Tanners 4 - 0 South Park

Leatherhead put out a strong side last night - in hindsight a cruelly strong side - in order not to repeat past slip ups in the FA and Surrey Senior Cup.

The damage was done very early on.  Sherringham opened his account with a deft header and followed it up with a low strike that the 'keeper failed to keep out.  Soon after, the moment of the game.  The ball was chested down into the path of Rowe, who was some 23-25 yards out, and he calmly lobbed the 'keeper using the outside of his right foot. A sublime finish that was worth the full entrance fee of £12 (a fee that must have turned a visiting supporters blue).

At 3-0, the aches and pains of the visiting 'keeper suddenly were amplified and he did not look comfortable at all.  The Leatherhead fans showed a great deal of concern and compassion to the 'keeper; well, they should have done.

Second half did not live up to the first but kudos to Oyenuga who made it 4-0 and comprehensively put us through to the semi-final.

South Park are coming

Surrey Senior Cup night tonight and so far it seems it is on.  I have no idea what to expect with some players, probably, who will not be able to play due to their parent clubs not allowing it...

I seem to recall South Park beat us in this competition a few years ago, so we need to be better than we were on Saturday.

Kick off at 7.45.  See you there.

Bowers & Pitsea 3 - 0 Tanners

Not even updating my spreadsheet for a new ground visited could lift my spirits following this dismal defeat.

Some people likened this performance to that of Corinthian-Casuals but it many ways it was far worse.  Worse because of the journey to and from the game and certainly worse because of the strike force we had our disposal.

Strangely two players that I would have thought would be nailed on to start were on the bench.  Ibz, a player who was scoring for fun before he left, and Robinson, a player who had appeared to have filled the gap when Ibz left, both sat there while the disaster unfolded.

It didn't take long.  On five minutes they scored from a seemingly harmless position.  As they did on the stroke of half time with another goal.  I can't describe these goals (nor indeed the third in the second half) as they caught me by surprise and I missed all of them.

Sherringham did make the starting line-up and just while we were deciding whether he looked like his father or not he nearly scored for us.  A classy chest down and side volley beat the 'keeper but went wide of the post.

Second half and with the winds at our backs we looked slightly more attacking.  Rowe tried a long range effort, that looked destined to be goal of the season until it struck the bar.

From then on we topped up our attacking options by adding Ibz, as a false 9, and throwing in Robinson but it did not make much difference.  We didn't look like scoring and our hosts cruised out for a comprehensive win.

Tuesday remains a mystery as it appears the game will be played providing at least one pitch is up to it.  If not ours, it will be switched to South Park's ground... 

Travelling Tanners

Bowers & Pitsea means the new ground klaxon sounds again!

Leatherhead travel into Essex with a boosted strike force. Sherringham adds Leatherhead to his growing list of clubs he has played for, while Ibz returns.

Hopefully we can avoid a trip to the losers' cafe today as Nikki Bull's search for a play-off place continues...

Game off

Surprise turned into optimism turned into farce as the game got called off at 2.10 today.

I arrived at the Grove at 1.30 to sit down with a fish and chip supper, with the expectation of seeing a game. I was chatting with an old friend when the rumour started, the ref had called the game off.

Leatherhead players were still out with the ball, while Horsham had headed inside.  The word being the goal mouths were not fit to play on.

Strange, as at that point the rain had been light since the inspection which had deemed it OK. Perhaps the ref had one eye on the forecast.

Disappointing but we were probably spared a diabolical game in the wind...

Horsham are coming!

I'm amazed. An early pitch inspection passes for the first time in living memory, but with Storm Denis looming large I hope it isn't a wasted effort.

Points were shared on the opening game of the season. I wasn't sure if it was a good point or points lost but as our fortunes took very different directions over the following eight games it looks an increasingly good one.

They have fallen away a bit, but it is going to be a tough one.

Kick off at 3pm.  See you there.

Tanners 1 - 1 Ks

Four security staff greeted me on arrival at The Grove last night.  They were on amber alert - because someone had tweeted rude words about one of them - so had triggered their stop and search powers against anyone matching the description.  Time well spent.


Onto the game and Leatherhead opened with passages of play that looked as good as I have seen for a long while.  Some good saves, some near misses and an offside flag prevented us from building a healthy lead in the first half.


Ks had a few chances of their own and made one count when Sow made enough room to fire a diagonal shot into the bottom right corner.


Tanners finally made one count when pressure from a corner finally allowed a shot on goal to be dropped into the path of Jerry, who snapped up his chance.


Half time, with a sit down and a cup of tea.  Smashing.


Second half and Ks suddenly thought they were Barcelona, insisting on passing it out from the back. Either Leatherhead were too good at pressing or Ks lack the skill to carry this out as they became camped in their half, as errors and interceptions meant they constantly lost possession.  Conversely, they were there behind the ball to make our chances limited.


Ks then got a grip of the game and looked like they were going to steal all three points for 10 minutes as the game drew to a close.  DSane made a tricky run on goal, sending our defenders all over the place only to place a tame shot directly at Zak.  Relief for Leatherhead supporters.  Further relief as we discovered Ks had lost their proof of purchase and couldn't send him back.


Leatherhead were now playing on the break and in the last couple of minutes missed a close range header and had a powerful shot saved to prevent us from having the glory of a derby win.


We have a big game Saturday but in the spirit of Leatherhead's financial governance I am not going to tell you what it is...

Ks are coming

Our old lodgers turn up tonight and, judging by their preview, will need all 200 stewards to enable their fans to find their way around our disorganised ground.

Leatherhead, weakened by the loss of D'Sane, struggle on in 9th place... seven points ahead (albeit having played two games more).

Kick off at 7.45.  Allow one hour for security checks... take off your shows and belts at the turnstile and only 100ml of fluids, please.  See you there!

Tanners 3 - 1 Bishop's Stortford

Not the best preparation for our visitors as they parted company with their player-manager, Jamie Cureton.  The sudden departure and unusual betting patterns in the Brockham area, meant that no bookie in the land would take your money on this game.  A pity, as Leatherhead run out (eventually) comfortable winners.

The game was not a classic but the opening was quite the strike.  Robinson makes it two games in a row, this one being a powerful shot into the top corner.

The second half did not look promising and as this is not the Leatherhead of last year, 1-0 is no guarantee of anything from the game.  Luckily Rowe opened his account and made it more comfortable.

Bishop's Stortford did pull one back.  We seemed upset with the ref for some reason, but it looked pretty straight forward to me.  A ricochet wrong footed everyone in green and they slotted it home.  Back to being uncomfortable...

The visiting 'keeper then became the pantomime villain.  He got down low to a shot and clearly pushed it away for a corner.  The ref missed this but the assistant seemed to have seen something and flagged the attention of the ref.  Not owning up to touching it is one thing, but to run over the officials and blatantly lie is another.  

We got the last laugh as when Stefan Brown fired a similar ball at goal it went straight through his lying, cheating hands.  3-1.

Big game Tuesday!

Bishop’s Stortford are coming

Leatherhead mastered alchemy last week; turning a scrap heap of a first half into second half gold.

We've brought in a few new players to add to our wizardry; but a few have done a disappearing act.

Kick off at 3pm. See you there!

Cheshust 1 - 3 Tanners

A long journey to arrive to a new ground that hasn't quite found its place in life to see a game that took a long time to find its way.

The first half was, frankly, bloody hard work.  The only action came when Travis seemed to be fouled in the box.  The ref, who would struggle to control a topside, appeared to chicken out of a big decision and awarded a freekick just outside the box.  Leatherhead didn't mince their words when complaining, but to no avail.  Freekick only and it came to nothing.

Into the halftime break and spare a thought for the solitary steward.  Without four or five colleagues he had to deal with the inevitable pitched battles in the stands, put out car fires in the car park and break up a knife fight in the bar.

Into the second half and it looked to be much more of the same 0-0 football we had seen in the first half, until it suddenly sprung into life.  It all started when we had Zach... in attack... taking all the shots on the goal... and he got his opener from a tight angle.  A powerful shot seemed to me to hit the side netting and fir a while I wondered what some of the other fans were so excited about.  It took a couple of seconds for me to see it had beaten the 'keeper near post.

Moments later the 'keeper was probably partially at fault when a Hester-Cook shot squirmed under his body to make it two nil.  Robinson's free run on goal and cool finish put the game beyond doubt and silence the megaphone that surely would have been confiscated - along with photographic evidence - at the Grove.

Cheshunt did get one back; a slight mix up allowed them to tap it in from close range but it was not enough and they now slip into the "it depends" relegation place.  Leatherhead, meanwhile, move to within five points of the play-off places and prepare to face Bishop's Stortford on Saturday...