Horndean 0 -3 Tanners

On arrival at the ground, any pre-match confidence I'd built up on the drive down suddenly disappeared as we were greeted by a windswept pitch and horizontal rain. Nothing saps the quality from a game more than gale-force wind. Walking into the bar, there was a notable absence of home supporters. We did strike up a conversation with a young striker who looked to have been ruled out. I looked at the size of him, then considered the size of Niran, and commented that he'd had a lucky escape.

 

One of the many quirks of the Horndean ground is that you can't watch the game from behind one of the goals. We found a corner that somehow created a wind vortex, with the rain sailing over our heads and into the faces of the supporters on the far side, and settled in to (hopefully) watch us take three points. When you're used to watching from behind the goal, everything looks a little different from the corner, but one sight remains familiar: Hogan running clear on goal. A through ball set him free and he confidently stroked it into the back of the net. Hogan has been known to run over and celebrate with the crowd, but on looking over and seeing three middle-aged men with their arms open wide to greet him, he suddenly appeared less confident and chose the warmer embrace of his teammates. I don't blame him. 1–0.

 

The rest of the half was a dogged affair, and we were pleased to get back into the clubhouse with a cup of soup.

 

For the first five to ten minutes of the second half, Horndean rallied and had a couple of chances. We survived the scare, made a few changes, and started to dominate again. Anas was influential with his pace down the right. He won the corner that was sent to the far post to Waters, who headed back across goal for Barrington to open his account with The Tanners. 2–0.

 

At 2–0 things felt comfortable, but what impressed me was that Leatherhead were still after more — chasing down balls and creating chances. Anas again won a corner from a cross, which arguably should have been a penalty when the defender stuck out a hand to block it. The Leo Sayer look-a-like lino did not make me feel like dancing when he failed to spot it, but we were dancing the night away eventually when Hedley headed home the resulting corner. 3–0.

 

A well-fought win and three points to keep us clear at the top of the table — a useful buffer as we face a very strong AFC Portchester on Saturday…

Travelling Tanners

A midweek trip to yet another Portsmouth-based club, as we look to secure three vital points.

Horndean sit in second to last place, and also lost 6-1 on the same night we beat RVP by the same score line.

Kick off at 7.45. See you there!

RPV are coming!

I love days like this - ironically , I'm away - when the footballing gods throw up a double header like this. All the events and tensions of the previous game roll seamlessly into the next… and there is plenty to roll over.

Hopefully everyone can turn up to this game and enjoy it for the game of football it is. Hopefully Leatherhead can be ready for a RPV backlash.

Kick off at 3pm. Good luck fellas!

RPV 1 - 6 Tanners

I was nervous coming into this game. After a hard-fought win on Saturday, I worried the players might be a little flat or complacent, but those fears were quickly put to bed.

 

Within the first couple of minutes we whistled a shot just over the bar — and then Gallagher struck. A through ball put him clear just left of goal, and his near-post finish was too good for the 'keeper. 1-0. Then the floodgates opened.

 

Ten minutes later: corner; Cam Black; 2-0.  Nine minutes later: Hogan breaks free; across-goal finish; 3-0.  Eight minutes later: long ball; Seb rolls his man; shoots; 4-0.  Five minutes later: penalty; Hogan; 5-0.

 

Forty minutes in, and Leatherhead had sent a message to the rest of the league.

 

Then Kane went down with a twisted knee while relentlessly chasing down RPV. Seeing him stretchered off was sobering, and from there we chose to manage the game more conservatively.

 

RPV applied more pressure and pulled one back on 52 minutes. Any hopes of a Binfield-esque collapse were ended soon after when Breckon met a knock-down from Cam Black (from a corner) and buried a side-volley into the far corner. 6-1.

 

The final whistle went and what should have been a joyful occasion was marred by some of the newer "supporters". If you're a young lad who turns up, makes a nuisance of yourself all game, then gets called out, takes offence, and plays up like a princess who's been asked to sleep on a hundred mattresses and a pea: stay at home, lad. You're not wanted.

 

Meanwhile, tonight Leatherhead fans can pull up a chair with a glass of wine, see how the other result pans out, and look forward to Saturday — hoping that this result doesn't breed any complacency…

Travelling Tanners

After a long wait, we travel to see some familiar faces tonight when we take on Raynes Park Vale.  They are looking to be more in form than they were when we were first scheduled to play, so we are going to need to play as well as we did on Saturday to get all three points.

 

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

Moneyfields 0 - 1 Tanners

One-nil doesn't quite tell the full story. Leatherhead played without the kind of fear that has previously allowed Moneyfields to bully us, and instead with a level of dominance and control that really ought to have produced three or four goals.

 

One thing I wasn't expecting on arrival was the club's new crèche set-up. Apparently, on matchdays you can drop off your ten-year-old and they'll be entertained with loudhailers and Anglo-Saxon language. Leatherhead, meanwhile, kept Moneyfields pinned back in their own half, so, like any under-10s match, the kids simply followed the ball. They tried watching from behind our goal, but were swiftly moved on by the stewards.

 

Then came the breakthrough. Breckon latched onto a clever through ball, broke free, and ran clear on goal. In strode their cocky number 6, who brought Breckon down in the box. He was the last man, but the referee decided — conveniently — that it was a genuine attempt to play the ball and only showed a yellow. Back came the kids to try to put off Hogan, but there was only one winner. 1-0.

 

Moments later, Kane got tangled in the box and Moneyfields' number 5 took exception. As he got up, he "accidentally" kneed Kane in the back of the head. The ref saw it and, despite us receiving a red card for less in the same fixture last year, let him off with a warning.

 

Dickson was a standout in the first half, but he picked up an injury late on. I worried we'd lose momentum, but Seb came in and did well. We went into half-time 1-0 up.

 

In the second half, the Moneyfields we know and love turned up. They hadn't had much chance to play-act while they were chasing the game, so they made up for it by screaming louder and rolling around more dramatically in the hope of forcing us into card trouble — and the ref lapped it up.

 

At one point, two of their defenders went down in a synchronised display of dying, and they must have been disappointed that only one yellow was issued. Meanwhile, Breckon was being manhandled every time the ball went up to him, but because he left the Oscar performances to Hollywood, he got nothing from the referee.

 

When we were allowed to play, Leatherhead dominated and missed chance after chance. Hogan could have added two more: first from a cross that found him alone in the box (and then again from the follow-up), and later from a shot that nearly dipped under the bar. But we couldn't find the second goal to give ourselves a vital cushion.

 

I don't remember seeing a board for added time in either half, so we were left guessing as Moneyfields rallied for a late equaliser. A cheer went up from some of the travelling support at news Westfield had conceded late, just as a cross dropped to number 5 alone in front of goal. Thankfully, he ballooned it over, and the referee blew shortly after, sparking wild celebrations behind the far goal.

 

A steward then came over to advise us we needed to stay inside until they dispersed the prepubescent ultras. It's happened to me before, but I was away at Steaua Bucharest over 20 years ago — so it was strange to have the same thing at a non-league match in Portsmouth. When we eventually left, they were still outside with flares, so the move felt somewhat futile.

 

Somehow, we got out of the ground alive and look forward to the trip to Raynes Park Vale on Tuesday…

Travelling Tanners

Three times we have played Moneyfields and three times we have lost. Everytime we, and the referee, get sucked into their perfectly executed game of the dark arts; and if they score, forget about it.  They will be flopping down all over the pitch.  Let's hope for better today when we travel down to Portsmouth to face our third place rivals.

We appear to be travelling in numbers, and the pub to be is the Jolly Taxpayer.

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