Eastbourne Borough 0 - 1 Tanners

After last week’s 4-1 loss, I drove to this game with a sense of dread, fearing Leatherhead fans might have to come to terms with two grim realities: a world without Dolly Parton — although Stretch’s slurred tribute made it sound as though he would always love Joey Barton — and what it feels like to lose away from home. Luckily, Leatherhead approached this one with a cup of ambition and snatched all three points at the end.

 

Leatherhead rode their luck, though. Despite having plenty of the ball and looking dangerous down the right wing, it was Eastbourne who clattered the woodwork twice — once in the first half from a powerful header, and then again in the second half from a looping shot.

 

Then, in the second half, the game swung in our favour. It was the referee’s first game at this level, and I thought he did rather well by letting the game flow and certainly not falling for the “touch and flop” antics of the Eastbourne defence. None more so than their captain, who was becoming increasingly frustrated that throwing himself to the floor was not bringing the reward he was used to.

 

He was eventually shown red after two quick yellow cards. The first was a nailed-on booking for a late tackle. For the second, he tried to be cute by bringing our player down from behind — not with a tackle, but by “accidentally” tripping over and rolling into his legs. The referee did the brave thing and sent him off, then heard language he probably would not expect to hear while teaching PE.

 

With the extra man, we pressed for a winner, and just like last season, it arrived in the closing minutes. A low cross from the right was helped on at the near post by The Lip’s Barrington, with Kofi on hand to bundle it in at the far post. 1-0.

 

Injury time seemed to last forever, but full-time finally came, and the players celebrated as though they knew they had come through a real battle. It was a huge three points that lifted us into fourth, but tough opposition awaits in the shape of our old friends Dulwich Hamlet tomorrow…

Travelling Tanners

Today we make the long trip Eastbourne Borough, where we meet a rival with exactly the same points, goals scored and conceded as us after four games.  An away draw, anyone?

 

For me the New Ground Klaxon sounds.  For some, they would have been here in 1997 when they beat us 2-1 in the FA Cup under the name Langney Sports.

 

Kick off at 3pm.  Directions can be found here.  See you there!

Tanners 1 - 4 Maldon & Tiptree

Today was a sobering slap in the face for Leatherhead. After going three games unbeaten, perhaps we had started to get a little carried away, but this was a heavy defeat against a side just as new to the league as we are.

 

Leatherhead looked surprisingly flat compared with the performances we had seen so far. We had plenty of the ball but did little with it. The game was defined by the overhit cross. Time after time, we worked the ball into promising positions, only for the final delivery to sail over the heads of any Leatherhead player hoping to get on the end of it.

 

Then, on the stroke of half-time, we conceded. A simple ball to the far post was met with a side volley and, despite Sonny’s attempt to save it, the ball crept over the line at the far post. 0-1.

 

The second half looked as though it was going the same way until we made a few changes. Kofi’s introduction allowed Hogan to play in a freer role and suddenly we sparked into life.

 

On 54 minutes, Hogan received the ball on the edge of the box, shaped to shoot, then slipped in Anas, who made no mistake to level the score at 1-1. From there, we battered the visitors, with shots going agonisingly wide and one effort blocked on the line.

 

Malden & Tiptree broke away and sent a lofted ball into the box, which was nodded down into the path of an unmarked player and powerfully smashed home on 77 minutes. 1-2. But we still had time and momentum to find an equaliser and perhaps even win it. Then it all fell apart.

 

On 89 minutes, they scored a third. I do not remember too much about it, as I was distracted by a butterfly on the pitch. I will never forget the fourth goal, though. Jackson was around 30 to 40 yards from goal when he received the ball out wide.

 

Inexplicably, he played a lofted no-look pass back towards Sonny, when, had he played a look-pass, he might have noticed Sonny was nowhere near his goal at the time. Given today’s crossing performance, any other Leatherhead pass would probably have sailed harmlessly over for a corner, but this perfectly measured effort lobbed the retreating Sonny, landed on the line, and bounced into the net. 1-4.

 

So, the first defeat of the season is on the board, and now we have seven days to dust ourselves down before the Bank Holiday fixtures against Eastbourne Borough and Dulwich Hamlet.

Maldon & Tiptree are coming!

When I see this club’s name I think of British hotels and small pots of jam, but cannot think of a footballing reason we know them.  Partly as they only became Maldon & Tiptree in 2010 and prior to that they played in the Isthmian League Division One North until they won their league last year.

 

Our guests had a tough start to their Premier campaign, losing 6-0 to Dulwich, but bounced back with a win against Averley (only to then go on and lose to Dartford).

 

Kick off at 3pm.  See you there!

Is this the real life…?

Just a quick post to explain some of the “fantasy” options you have at your disposal.

 

Firstly, tonight is the opening game of the Premier League and if you play FPL you can join the Tanners mini league here (or share code prqpgp)

 

Additionaly, there is a free Tanners Fantasy game (that my son made), where you pick three Leatherhead players and get points for their achievements on the pitch.  That can be joined here.

 

Good luck!

Burgess Hill 2 - 2 Tanners

This was a tough workout for the Tanners — 28C, an artificial pitch, and a third game in eight days at a higher level.

 

The referee, a junior quantity surveyor, soon showed he couldn’t measure up. He compensated for his lack of height with a lack of ability. He conveniently ignored Sonny being pushed to the ground — perhaps it was too early in the game for a yellow — then forgot about playing advantage and reprimanded our bench for politely pointing it out.

 

Burgess Hill have almost as many bars as Westfield have excuses for bottling it last season, and a crowd of nearly 1,000 enjoyed the afternoon staying hydrated in the Sussex sunshine.

 

Cam Black was missing — well, he was named on the bench, but was clearly pretending — which meant Joe Jackson stepped in at centre-back.

 

Burgess Hill opened the scoring on 21 minutes with the follow-up to a saved shot. As we have come to expect, the resilient Tanners bounced back through a superb header from our man of nearly every match, Mark Waters, on 33 minutes.

 

Anas took us into the lead straight after half-time with a cool finish, but after that it was backs to the wall as Burgess Hill Town got an equaliser on 50 minutes and piled on the pressure with some slick football.

 

It’s not easy to beat us away from home — it’s been over a year — and we held out for a very hard-earned point.

 

Seven points from our first three games — we’d all have taken that. The lads get a well-earned week off from the league and can now look forward to a home game on Saturday. It might even rain.

Travelling Tanners

After a great start to the season, we get to travel to our old friends Burgess Hill.  You have to go back 10 years since we last played there, when we lost 3-2.  Let’s hope for better today.

 

Our hosts sit three points behind us, having tasted defeat on the opening day away to Brentwood Town.

 

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