Leatherhead 0 - 1 Felixstowe & Walton

One, twice, three times a lady.  Chertsey, Redhill and now Felixstow & Walton; all lower placed opposition and all have dispatched us from a cup competition this season.

The game started well for Leatherhead.  Our hosts were either tired from the journey or giving us too much respect as we piled on pressure but lacked the finishing touch.

The Lip! won't hear of a bad word said about Jerry, as yet again he gave his all for 87 minutes but when will this "up-front" experiment end?  I hear in interviews he worries defences but the only thing that hasn't been too troubled since we started playing him there is the back of the net.  Notably, midway through the first half with the ball hanging tantalisingly on the line, he headed over from point blank range.

With the first half seemingly going our way, I also found it strange Nikki would feel impassioned enough to engage with an official in a manner to get himself sent off.  He watched from the sidelines in the first half and from the bar in the second.

Out for the second half and Felixstow shook off their stage fright and worked us out.  Stop Charlie Hester-Cook from receiving the ball and put two men on Jerry from goal kicks.  Simple.

The game was still a bit of a stalemate until they appeared to get a slice of luck.  A deflected cross sailed up into the air and over Zaki like a ponytailless David Seamon.

On came Great Evans to play upfront with Jerry which did not really change the attacking dynamic and we petered out to another cup exit.

That is that then and until we hear otherwise it could well be all we see from Leatherhead this season...

Felixstow & Walton are coming!

Football returns to the Grove next Tuesday in the shape of the FA Trophy.  I haven't been a big fan of this competition over the years but if I have learned anything over the past few weeks, Leatherhead needs supporters to turn up!

Working in compliance I thought interpreting Government guidance would be easy, but it hasn't been.  The size of scotch egg needed to serve alcohol is one thing but at one point it looked unlikely the club could even offer a cup of tea... not ideal as Tuesday will no doubt be a double-socker.

Tickets are available via the new ticketing system.  Kick off at 7.45.  See you there!

Tanners 2 - 3 Redhill

Leatherhead crash out to a Redhill side placed near the foot of the table, two divisions below them on the last night of football we will see for a while.

While Redhill have been conceding goals in their league, they can score them too with 16 already this season.  Their goal scoring touch did not desert them last night as they pounced on a low cross into the box and fired a powerful shot into the bottom right and corner.

Jerry should be awarded Freedom of the Town and nothing he can do can convince me otherwise.  Playing upfront again, he showed footwork no centre back should possess when surrounded by three defenders. 

He also won a penalty, with a ball mid flight a defender cynically tripped him hoping the ref would miss the off the ball incident.  He didn't and it was promptly awarded for Great Evans to score confidently.

Into the second half and just when I felt (and ruddy tweeted) the game was heading to penalties it sprang into life.

First of all Redhill pounced - I forget the details - only for Leatherhead to get another penalty.  Hester-Cook darted into the box and was clearly tripped.  The ref took an absolute age after seemingly performing a no foul hand gesture but made the right decision and awarded it.  Great Evans, again, made no mistake.

Not soon after Redhill won a freekick on the edge of the box and sent in a beautiful cross which was met by an unmarked player, giving our deputy 'keeper no chance.

I write these reports pretending I know something about football tactics but it should be abundantly clear I do not.  I can only assume, then, the decision to throw another central defender up front with Jerry was an attempt to confuse Redhill into which direction they were playing and lure them into scoring an own goal as his presence created nothing of merit.

If it is any consolation, this is a cup that is unlikely to be concluded this season but Redhill cared not when the whistle blew.  They wildly celebrated a well deserved win as we trudged off dreaming of what could have been last year.

That's all folks until further notice...

Redhill are coming

There can be no excuses to miss this one.  The visit of Redhill sees us play in the last game for the foreseeable future in a competition we could (and last year perhaps should have) win.

Redhill ply their trade in the Combined Counties League Premier Division and sit in 18th place with a goal difference of -13... 

Kick off at 7.45.  See you there!

Tanners 3 - 1 Potters Bar

2020/21 may prove to be first season in which we remain unbeaten in the FA Trophy. Even in 1978 we lost in the final.

Despite any confidentiality clauses that may have been signed, it soon became clear that Jerry was going to be playing up front again. Chloe confirmed that we would always rather play him at the back but that we had no other options at the moment. Chloe probably wasn't aware that Peter Crouch was available and had been spotted in the town that very afternoon.

Potters Bar never really got going and seemed as disinterested in the FA Trophy as some of our less resilient supporters who would rather brave the winds and go for a blow on Worthing pier.

Joe Leslie is proving to be our Olivier Award winner this season and completed a fine hat trick. Let's hope that Woking don't find out how well he is playing, although they will be allowed to play when we won't so I guess it won't matter.

There is no apparent reason why we can't play Redhill in the Surrey Senior Cup on Tuesday but that could be it until December 5th at least. Our non-elite status, which has benefited us so far by allowing us to attend games, is likely to prevent us from playing.

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.