Jack and Tom in the first half saw us comfortably pick up the points. Jerry missed 2 sitters probably put off by the infantile excitement whenever he comes up for a corner.

Sam who? Ambrosine who? That's show business.

Tooting & Mitcham are coming...

Happy New Year to you all. Today we welcome our old friends Tooting & Mitcham in this league encounter.

We have climbed up the league impressively over the festive period, but a four point gap means no further progression can be made today.

Kick off at 3pm.  Good luck fellas.