Brentwood Town 1 - 2 Tanners

Whilst the New Ground Klaxon sounded for me, this was not our first trip to Brentwood, having lost 4-1 there back in 2015. Having won at the weekend, we went there hoping for a lot better.

 

It certainly started out like this was going to be straightforward. We were playing with confidence and put the hosts under sustained pressure. The breakthrough came after just 17 minutes when a loose ball fell to Anas, who fired in a powerful shot that the ’keeper could only palm into the net. 1-0.

 

By now, though, the referee was beginning to agitate even the most placid of supporters, as his arm seemed to point only one way and the hosts appeared to get every decision. This was perfectly demonstrated when the assistant awarded us a throw-in, only for the ref, who was further away, to award it the other way.

 

We lost our minds in the second half when Hogan looked to have come away with the ball after challenging a defender, only to be pulled to the ground just outside the box. The shirt pull was obvious, yet the ref saw nothing wrong with it.

 

Our second goal therefore came as something of a relief when we won a corner that Mark Waters headed into the net. Unlucky, ref. 2-0.

 

As the second half wore on, it was becoming increasingly likely that Brentwood would score. The pitch, which had already looked big at the start of the game, was beginning to resemble a polo pitch. They had already had one ruled out for offside, much to the ref’s disappointment, and kept pressing for more. They finally got one in the 92nd minute. 2-1. Still plenty of time for us to muck it up.

 

The Lip’s Marcel Barrington had been brought on to give us a real outlet, and it looked like it had worked a treat when he muscled a defender off the ball and found himself one-on-one with the ’keeper. He opted for a cheeky lob but underhit it and the ball was easily saved.

 

He redeemed himself a minute later, letting fly with a powerful shot that the ’keeper could only parry away for a corner. The taking of which ate up enough time for the ref to finally give up on his project.

 

Back-to-back wins and a Saturday off, but before the buzzing players start thinking about trips to Ibiza or Mykonos, the manager may have other ideas about how to prepare for a difficult trip to Chatham Town on Tuesday…

Tanners 7 - 2 Stanway Rovers

With a win very much needed, Saturday became our Stanway to Heaven, as we took all three points, scoring seven goals in the process.

 

We got off to a flying start when Date beat the defender to a low cross and deftly flicked the ball into the far top corner. 1-0.

 

It didn’t take long for Leatherhead to go Leatherheady, though, giving Stanway far too much space on the right to pick out a player in front of goal and fire on target. 29 minutes in and it was 1-1.

 

Then came a ten-minute spell that put the game out of reach. First, Waters thundered in a header. 2-1. Soon after, Stanway gave us a helping hand by attempting to play it out from the back, but their No. 4 had his pocket picked and Date was on hand to tap in from the resulting cross. 3-1.

 

Then Anas was brought down in the box and Date picked up the ball to take the penalty. A supporter offered the advice of “follow it up, Leatherhead”, which was hardly a vote of confidence. If that penalty had been taken against Eastbourne it would have been saved, but this time the ’keeper went the wrong way. 4-1.

 

Stanway didn’t give up and a speculative shot went in when, from where we were standing, it looked like saving it might have been the easier option. 4-2.

 

Second half, and it all went Leatherhead’s way. On 56 minutes, Connor Harris hit the ball into the ground, taking the pace off it, but the ’keeper was unsighted and couldn’t react in time. In it went. 5-2.

 

Ten minutes later, Murphy went on a mazy run and slotted the ball away to make it 6-2.

 

With Leatherhead on the ropes, they needed another goal to make the game safe, so naturally we turned to The Lip’s Marcel Barrington. On 76 minutes, a cross was lofted into the box and Marcel flew in like a torpedo wearing a green pinstripe jersey, heading it past the ’keeper. 7-2, and the three points were ours.

 

The games come thick and fast now, with another chance to move up the league on Tuesday when we make the trip to Brentwood Town…

Stanway Rovers are coming!

Last year's Isthmian North play-off winners come to The Grove today as we welcome back league action.

October has been worrying, in terms of league performance, so a win is vital to ensure we continue to maintain our play-off aspirations and not become drawn into relegation battles.

Kick off at 3pm.  See you there!

Welling United 1 - 0 Tanners

Leatherhead’s away record has taken a bit of a beating over the last seven days, falling from unbeaten, to “unbeaten in the league”, to just beaten, as we lose on the road at Welling.

 

Our downfall was created early in the first half, where we looked thoroughly on the back foot. Welling United had their tails up and we were hanging on for dear life. A headed goal inside ten minutes looked like it might be the first of many, but we saw out the first half just 1-0 down.

 

Half-time was enjoyed by taking in the sights of the stadium. If you ignore the dangerous wall behind one goal and the trip hazards involved in walking down a darkened alleyway behind one of the stands, it had an authentic charm that is often lost with more modern constructions. A worthy sounding of the New Ground Klaxon.

 

Onto the game, and Leatherhead came out a different animal. I wouldn’t say we were battering them, but it felt more 60:40 in terms of momentum, as opposed to the 20:80 we had suffered in the first half.

 

We were getting increasingly frustrated by the referee, though. He had already blown his whistle for a foul when, had he played advantage, Kofi would have been through on goal. Welling then went on to give away a string of fouls in the final third. I hadn’t seen so many fouls on the edge of a box without a card being shown. The ref spoke to a player, then warned him that was his last warning, then spoke to the captain to say that was his last warning... and, just to infuriate us even more, the first tackle Cam gets wrong, the ref dives into his pocket.

 

Leatherhead’s unbeaten record could have been saved in the final five minutes when The Lip’s Marcel Barrington had a shot blocked by a defender. Then a ball from a set piece (another foul, ref!) fell to Anas at the far post, forcing a fine save from the Welling ’keeper. From the resulting corner, Sonny came up and got on the end of the cross, only to send it over the bar. The ref then blew for full-time.

 

A worrying slump in league form, but we get the chance to put that right on Saturday with the visit of Stanway Rovers...

Tanners 2 - 2 Eastbourne Borough (lose 1-2 on penalties)

Leatherhead exit the crappiest FA competition on penalties after a trademark comeback from being 2-0 down.

 

We looked reasonably comfortable in the first half, with a few chances, but perhaps lacked some of the intensity needed to keep Eastbourne fully under control. We gave them too much space, and a powerful shot flew in, via a cruel deflection, to make it 0-1.

 

We needed a bright start, and the signs were there, but again we gifted too much space and a well-placed shot was curled into the top corner on 61 minutes. 0-2.

 

The crowd was at about 25% of what we saw last week, but the desire to get something from the game wasn’t, as we went on to pull it back but probably should have had more.

 

The fightback started when we won a penalty. In the first half, Mark Waters was clotheslined by their defender as he went to the ball, with the ref only stopping play for a head injury. The ref commented, as we gave him “advice”, that his daughter was in the crowd and we should not abuse him. I can only imagine his daughter gave him the same advice during the half-time break, because when the same player did something very similar, he gave the penalty. Hogan was first to pick up the ball and smashed it home. 1-2.

 

The equaliser came on 70 minutes. Cam Black, who had already missed an open goal when his header rebounded off the post back to him and he could only prod it wide, either because of the conditions or overthinking, turned and swivelled on a loose ball and found the back of the net.

 

By now, Storm Boelo was picking up where Austen left off and standing water was in areas of the pitch at the end we were attacking, which didn’t make it easy for either team.

 

Somehow, Eastbourne held on and took it to penalties, and that is where our journey ended. If I was to tell you Sonny saved two of the first four penalties, you may be thinking we were safely through, but alas their ‘keeper saved three. The Lip’s Marcel Barrington was the unfortunate player to step up and have his shot saved.

 

So out we go, but straight on to the league with a long trip to Welling, who will be itching to get revenge for the 4-1 we notched up earlier in the season.

Eastbourne Borough are coming!

Game on! Storm Austen didn’t get this game postponed, so we welcome Eastbourne Borough for this FA Sodding Trophy game. We met in August and we came away with a 1-0. The FA Cup heroics may have taken a bit out of the legs though. Kick off at 3pm. Good luck fellas!

Yeovil Town 5 - 2 Tanners

Since Saturday, Billy Rowley has been mowing the pitch, performing a rain dance and praying to the footballing gods for better luck and he pretty much got everything he wanted as Yeovil Town ran out 5-2 winners last night.

 

The stadium was fairly impressive, but I soon realised how spoilt we are at The Grove for provision of food and drink with the bar and Fan Zones being open to all and covered.  I arrived early to area that consisted of a few tables – half of which were exposed and therefore had wet seats – spread about which could cater for just a small proportion of those due to attend.  I have since been told we were lucky to even be there as it is closed to away fans.  After two and half hours of travelling, I would have been pretty disappointed had that been enforced.

 

Onto the game and Leatherhead got off to a dream start when Mark Waters made a surging run and the ball broke to Kofi, who slotted it past Barker after just 90 seconds. Somewhere Iain Hendry shuddered, as we recall going ahead this early away at Torquay only for it to end in tears.

 

Yeovil did not panic. In fact, they went about their business like a cat with a mouse as they played the ball in front of us, looking for an opening to make it level. Their equaliser came on 15 minutes when a ball was worked down to the left corner, where it was swung in for their big forward to head home from close range.

 

The second goal came just 10 minutes later when a clever pass unlocked our defence, and the ball was calmly slotted into the bottom corner. 1-2.

 

Leatherhead have proved they can come back from these situations but were dealt a major setback when Charlie saw red for following up with a tackle while the Yeovil player was on the ground with the ball at his feet. The ref thought this was reckless and showed a red, which was made all the more infuriating as Charlie himself had been scythed down from behind just minutes earlier, which was only deemed to be a yellow.  Throw in the bad tackle in the first game and it is fair to say the footballing gods were not smiling down on Leatherhead.

 

Certainly as when the half drew to a close, where seeing it out at 2-1 may have seemed like a minor victory, the lino completely failed to see that Yeovil’s striker was about two yards offside when following up a saved shot. 3-1 and the game was done.

 

Fair play to Leatherhead, they never gave up. Even when Yeovil made it 1-4 on 58 minutes, we tried to counter on the break. First, Hogan was put through and could only fire directly at the ‘keeper before Harris made no mistake with a powerful finish to make it 2-4. Soon after, Dryer broke free but fired over.

 

Had just one of the two missed chances found the back of the net, it could have been a nervous end – again – for Yeovil, but another swift move resulted in a tap-in to make it 2-5.

 

So Yeovil Town go on to play Chesterfield (a game they don’t seem too thrilled about) and Leatherhead go out, but not before scoring five goals against National League opposition and sounding the New Ground Klaxon. On to Saturday and the FA Sodding Trophy…