Potters Bar are coming

Tomorrow sees the arrival of Potters Bar in the FA Trophy, on what is forecast to be a blustery day all round.

I am not a big fan of this competition, but I appreciate that with an early FA Cup exit such competitions allow us to potentially build up some much needed income.

Kick off at 3pm.  Good luck fellas.

Corithinian-Casuals 0 - 0 Tanners

The highlight of the day, for me, was the Toby Carvery I sat down to before the game.  A plate, piled so high with meaty finery, I didn't know whether to eat it or climb it.

As the game began, I started to take stock of the situation.  A bogey ground and difficult conditions did not, in itself, make for a great game for Leatherhead.  Then it became apparent Jerry was playing upfront.  This was either an act of desperation or it was Jerry's birthday.  A penny for Great Evans's thoughts though...

The advanced Jerry did cause some problems and nearly set up a goal in the opening minutes.  Overall though, it was a fairly tame and evenly balanced game.

In the second half, the home side came closest to scoring.  A desperate goalline clearance prevented a certain goal but fell to a Casuals player who fired it back in to force Zak into a fine save.

While we did warm the glove of the 'keeper once, we did very little to really threaten the goal.  In the dying minutes Joe Leslie, who has been a joy to watch over the last few games, infuriated the travelling support by blasting over with two wild left foot shots from distance.

0-0 it ended in front of a 600 crowd (where did all these Corinthian-Casuals supporters come from!?) and now we prepare for the complete waste of time that is the FA Trophy.

Brightlingsea 3 - 0 Tanners

Tanners fell foul to new-manager syndrome last night, losing 3-0 to Brighlingsea and almost doubled their point tally in doing so.

The damage was done in the first half and Leatherhead trudged into the dressing room 3-0 and feeling every yard of the 200 mile round trip.

The game is closer to home on Saturday with a trip to the bogey ground that is Corinthian-Casuals...

Tanners 2 - 0 Folkestone

Leatherhead took all three points against a much-fancied team despite the sudden absence of two players due to COVID.

It could not have started any better.  A long ball from the back from Zak was touched into the path of Crossley who took the ball into stride and hit a low powerful shot into the bottom right after just 14 seconds.  

He could have doubled the lead a few minutes later but opted to side foot the ball rather than a header, which may have been easier to direct on goal.

Leatherhead defender really well.  While Folkestone got more into the game after 20 minutes, we always looked comfortable throughout the first half.

It was a rather miserable day for Sammy Moore.  He did pull off a handful of stunning passes, that we remember well, but other than that his contributions were mainly falling over, telling other people what to do and watching helplessly while Andrew Briggs bent a freekick over his head and into the goal. 

Folkestone did have a brief spell of pressure.  The brunt of this pressure was felt by Will Seager's face as he put his body on the line to prevent a near certain goal at point blank range.

An impressive display, but impressive enough to tempt me to make the trip to Brightlingsea?  We will see...

Folkestone are coming

A rare mid-week off from football, but time to focus on the game and the visitors tomorrow.

Football is a fickle beast.  Lead Leatherhead to the Second Round of the FA Cup and the final of the Surrey Senior, you'd expect to get a hero's welcome.  Leave suddenly, with broken 5-year-plan promises, having made agreements before said final and you can kiss that welcome goodbye...

Kick off at 3pm.  See you there!

Enfield Town 1 - 0 Tanners

Having shipped 9 goals in their last two games, Enfields set up proved to be solid and difficult for us to break down, with the exception of a Will Salmon header in the first half I cannot remember another close effort. 

Enfield, on the other hand, have a potent striker at their disposal in the form of Bricknell.  He was good enough to be on Billericay's high-flying payroll and he is good enough now.  He took his chance and it was enough to grab all three points.

No mid-week game to look forward but we welcome back the dodgy knees and five year plan of Sammy Moore when he returns to the Grove with Folkestone on Saturday...

Travelling Tanners

Today Leatherhead travel to Enfield town for this league cup fixture. It is ticket in advance and the last time I looked they were only 20 tickets so make sure you buy before you travel.

Leatherhead are playing not just with an elephant in the room, it is more than that. The elephant is the room.  Hopefully they will focus on the game today.

Kick off at 3pm.  Good luck fellas.

Tanners 4 - 3 Worthing

Up until tonight, there were students on campus that were having more shots than Leatherhead so it was inconceivable that we could go on and score four goals... but somehow we did in an absolute thriller.

Leatherhead, again, looked bright in their passing game.  While there is always a danger this peters out but Dan Rowe collected the ball in the box and cleverly found the bottom right corner.

Worthing struck back with a spectacular freekick awarded by a ref who would go on to award any flop or yelp coming from the south coast side; and there were plenty of those.

1-1 at half time and Worthing came out with a real purpose.  It looked inevitable that a rout would soon follow until Joe Leslie pulled off a small piece of magic.  A lofted ball sent him chasing and as it arrived, perfectly, to him on the edge of the box there was already a lot to do.  

Under pressure and with the angle on the goal not getting any wider he brought it down and quickly sent it into the bottom right. He has looked like our most threatening player over the last two games so fitting he would finally get his reward.

The game then appeared to swing firmly in the favour of the visitors.  First there was a free header to make it 202.  The 'keeper sensed the game had swung and made a point of directing his celebration to the home fans.  Mistake.

Soon it was 2-3 with a penalty.  It looked to me like our defender was initially fouled.  As he stumbled to regain his footing the Worthing player turned into him and took a flop.  Zak guessed the right way but it was too high and powerful.

At 3-2 I decided the game was far enough beyond our reach that I chose the moment to inform my friends of a new free source of firewood that would see me through winter.  An anecdote so dull it lulled the defence into a coma and we mounted our counter-attack.

First of all Stefan Brown swivelled and fired past the 'keeper before a dramatic attack saw the ball strike the post only for it to fall to the head of Crossley Lema's head who sent it into the back of the net.

Wild celebrations and prolonged scenes of appreciation to a side that has really started to play smart attacking football.  A change of this formation, with returning players, could really be a Great mistake...

Tanners 0 - 0 Margate

It is amazing how opinions on football differ.  Listening to interviews, people indicated the second half was more enjoyable but I found something beautiful in the first.

We were playing ball to feet in intricate play rather than hoof-and-hope football we have seen recently.  It was like watching a team of pond skaters as they glided and skipped around the stubborn Margate defense.

It's true; we only asked basic questions such as what is the capital of France? and what is the square root of 16?  and not challenging ones such as What are the Articles of Association of a company used for?  Answers to the latter, you just can't make up and wing...

Second half we did come out more but so did Margate when they were through one on one but their shot went well wide.

Something to build on and take into tonight's game when our old friends come up the A24; Worthing are our visitors and it is a 7.45 kick off.

Margate are coming...

Off the pitch, the "whodunit mystery" appears to be turning into a who-didn't one as Twitter is ablaze with rumour and counter rumour.  Meanwhile my CV lies on a boardroom floor; shredded into a thousand pieces...

In other news, Margate come to the Grove if the weather allows.  Today's storm and tonight's rain may have the last word on the game.

Keep an eye out for updates and juicy gossip!